Why and How Political Science Can Contribute to Public Health? Proposals for Collaborative Research Avenues.

Written by a group of political science researchers, this commentary focuses on the contributions of political science to public health and proposes research avenues to increase those contributions. Despite progress, the links between researchers from these two fields develop only slowly. Divergences between the approach of political science to public policy and the expectations that public health can have about the role of political science, are often seen as an obstacle to collaboration between experts in these two areas.

Relativistic deflection of background starlight measures the mass of a nearby white dwarf star.

Gravitational deflection of starlight around the Sun during the 1919 total solar eclipse provided measurements that confirmed Einstein's general theory of relativity. We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the analogous process of astrometric microlensing caused by a nearby star, the white dwarf Stein 2051 B. As Stein 2051 B passed closely in front of a background star, the background star's position was deflected.

The University-Public Health Partnership for Public Health Research Training in Quebec, Canada.

Enhancing effective preventive interventions to address contemporary public health problems requires improved capacity for applied public health research. A particular need has been recognized for capacity development in population health intervention research to address the complex multidisciplinary challenges of developing, implementing, and evaluating public health practices, intervention programs, and policies. Research training programs need to adapt to these new realities.

[Training in knowledge translation from the view of the learner].

Current training in knowledge translation (KT) in the field of population health is mainly carried out in an academic context. However, Quebec health and social services KT managers, as well as population health researchers express a need for developing KT practical learning in a workplace context. We argue that, in line with professional development and a constructivist approach to pedagogy, KT training should include practice-based learning in addition to academic education.

Health promotion research and practice require sound policy analysis models: the case of Quebec's Tobacco Act.

In this paper we illustrate how policy analysis models can deepen our understanding of the challenges facing health promoters advocating for policy change. Specifically we describe the factors underpinning the adoption of Québec's Tobacco Act (1998) and the role played by actors from governmental public health agencies (GPHAs). Data were collected through interviews (n=39), newspapers articles (n=569) and documents (n > 200) from GPHAs, NGOs, the Québec National Assembly, and opponents to the legislative measures.

Fighting a tobacco-tax rollback: a political analysis of the 1994 cigarette contraband crisis in Canada.

We identify factors that led a regional government (Quebec, Canada) to opt for a reduction of its tobacco tax to combat tobacco smuggling. Then we explore the fallout of Quebec's tobacco-tax rollback on its tobacco control policy. We conducted qualitative research using a case-study design and multiple sources of data.

[Integrating prevention and promotion in health systems: four realities, diverse similarities].

The Forum Dialogue on national health systems which took place as a satellite meeting of the 2nd International Conference on Local and Regional Health Programmes compared four countries (Brazil, France, Switzerland and Canada) sustain "conditions to integrate prevention and promotion in health systems". Despite the diversity of the four systems presented, several similarities regarding difficulties faced and achievements obtained in the integration process have been extracted, which has allowed highlighting three perspectives of action. It is suggested that prevention and promotion can be integrated into health systems by mobilising the population and health professionals towards prevention, but with the condition that the promotion and prevention sector increase its credibility by developing practices of quality, organisation, discourse, and prevention practices adjusted to the health care context.

[Primary health care and responsibilities of public health in 6 countries of Europe and North America: a pilot study].

Background: Rapidly occurring changes within the health care systems are creating an opportunity to re-orient the relationships between their different sectors. In order to know the locus of responsibility for various types of preventive activities, we undertook an inquiry on eight areas in six countries from Europe and North America.

Methods: An inquiry among experts based on a matrix which arrayed the type of preventive health services against the target population.