BACKGROUND In Europe, progress in the development of health policies that address the needs of migrants and ethnic minorities has been slow. This is partly due to the absence of a strategic commitment by the health authorities. The Ministry of Public Health commissioned the ETHEALTH (EThnicity &HEALTH) group to formulate relevant recommendations to the public authorities with a view to reducing...

Among the many reasons that may limit the adoption of promising reform ideas, policy capacity is the least recognized. The concept itself is not widely understood. Although policy capacity is concerned with the gathering of information and the formulation of options for public action in the initial phases of policy consultation and development, it also touches on all stages of the policy proces...

OBJECTIVE Evidence regarding the benefits of strong primary care has influenced health policy and practice. This study focuses on changes in the breadth of services provided by general practitioners (GPs) in Europe between 1993 and 2012 and offers possible explanations for these changes. DESIGN Data on the breadth of service profiles were used from two cross-sectional surveys in 28 countries:...

This paper summarizes eight country studies of inequality in the health sector. The analyses use household data to examine the distribution of service use and health expenditures. Each study divides the population into "income" quintiles, estimated using consumption expenditures. The studies measure inequality in the use of and spending on health services. Richer groups are found to have a high...

BACKGROUND Multilevel modelling is a statistical technique that extends ordinary regression analysis to the situation where the data are hierarchical. Such data form an increasingly common evidence base for public health policy, and as such it is important that policy makers should be aware of this methodology. METHOD This paper therefore lays out the a basic description of multilevel modelli...

To advance understanding of key health policy issues and to advocate, in concert with others as appropriate, health policy that will improve health and the manner in which health care and financing systems serve Americans. Goals The Institute's Goals are to: • Identify significant long-term health policy issues; • Organize internal and external resources to analyze such policies; • Improve unde...

In recent years there has been a growth in the number of independent health policy analysis institutes in low- and middle-income countries which has occurred in response to the limitation of government analytical capacity and pressures associated with democratization. This study aimed to: (i) investigate the contribution made by health policy analysis institutes in low- and middle-income countr...

In Lille (a large city in northern France), the municipal council has set up an Health Observatory in order to provide health information on the city's population, promote educational health policies, foster the development of preventive actions and improve access to the healthcare system. The Observatory works with agencies involved in health in France, such as the CPAM ("Caisse Primaire d'Ass...

INTRODUCTION In the field of health, numerous frameworks have emerged that advance understandings of the differential impacts of health policies to produce inclusive and socially just health outcomes. In this paper, we present the development of an important contribution to these efforts - an Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) Framework. METHODS Developed over the course of two ye...

BACKGROUND A dramatic increase in healthcare expenditures is a major health policy concern worldwide. Understanding factors that underlie the growth in healthcare expenditures is essential to assist decision-makers in finding best policies to manage healthcare costs. We aimed to examine the determinants of healthcare spending in Iran over the periods of 1978-2011. METHODS A time series analys...