Understanding Australian policies on public health using social and political science theories: reflections from an Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Workshop.

There is strong, and growing, evidence documenting health inequities across the world. However, most governments do not prioritize policies to encourage action on the social determinants of health and health equity. Furthermore, despite evidence concerning the benefits of joined-up, intersectoral policy to promote health and health equity, it is rare for such policy approaches to be applied systematically. To examine the usefulness of political and social science theory in understanding the reasons for this disjuncture between evidence and practice, researchers and public servants gathered in Adelaide for an Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) Workshop. This paper draws together the learnings that emerged from the Workshop, including key messages about the usefulness of various theories as well as insights drawn from policy practice. Discussions during the Workshop highlighted that applying multiple theories is particularly helpful in directing attention to, and understanding, the influence of all stages of the policy process; from the construction and framing of policy problems, to the implementation of policy and evaluation of outcomes, including those outcomes that may be unintended. In addition, the Workshop emphasized the value of collaborations among public health researchers, political and social scientists and public servants to open up critical discussion about the intersections between theory, research evidence and practice. Such critique is vital to render visible the processes through which particular sources of knowledge may be privileged over others and to examine how political and bureaucratic environments shape policy proposals and implementation action.

Avaliação da coluna lombar e torácica nas situações com salto alto e com os pés descalços com o instrumento arcômetro / Evaluation of the thoracic and lumbar spine in situations using high heels and barefoot with the arcometer instrument

O salto alto há muitos anos tem sido um grande aliado das mulheres, tornando-se uma ferramenta fundamental em seu dia a dia. Contudo, a utilização indiscriminada, seja do ponto de vista da frequência de utilização ou da altura do salto, pode trazer prejuízos para a saúde do corpo, que, a busca do melhor equilíbrio, pode desencadear alterações da postura, trazendo problemas para os pés e para a coluna vertebral. Os objetivos deste estudo foram: identificar a postura das curvaturas das colunas vertebral, torácica e lombar de estudantes universitárias, a partir do conhecimento dos ângulos destas curvaturas, e comparar esta postura nas situações com salto alto e com os pés descalços. Foram avaliadas 34 estudantes do sexo feminino, com idades médias de 20±1,9 anos, utilizando o instrumento arcômetro, nas situações com salto alto de 9 cm de altura e com pés descalços. O arcômetro foi colocado sobre os processos espinhosos das vértebras T1, T12, L1 e L5, identificados por palpação, e forneceu os ângulos das curvaturas. Para verificar as diferenças dos ângulos e da postura entre as duas situações de teste, foram utilizados o teste t pareado e o do χ2, respectivamente (a=0,05). Os resultados demonstraram que a utilização de salto alto não modificou significativamente os ângulos das curvaturas torácica e lombar da coluna vertebral, bem como não interferiu na classificação da postura das estudantes universitárias, as quais, em sua maioria, apresentaram postura normal da coluna vertebral.

For many years, high heels have been a great ally of women becoming an important tool in their everyday lives. However, its use, especially indiscriminate in the point of view of the use frequency or heel height, can bring harm to the body, which, in the search for better balance, may favor body posture changes by bringing injuries to the feet and to the spine. The aims of this study were: to identify the curvatures position of the vertebral, thoracic, and lumbar spines of university students from the knowledge of curvature angles and to compare this approach in situations with high heels and barefoot. Thirty-four female students were evaluated, and their mean age was 20±1.9 years-old, using the arcometer instrument, in situations with high heels, 9 inches tall and barefoot. The arcometer was placed on the spinous processes of T1, T12, L1 and L5 vertebrae, identified by palpation, and it provided the angles of each of the bends. For verification of differences of the angles and body posture between both test situations, the t and χ2 tests, were, respectively, used (a=0.05). The results showed that using high heels did not significantly alter the angles of curvature of the thoracic and lumbar spines and did not affect the classification of the body posture of physical therapy students, who mostly presented normal posture of the spine.