Australia and New Zealand Health Policy - Latest articlesThe latest articles from Australia and New Zealand Health Policy (ISSN 1743-8462) published by BioMed CentralAnalysis of draft Australian Rehabilitation Service Standards: comparison with international standards- June 30, 2008 Background: Following her review of health systems and structures Dwyer 1 suggested that there is a need to evaluate models of care for individuals with chronic diseases. Rehabilitation services aim to optimise the activity and participation of individuals with restrictions due to both acute and chronic conditions. Assessing and optimising the standard of these services is one method of assuring the quality of service delivered to these individuals. Knowledge of baseline standards allows...http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/15 Legal themes concerning obesity regulation in the United States: Theory and practice- June 25, 2008 Despite national health objectives to reduce the incidence of obesity to 15% of the population by 2010, public health data suggest that the incidence of obesity in the United States is actually increasing. The U.S. recognizes that it (like other industrialized countries) faces an epidemic of obesity and related health conditions. How can U.S. jurisdictions (federal, state, and local) and the private sector respond to this epidemic through laws and policies that are directly or indirectly...http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/14 Obesity prevention: the role of policies, laws and regulations- June 5, 2008 The commercial drivers of the obesity epidemic are so influential that obesity can be considered a robust sign of commercial success consumers are buying more food, more cars and more energy-saving machines. It is unlikely that these powerful economic forces will change sufficiently in response to consumer desires to eat less and move more or corporate desires to be more socially responsible. When the free market creates substantial population detriments and health inequalities, government...http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/12 Obesity: should there be a law against it Introduction to a symposium- June 5, 2008 The rapid rise in rates of overweight and obesity among adults and children in Australia and New Zealand has intensified debate about the most effective policies for obesity prevention. Law has much to contribute to this policy discussion, although its role is often misunderstood. The articles in this symposium follow on from a conference hosted in September 2006 by the Centre for Health Governance, Law & Ethics in the Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, titled: Obesity: should there be a.http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/9 What's law got to do with it Part 2: Legal strategies for healthier nutrition and obesity prevention- June 5, 2008 This article is the second in a two-part review of law's possible role in a regulatory approach to healthier nutrition and obesity prevention in Australia. As discussed in Part 1, law can intervene in support of obesity prevention at a variety of levels: by engaging with the health care system, by targeting individual behaviours, and by seeking to influence the broader, socio-economic and environmental factors that influence patterns of behaviour across the population. Part 1 argued that the...http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/11 A systematic policy approach to changing the food system and physical activity environments to prevent obesity- June 5, 2008 As obesity prevention becomes an increasing health priority in many countries, including Australia and New Zealand, the challenge that governments are now facing is how to adopt a systematic policy approach to increase healthy eating and regular physical activity. This article sets out a structure for systematically identifying areas for obesity prevention policy action across the food system and full range of physical activity environments. Areas amenable to policy intervention can be...http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/13 What's law got to do with it part 1: A framework for obesity prevention- June 5, 2008 This article provides a conceptual framework for thinking about the role of law in responding to population weight gain in Australia. Part 1 focuses on two core questions. Firstly, in pursuing the aim of weight reduction at the population level, what should law be trying to influence The challenge here is to identify a model of the determinants of obesity that is adequate for legal purposes and that illustrates the entry points where law could best be used as an instrument of public health...http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/10 |