A pandemic due to a rapidly transmissible infectious agent has always been a major threat to humanity, and recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika have heightened interest in ensuring that governments are prepared to respond to this threat. Governance – the assignment of authority and the specification of procedures – is a central pillar of effective pandemic management. Without sound rules in place, ad hoc measures risk being ineffective or unjust, failing to respect human rights and worsening the impact of an outbreak.
Los Angeles County communities have implemented a variety of shared use arrangements to promote physical activity among residents who live near schools. However, little has been documented or is presently known about the strengths and limitations of these legal arrangements for achieving this goal. This legal analysis addresses a gap in public health practice. A public health law analysis was conducted to review 20 shared used agreements implemented in Los Angeles County during 2010- 2014.
This study finds that foodborne illness rates decreased by 22 percent after implementation of the paid sick leave law in jurisdictions with laws more supportive of employees taking leave, but increased in jurisdictions with laws that are less supportive.
Research Foundation of State University of New York on behalf of University at Buffalo
Susan Mangold, JD •
Juvenile Law Center
This longitudinal study examined flexible funds from child welfare directors’ perspectives, including key informant interviews, a survey, and semi-structured interviews.
As of February 1, 2017 state laws disparately regulate patient registration and civil rights, product safety labeling and packaging, and dispensaries, creating a patchwork of regulatory strategies whose effectiveness remains unknown.
Health Research Inc./New York State Department of Health
Formula supplementation of breastfed infants varies across hospitals. Hospital breastfeeding policies and supplementation practices contribute to this variation. Improving hospital practices could lead to improved breastfeeding outcomes.
University of Washington, Office of Sponsored Programs
This study describes patient characteristics, clinical features, and EMS response to opioid overdoses in Seattle, comparing heroin and pharmaceutical opioid (PO) overdoses from six alternating months in 2011. While they are clinical similar, the study finds that heroin and pharmaceutical opioid overdoses are treated differently by responders.
Using data from the UberResearch NIH grant repository, researchers from the Center for Public Health Law Research and UberResearch in Cambridge, Mass., collected and coded all National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants with a focus on health policy between FY’85 and FY’14 and then analyzed the grants by funding agency and topic areas. The study finds that NIH has supported public health law research, but not to the extent necessary to timely evaluate laws affecting the public’s health.
From 2013 to 2014, researchers conducted 47 semi-structured interviews with school and district administrators in Iowa about its 2007 anti-bullying law. Administrators identified many policy implementation challenges related to funding and staff, prevention programs, applying the law’s bullying definition in investigations, and understanding the school’s jurisdiction for policy enforcement. They also raised contextual barriers to implementation, like media portrayals of bullying and parental attitudes.
