[Decentralization and how to conduct it as a revolution or an evolution? County public health and management capacity building as a prerequisite for successful decentralization in the Republic of Croatia].

Aim: Based on the results of the first phase of the County Public Health Capacity Building Program named Health-Plan for It, implemented in the Republic of Croatia during the 2002-2008 period, this article analyzes the relationship between training of the county teams and their ability to develop health policy. Our hypothesis was that decentralized model of health planning and management would not occur just by changing legislation alone. Counties in Croatia needed educational support (learning-by-doing training) in order to improve public health practices at the county level.

Evaluation of Croatian model of polycentric health planning and decision making.

Objective: To determine the progress in the development and implementation of health policies on a county level resulting from the learning-by-doing training provided through the County Public Health Capacity Building Program started in 2001 in Croatia.

Methods: Modular training using management tools, public health theory and practice, and SMDP's Healthy Plan-it tool, followed by the self-evaluation of the progress made by county teams in health needs assessment and health policy development, implementation, and assurance. Fifteen county teams consisting of politicians, executive officers, public health professionals, and community members.

Physicians' strike and general mortality: Croatia's experience of 2003.

The aim of the study was to establish whether the physicians' strike, which took place in Croatia in 2003, had an impact on the mortality of the population. Mortality data from the National Bureau of Statistics relating to the strike period (15 January - 14 February 2003) were selected and compared with the previous and subsequent periods of the same duration in 2001, 2002 and 2004. Of the 52,575 deaths in 2003, Croatia recorded 4,682 (8.

A naturalistic inquiry on the impact of interventions aiming to improve health and the quality of life in the community.

The goal of this study is to identify and describe variables contributing to the efficiency of health promotion interventions, and to assess whether these variables can serve as reliable and early indicators of the success of such interventions. The study sample includes 44 interventions selected through a network of key informants from five cities--Liverpool, Sandwell, Vienna, Pula, and Rijeka--by using a chain technique. Data on each intervention are collected through an in-depth interview with a program leader, the collection of project-related documents, and on-site observation.

A model of oncologic care in general medicine.

The problems related to cancer and its control initially manifest in local community, and general practitioners are those who most commonly have to face them there. The aim of the study was to develop a program of comprehensive oncologic care for primary care physicians, which would be highly professional, efficient, economically justified and feasible, with the ultimate goal of upgrading the target population health and quality of life. Opinions on the priorities and intensity of work in particular activities of general practitioners in the field of oncologic care were obtained from 54 Croatian experts in oncologic care.

[A few thoughts about health system transformation in Croatia].

The aim of this article was to make reader more familiar with the shift in health and society thinking which occurred during the last fifteen years. Authors are describing changes in macro environment and their impact on health and health needs in Croatia. The notion that behavior is greatly influenced by social context in which people lead their lives is demanding a new approach to health and health system policy development.

Challenge of goodness III: public health facing war.

Using moral and empirical analysis, we analyzed and discussed the role of public health in prevention of war as well as its function during and after the war. The idea is to develop a theory and new strategy in the spirit of public health to improve practices in preserving and strengthening peace, to be prepared for the future. The experiences from the last four wars in South Eastern Europe were ethical challenges to public health.