Suchergebnisse

This book uses political science, public administration, and public health to examine infectious disease threats and political dysfunction putting Americans at risk. Failure to govern at the federal level affects essential public health activities at the state and local level, which the book states recommendations to address

This study investigates what factors contributed to the score a state received for managing its medical countermeasures stockpile pre-COVID-19. It is particularly interested in the relationship between a state's level of rural population and its countermeasure management capacity. A fixed-effects regression analysis was run using data from 2016 to 2019 to test for a relationship between the percentage of rural population in a state and the states' countermeasures management score, while controlling for other relevant social, economic, and political variables such as level of social associations, the segregation index, and the level of income inequality. Rurality and physicians per capita proved to be significant and negative. A subsequent analysis found that states with higher levels of rural populations have lower levels of COVID-19 vaccinations, even accounting for effective countermeasure management. This points to rural states having challenges in regard to medical countermeasures that cannot be completely solved with technocratic solutions.

AbstractThe 21st century has seen the emergence of two novel coronaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and COVID‐19 (coronavirus infectious disease of 2019). In the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Republicans and Democrats were united in their concerns regarding SARS and the potential threat of biological weapons. That united front was not to be seen during the 2016 debate over supplemental funding for Zika. The primary focus of this study is whether the perception of partisanship in the public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) area affects attitudes about policy options regarding PHEP. To investigate these issues, a Qualtrics online survey of members of hospital preparedness coalitions was conducted. The survey questions covered issues such as the level of governmental priority placed on fighting infectious disease, respondents' level of confidence that the essential functions of government are being managed, the role of partisanship in PHEP decision making, and support for proposals to reform the government's infectious disease response. A statistically significant association was found between respondents' reporting that partisanship in PHEP presents a risk of injury or death and support for all the proposed reforms, indicating a desire to decentralize PHEP activities and a need to reinvigorate PHEP bipartisanship.

Developing and strengthening systems for information sharing as well as detecting and addressing dis/misinformation can not only protect capacity for public health emergency preparedness and response, but potentially increase overall community resilience and social capital. More actively involving citizens in the government's collection and sharing of information can generate more public buy‐in so people will be more invested in making certain that such information is not arbitrarily dismissed or drowned out by conspiracy theories. Such an approach may have the added the benefit of creating stronger collaborative connections between government, individual citizens, and civic organizations to promote overall resilience. More community involvement in terms of the collection and dissemination of information can provide value in terms of preparation for a public health emergency by bolstering surveillance efforts to detect a threat early on. Getting the public more integrated into the public health information system can also be valuable in terms of diminishing the threat of mis/disinformation. Building up relationships between the public and the public health sector can advance the mission of improving community resilience through education, engagement, and collaboration. In this review, we will examine existing evidence for this approach and will then conclude with possible new approaches.

Abstract
Clade X is only the latest in a series of high profile health emergency preparedness exercises intended to better equip government officials and responders at different levels of government and in different sectors for the challenges they are likely to face during a pandemic or bioterrorism event. A key issue in regard to emergency preparedness response is information sharing. This study examines previous literature on the importance of information sharing to emergency response, particularly in regard to public health emergencies. A content and correspondence analysis of data collected from exercise after-action reports is then conducted to examine the prominence of information sharing as a theme in those reports. The relationship between information sharing and other themes is also considered. Specific passages regarding information sharing are examined to consider how the theme is discussed in the context of the report. The findings of the analyses above are then compared to a recent tabletop exercise conducted by the Nuclear Threat Initiative regarding a biological attack. The comparison of this recent exercise to previous exercises is used to highlight key policy considerations. Recommendations are provided regarding how policy makers could help to address these considerations prior to a real world emergency. While technology is consistently evolving to improve the means by which we can share information, issues of coordination, including between the public health and health care sectors, continue to remain an obstacle.

Abstract
This article recounts the history of the Ohio School of the Air (OSA) as a technological innovation that demonstrates the promise and limitations of technology in education. The article situates the OSA within the larger progressive educational movement, detailing the OSA's rise and reasons for its decline. This article argues that, while the OSA sought to bring education to all public school pupils in Ohio, the OSA's choice of content and contributors reflected the biases of society-wide power structures related to gender, race and class that were present in US society in the early twentieth century. Though OSA founder Benjamin Darrow had a vision of a robust, radio-based curriculum that would bring culture to the masses, the OSA was ultimately derailed by financial difficulties and failed to fundamentally alter the nature of schooling.

Public health and public administration literature speaks to the fact that smoke-free policy has been steadily diffusing within and between states for the last decade. The literature suggests common strengths and challenges associated with advocacy efforts in tobacco control. The similarities suggest that policy activity in this area fits with policy-making theory of the advocacy coalition framework (ACF). After reviewing relevant literature on tobacco control advocacy and theories of policy making, this study discusses a grounded theory qualitative analysis of focus group data to examine to what degree the themes and grounded theory derived from the data conform to the advocacy coalition framework and concludes by looking at an emerging issue in tobacco control, regulating the use of electronic cigarettes and how the modified version of the advocacy coalition framework could be applied.

This research article analyzes the aspirations and likely outcomes of the Christian right in terms of educational policy in America. The main source of data for this analysis draws from 13 source-protected interviews with directors of state-level Christian right organizations. A semi-structured, elite interviewing approach was utilized. The qualitative data demonstrates that the American Christian right is divided, organizationally, between those who identify with Republican party politics versus those who approach the political process more independently. The author shows that for the Christian right, education is a peripheral issue rather than a central one. ,Consequently, the Christian right will likely be unable to turn its political objectives into actual policy gains in terms of public education. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThis article describes the development of an index of state biotechnology and genomic development and the cluster analysis used to group U.S. states based on their level of development in each area. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is then used to test hypotheses regarding statistically significant differences between the biotechnology/genomic development clusters and variables related to states' workforce, investment in research and development (R&D), and policy environment. The authors find statistically significant results in the areas of workforce education, migration of knowledge workers, industrial and nonindustrial R&D, and policy to promote the development of the biotechnology industry. While the MANOVA for policies placing limits on the development of biotechnology policy did not yield statistical significance, the authors argue that the finding deserves further study as it may indicate some states' willingness to strike a more sustainable balance between support and regulation.Related ArticlesBrant, Hanna K., Nathan Myers, and Katherine L. Runge. 2017. "Promotion, Protection, and Entrepreneurship: Stakeholder Participation and Policy Change in the 21st Century Cures Initiative." Politics & Policy 45 (3), 372‐404. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12201Harvey, Olivia. 2009. "Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in the United States: Some Policy Options for Industry Development." Politics & Policy 37 (1): 51‐71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2008.00161.xBerkovich, Simon. 2008. "Caution on Genetic Engineering Developments in View of Uncertainties of Modern Fundamental Science." Politics & Policy 37 (1): 1144‐1146. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2008.00157_2.x

AbstractPublic health emergency preparedness is an area of growing policy concern with the emergence of new threats. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a proposed rule in 2013 laying out mandates that hospitals and other facilities would have to meet in order to receive federal funding. Hundreds of comments were submitted in response to the rule, which was finalized in 2016. The following study employs content analysis and interpretive policy analysis to investigate the reaction to rule as it was proposed. In doing so, we will consider the different values, beliefs, and feelings regarding the rule that were expressed in public comments submitted in response to it. Along with those aspects, we will also consider the political, economic, and social implications of the proposed rule as expressed in the public comments. These methods will be used to address whether the selected comments represent different coalitions in regard to the CMS rule and if different coalitions represent different themes in their comments. The study will also consider whether the notice‐and‐comment process, in this instance, is in line with the advocacy coalition framework and whether there were clear winners in the process.