Policy Interventions to Promote Health and Prevent Disease, 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the second iteration of “Policy Interventions to Promote Health and Prevent Disease, 2nd Edition”. Special Issues in Healthcare often address particular strategies, disciplinary approaches, and developments for patient and health consumer populations. From time to time, it is important to embrace these avenues from a reflective stance. This new volume is devoted to policy pieces on health and disease. Healthcare offers this second Special Issue in the face of continued interest from our readers, representing a variety of health and allied health disciplines.

The former Institute of Medicine, now the National Academy of Medicine, considers policy development as the means by which problem identification, technical knowledge of possible solutions, and societal values join to set a course of action. Demonstrated by the frequent revisions that occur in professional guidelines as new, more refined evidence emerges and novel external and science-driven circumstances arise, health policymaking is a dynamic, evolving process. It is also formal in the sense that groups of professionals engage in evidence collection, consensus building, and policy formation. To be significant for healthcare and prevention, the ultimate product needs to lead to action that makes a difference.

The place of policymaking in the health field is most striking in the latest efforts to establish universal healthcare in its various forms—the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the United States, the European Union health strategy “Together for Health,” and the National Health Insurance Bill in South Africa. Such policy efforts are needed to offer the best possible care to diverse populations and are essential when crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic strike.

As of late, under the weight of growing budget deficits, the United States has been undergoing cuts to its national medical and public health infrastructure. Foreign aid from the U.S. and Europe for global health programs is also diminishing. A balancing act between cutting fraud, waste, and abuse within the U.S. system and legal challenges engendered by the shutting of clinics and planned health agency reorganization is occurring. The constriction of budgets and lasting effects of the pandemic are altering the healthcare system landscape globally: in Europe with the proposed formation of a European Health Union, India with decentered regulation and the rise in private actors in healthcare provision, and the U.S. in the form of a state-by-state shift towards Medicaid privatization. Some medical authorities would say that such changes lead to economical quality care, yet the diminishment of practices largely taken for granted, such as universal immunization and fluoridation and the dominance of traditional forms of medical practice calls for greater scrutiny and possible increased flexibility. Health policy requires evolution to assure the widest possible distribution of responsibly managed resources.

In the first Special Issue, the authors described legislative and guidelines-related responses to cancer, state laws and systems of care for cardiovascular conditions,  policies to guide obstetric and gynecologic services, especially for marginalized patients, and policy relating to pharmacist and pharmacy technician provision of diabetes care and vaccination. Their articles demonstrated the role of legislation in furthering access to healthcare services, ranging from stroke to cancer; the emergence of education as a cost-cutting tool in service delivery; and the role of multi-criteria decision making in the prioritization of community healthcare resources.

Healthcare announces a new call for papers in relation to this background context and these current events, dealing with policy interventions aimed at promoting health and ameliorating disease in these changing times. Submitted papers are expected to address the importance not just of updated medical and public health practices but also of policy as it pertains to multiple persons, groups, and populations. Articles may address contrasting portions of the healthcare and public health spectrum—from high-tech medical technologies to mental and behavioral health to lifestyle, genetic to environmental considerations, and patient as well as professional health education. The ideal is for health policy to precede or parallel scientific advancement. The consequences of setting policymaking aside lead to questionable or unethical practice on the part of individual actors and companies, the marketing of preventive or therapeutic regimens that are at best ineffective and at worst dangerous, and discriminatory or inequitable health practices.

In addition to original research articles and reviews, acceptable submission formats include perspective pieces, project reports, and program brief reports.

The pace of healthcare progress is ongoing. Translation to the clinical domain, population level, and realm of oversight depends on thoughtful policy articulation. Authors are invited to contribute work that will extend current policy thought and create new insights from within their respective fields to improve health and health guidance.

Dr. Stephen M. Modell
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• health policy
• policy making
• health promotion
• prevention
• guideline
• legislation
• delivery of health care
• health services research
• public health

• Policy Interventions to Promote Health and Prevent Disease in Healthcare (14 articles)