This volume explores the central issues driving the present process of healthcare reform in Europe. 17 chapters written by scholars and policy makers from all parts of Europe draw together the available evidence from epidemiology and public health, economics, public policy, organizational behaviour and management theory as well as real world policy making experience, laying out the options that health sector decision-makers confront. Through its cross-disciplinary, cross-national approach, the book highlights the underlying trends that now influence health policy formulation across Europe. An authoritative introduction provides a broad synthesis of present trends and strategies in European health policy.
In the last 40 years the health of Europeans overall has improved markedly yet progress has been very uneven from country to country. Successes and Failures of Health Policy in Europe considers the impact health policy has had on population health in Europe. It asks key questions about mortality trends and health policy activity, such as: Do between-country differences in rates of smoking-related diseases reflect differences in tobacco-control policies? What would be a country's health gain if it implemented the policies of the best-performing country? Which social, economic and political factors influence a country's success in health policy? This book fills an important gap by offering a comparative analysis of the successes and failures of health policy in different European countries. In doing so it helps readers identify best practices in health improvement from which other countries can learn. The book explores how policy impact can be quantified and identifies which aspects of policy we can learn from when tackling the determinants of health in our populations. Written by experts and based on the latest evidence-based research, this volume is a must have for policy makers and those working in healthcare as professionals, researchers and students alike.
The Regional Office for Europe has commissioned a study on recent experience in health care reform in the European Region. The study has been structured as an analysis of critical challenges that confront national health policy decision-makkers in the second half of the 1990s. This document summarizes key conclusions from the study. Taken as a whole, the evidence presented in the papers commissioned for the WHO study, presented in the forthcoming Regional office publication, suggests three key dimensions for analysing health sector reform: the pressures for reform, the strategies for policy intervention, and the process of implementation. The main conclusions of the study in each of these dimensions are reviewed in the following sections.
This innovative book provides a timely analysis addressing radical health care change in the context of post-Cold War, post financial crisis era, globalisation.
Health service human resources are key determinants of health service performance. The human resource is the largest and most expensive input into health care, yet it can be the most challenging to develop. This book examines some of the major challenges facing health care professions in Europe and the potential responses to these challenges. The book analyses how the current regulatory processes and practices related to key aspects of the management of the health professions may facilitate or inhibit the development of effective responses to challenges facing health care systems in Europe. The authors document how health care systems in Europe are confronting existing challenges in relation to the health workforce and identify the strategies that are likely to be most effective in optimizing the management of health professionals in the future. Human Resources for Health in Europe is key reading for health policy makers and postgraduates taking courses in health services management, health policy and health economics. It is also of interest to human resource professionals. Contributors: Carl Afford, Rita Baeten, James Buchan, Anna Dixon, Carl-Ardy Dubois, Sigrún Gunnarsdóttir, Elisabeth Kachur, Karl Krajic, Suszy Lessof, Ann Mahon, Alan Maynard, Martin McKee, Ellen Nolte, Anne Marie Rafferty, Charles Shaw, Bonnie Sibbald, Ruth Young.
Economic shocks pose a threat to health and health system performance by increasing people’s need for health care and making access to care more difficult – a situation compounded by cuts in public spending on health and other social services. But these negative effects can be avoided by timely public policy action. While important public policy levers lie outside the health sector, in the hands of those responsible for fiscal policy and social protection, the health system response is critical. This book looks at how health systems in Europe reacted to pressure created by the financial and economic crisis that began in 2008. Drawing on the experience of over 45 countries, the authors: analyse health system responses to the crisis in three policy areas: public funding for the health system; health coverage; and health service planning, purchasing and delivery assess the impact of these responses on health systems and population health identify policies most likely to sustain the performance of health systems facing financial pressure explore the political economy of implementing reforms in a crisis The book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the choices available to policy-makers - and the implications of failing to protect health and health-system performance - in the face of economic and other forms of shock.
This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.
The nations of the EU have long led the world in universal health coverage. Recent economic developments have created problems ranging from inequities of care to growing numbers of uninsured — a progression analyzed by Win de Gooijer in Trends in EU Health Care Systems. His ideas may be startling, and the book is bound to be controversial. This is critical reading for health care managers and policymakers, politicians and insurors - anyone looking to Europe to understand this far-reaching evolution.
We are proud to announce that this book is joint winner of the EHMA Baxter Award 2007. "A genuinely fantastic resourse; such a rare text that provides such factual information for students and lecturers. A rich review of the subject areas from across Europe. Fantastic text." Chris Kelly, Programme Leader, Bournemouth University "Mental Health Policy and Practice Across Europe is a fascinating, complicated volume that looks at one of the key dimensions of contemporary mental health policy development in Europe — the role of the European Union (EU)." Medicine Weekly In much of Europe it remains taboo to discuss the challenges that poor mental health raises for governments, societies and particularly for people with mental health problems themselves. This book maps the current state of policy, service provision and funding for mental health care across Europe, taking into account the differing historical contexts that have shaped both the development and delivery of services. A holistic approach is adopted that aims to assess the influence on mental health of environmental factors such as housing, poverty, employment, social justice and displacement. Covering a wide range of policy issues, the book: Examines the legal rights of people with mental health problems Addresses the impact of stigma, social exclusion and discrimination Reviews the role of users and their families in the development of mental health services and policy Reflects on approaches to reform and on the future development of services Evaluates opportunities for the rehabilitation of people with mental health problems Discusses the financing and organisation of mental health systems Reflects on approaches to reform and the future development of services Mental Health Policy and Practice Across Europe is key reading for policy makers, professionals involved in the delivery of health and social care services, voluntary agencies, non-governmental organizations, academics and students of health policy. Contributors: Francesco Amaddeo, University of Verona, Italy; Peter Anderson, Department of Primary Care, University of Oxford; Robert Anderson, Research Director, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working ; Terry Brugha, University of Leicester; Peter Bower, National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Mancheste; Lorenzo Burti, University of Verona, Italy; Kathryn Berzins, Claire Curran; Paul Cutler, The Hamlet Trust; Natalie Drew, Dept of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Genev; Angelo Fioritti, University of Bologna, Italy; Michelle Funk, Dept of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva; Simon Gilbody, Department of Psychiatry, University of Leeds; Vidar Halsteinli, SINTEF, Oslo, Norway; Robert Hayward, The Hamlet Trust; Rachel Jenkins, WHO Collaborating Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London; Heinz Katschnig, University of Vienna, Austria; Robert Keukens, Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry, Hilversum, The Netherlands; Susan Kirkwood, European Federation of Associations of Families of People with Mental Illness, Belgium; Martin Knapp, Director, PSSRU and LSE Health and Social Care, London School of Economics and Political Science, London; Viviane Kovess, MGEN, Pari; Eva Jane Llopis, Prevention Research Centre, Academic Centre for Social Sciences and Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Jo Lucas, The Hamlet Trust; Ville Lehtinen, National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), Helsinki, Finland; Lorenza Magliano, Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples, Italy; David McDaid, LSE Health and Social Care and European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, London School of Economics and Political Science; Elias Mossialos, Director, LSE Health and Social Care and European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, London School of Economics and Political Science; Camilla Parker, Legal and Policy Consultant, Open Society Institute Budapest; Dainius Puras, Department of Social Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry, Vilnius Medical University; Roxana Radulescu, Mental Health Europe, Brussels; Diana Rose, Service Users Research Enterprise, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London; Nikolas Rose, Department of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science; Luis Salvador, University of Cadiz, Spain; Benedetto Saraceno, Director, Mental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva; Liz Sayce, Director, Disability Rights Commission; Edward Shorter, University of Toronto; Michele Tansella, University of Verona; Graham Thornicroft, Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London; Toma Tomov, Department of Psychiatry, University of Sofia, Bulgaria; Charles Watters, University of Kent, Canterbury; Richard Wynne, The Work Research Centre, Dublin; Robert Van Voren, General Secretary, Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry, Hilversum, The Netherlands; Ingrid Zechmeister, University of Vienna
