Why policy needs history (and historians).

Policy makers like the idea of new initiatives and fresh starts, unencumbered by, even actively overthrowing, what has been done in the past. At the same time, history can be pigeonholed as fusty and antiquarian, dealing with long past events of no relevance to the present. Academic historians are sometimes bound up in their own worlds. The debates central to academe may have little direct relevance to the immediate concerns of policy making. The paper argues that history, as the evidence-based discipline par excellence, is as relevant as other approaches to evidence-based policy making. Case studies can show us the nature of that relevance. How to achieve influence for history also needs discussion. The relationship is not straightforward and will vary according to time and place. History is an interpretative discipline, not just a collection of 'facts'. The paper discusses how historians work and why it is important for policy makers to engage, not just with history, but with historians as well. Historians too need to think about the value of bringing their analysis into policy.

Do benefits in kind or refunds affect health service utilization and health outcomes? A natural experiment from Japan.

Although the payment systems of public health insurance vary greatly across countries, we still have limited knowledge of their effects. To quantify the changes from a benefits in kind system to a refund system, we exploit the largest physician strike in Japan since the Second World War. During the strike in 1971 led by the Japan Medical Association (JMA), JMA physicians resigned as health insurance doctors, but continued to provide medical care and even health insurance treatment in some areas. This study uses the regional differences in resignation rates as a natural experiment to examine the effect of the payment method of health insurance on medical service utilization and health outcomes. In the main analysis, aggregated monthly prefectural data are used (N=46). Our estimation results indicate that if the participation rate of the strike had increased by 1% point and proxy claims were refused completely, the number of cases of insurance benefits and the total amount of insurance benefits would have decreased by 0.78% and 0.58%, respectively compared with the same month in the previous year. Moreover, the average amount of insurance benefits per claim increased since patients with relatively less serious diseases might have sought health care less often. Finally, our results suggest that the mass of resignations did not affect death rates.

'A Theory of the Allocation of Time' Turns Fifty: Its Impact on the Field of Health Economics.

The year 2015 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of 'A Theory of the Allocation of Time,' by Gary S. Becker in the 1965 volume of The Economic Journal. To mark that occasion, this editorial focuses on the importance of that paper in the history and evolution of the field of health economics.

On TB Vaccines, Patients' Demands, and Modern Printed Media in Times of Biomedical Uncertainties: Buenos Aires, 1920-1950.

Reconstructing some of the experiences of people living with tuberculosis in Argentina in the first half of the twentieth century, as reflected not only in written and oral accounts but also in individual and collective actions, this article explores the ways in which patients came to grips with medical expertise in times of biomedical uncertainty. These negotiations, which inevitably included adaptations as well as confrontations, highlight a much less passive and submissive patient-physician relationship than is often assumed. Though patients were certainly subordinate to medical doctors' knowledge and practices, that subordination, far from absolute, was limited and often overthrown. The article focuses on patients' demands to gain access to a vaccine not approved by the medical establishment. By engaging with media organizations, the sick invoked their "right to health" in order to obtain access to experimental treatments when biomedicine was unable to deliver efficient therapies.

[Civil hospital of Zamora de Hidalgo]. / Hospital Civil de Zamora de Hidalgo.

The city of Zamora de Hidalgo is home to one of the most important hospitals in the region, built in 1841 and named the Civil Hospital of Zamora. Built following demand for municipal health needs and with the support of the City Council of Zamora and private donations, it functioned as a hostel for pilgrims, the destitute and the sick. It was administered and maintained by residents, subsequently by the mothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and finally by the federal Government. It currently gives the Zamorano community services, and admits sick people from other locations such as Jacona, Jiquilpan, Patamban Ocumicho, Chavinda, Tangancicuaro, Chilchota, and Tangamandapio, among others. It was called the Civil hospital because as the only hospital that operated in Zamora, it ceased to be administered by the Ecclesiastic Chapter, and passed into the hands of the State.

Diego Rivera: gran maestro y un didáctico y lúcido historiador de la medicina / Diego Rivera: a great master and a didactic and discerning medical historian

Diego Rivera is one of the artistic giants of the 20th century. His many original creations included landscapes, portraits and large murals created in both Mexico and the United States. Rivera ventured into many styles-cubism, naturalism and narrative realism-with great success. Rivera’s murals build on those of the Renaissance, pre-historic and colonial civilizations of Mexico. Biological and medical topics and their history form an important concern in Rivera’s work, present in many of his murals in a highly informative and creative manner. His two History of Cardiology murals present an original and comprehensive account of the developments of this medical specialty from pre-historic to modern times. His History of Medicine in Mexico (The people demands health) mural is a creatively and vigorously fashioned and highly dynamic and synthetic vision of the relationships between pre-historic and modern medicine in Mexico and its social foundations. Medical topics such as vaccines and vaccination, embryology and surgery are inventively and accurately presented in the large mural, Detroit Industry. The trigger and impetus for the concern of Rivera for these topics of life and death, and the exceedingly ground-breaking way he presents them, appear to stem from his rational materialism, his concern for collective wellbeing, his belief in progress through scientific developments and political action and his commitment to understand Mexican and American history.

The Social Work Reinvestment Initiative: advocacy and social work practice.

In 2006, NASW launched the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative by granting each state chapter $15,000 in seed money to address the most pressing social work needs in the state. This article describes how NASW-SD, with 246 members, launched an epic campaign that resulted in the establishment of the only MSW program in South Dakota. Using historical research methods, this article demonstrates the power of social work advocacy when members unify in pursuit of a common goal and describes how the social workers rallied to educate policymakers and the public on the value of social work and its delivery of necessary social services at all levels and in all fields of practice. The research highlights an uphill battle of advocacy and the skillful planning and implementation of a campaign to secure state funding to establish the first MSW program in the state, at the beginning of the most difficult economic recession since the Great Depression.

Nursing education development in China (1887-1949): influences on contemporary nursing.

BACKGROUND: On 8 May 2013, the Chinese Nursing Association joined the International Council of Nurses. It is hoped that by sharing the history of nursing in China, scholars globally can incorporate into current thinking the challenges that Chinese nurses have faced in pursuing educational development and professional acknowledgement. AIM: To review the history of nurse education in China between 1887 and 1949 and summarize events marking its development; and to provide historical references for considering contemporary nurse education and discipline development in China. METHODS: Content analysis using bibliometric and historical research methods on available documentation sources. Milestone events were listed and their historical significance analysed. RESULTS: Nurse education development during this period was affected by three major influences: (1) international nursing collaboration and involvement with Chinese nursing in China and abroad, (2) the determination of leaders to develop nursing as a unique and ethical profession, and (3) the pressure of war and civilian need on the focus of nursing development in China. CONCLUSION: The development of nurse education in China occurred within an environment of social change, war and international collaboration. Throughout the Modern China period (1887-1949), nursing leadership has guided the growth of nurse education to be responsive to individual and community needs as well as ensuring nurse accountability for conduct and nursing practice. Contemporary Chinese nursing and education owes much to those throughout the Modern China period, who laid the foundations that support the current position and status of nursing. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: The study displays the benefits and challenges of participation in policy and forums that help nurse scholars and practitioners understand the development of nurse education in China.

The history of organ donation and transplantation in Iran.

The first kidney transplant in Iran was performed in 1967, and this was the first organ transplant in countries that are current members of the Middle East Society for Organ Transplantation. In 1988, in response to the long waiting list at the Iranian Ministry of Health for kidney transplant, a state-regulated living-unrelated donor kidney transplant program was adopted. By 1999, the kidney transplant waiting list in Iran was eliminated. In 1989, a fatwa (religious approval) from the Supreme Religious Leader was obtained that recognized brain death and allowed deceased-donor organ transplant. Subsequently, transplant centers began performing deceased-donor kidney, liver, and heart transplants. In 2000, the Brain Death and Organ Transplantation Act was passed by the Iranian parliament, legalizing deceased-donor organ transplant. The transplant team at Shiraz began performing more deceased-donor kidney and liver transplants and became a successful deceased-donor organ transplant model in the country. By the end of 2012, there were 34166 kidney (including 4436 deceased-donor) and 2021 liver (including 1788 deceased-donor), 482 heart, 147 pancreas, 63 lung, and several intestine and multiorgan transplants performed in Iran. In 2011, there were 2771 solid-organ transplants performed in Iran (37 transplants per million population), and Iran ranked as number 33 among the 50 most active countries worldwide. In 2011 and 2012, Iran was ahead of all country members of the Middle East Society for Organ Transplantation in performing deceased-donor kidney and liver transplants.

[Diego Rivera: a great master and a didactic and discerning medical historian]. / Diego Rivera: gran maestro y un didáctico y lúcido historiador de la medicina.

Diego Rivera is one of the artistic giants of the 20th century. His many original creations included landscapes, portraits and large murals created in both Mexico and the United States. Rivera ventured into many styles-cubism, naturalism and narrative realism-with great success. Rivera's murals build on those of the Renaissance, pre-historic and colonial civilizations of Mexico. Biological and medical topics and their history form an important concern in Rivera's work, present in many of his murals in a highly informative and creative manner. His two History of Cardiology murals present an original and comprehensive account of the developments of this medical specialty from pre-historic to modern times. His History of Medicine in Mexico (The people demands health) mural is a creatively and vigorously fashioned and highly dynamic and synthetic vision of the relationships between pre-historic and modern medicine in Mexico and its social foundations. Medical topics such as vaccines and vaccination, embryology and surgery are inventively and accurately presented in the large mural, Detroit Industry. The trigger and impetus for the concern of Rivera for these topics of life and death, and the exceedingly ground-breaking way he presents them, appear to stem from his rational materialism, his concern for collective wellbeing, his belief in progress through scientific developments and political action and his commitment to understand Mexican and American history.

History counts: how history can shape our understanding of health policy.

Historians of nursing can inform and provide perspective and context to the discipline and to policy makers. This article provides several examples of the interplay of history and health policy debates across time and place. From issues of the nursing workforce to discussions about the skill level needed to safely care for patients and the issues of practice boundaries, history provides evidence for shaping our understanding of and engagement with health policy. History offers a way to understand the present and think about the future. It illustrates a critical perspective for both action and advocacy.