Social movements and public health advocacy in action: the UK people's health movement.

There are growing calls within public health for researchers and practitioners working to improve and protect the public's health to become more involved in politics and advocacy. Such a move takes practitioners and researchers beyond the traditional, evidence-based public health paradigm, raising potential dilemmas and risks for those who undertake such work. Drawing on the example of the People's Health Movement, this short paper argues that advocacy and social movements are an essential component of public health's efforts to achieve great health equity. It outlines how the Scottish branch of the People's Health Movement sought to overcome potential tensions between public health evidence and advocacy by developing a regional manifesto for health via transparent and democratic processes which combine empirical and experiential evidence. We suggest that this is an illustrative example of how potential tensions between public health research and advocacy can be overcome, through bottom-up movements of solidarity and action.

Assessment of the indoor environment and implications for health in Roma villages in Slovakia and Romania.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to provide information on indoor air quality and on the quality of the broader indoor environment of the houses in Roma villages in Slovakia and Romania and to discuss possible implications for health. METHODS: Indoor air was sampled in 11 houses in a Romanian Roma village and in 19 houses in a Slovakian Roma village. Levels of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), total particulate matter (PM), temperature and humidity were measured. A questionnaire and a checklist were used to obtain additional information on the indoor environment and behavioural factors. We have sampled the same houses in winter and in summer. RESULTS: Levels of CO and CO2 were higher in winter in both countries as compared to summer. The limit value of 10 mg/m3 CO was exceeded in a few cases in both countries. In general, levels of CO, CO2 and PM were higher in Romania. Further environmental and behavioural hazards such as indoor smoking, pets inside or lack of ventilation were found. The reported self-perceived quality of the indoor environment was poor in many aspects. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings of CO, CO2 and PM levels suggest that indoor air pollution in Roma settlements has the potential to be a health threat. The fact that the inhabitants spend a relatively long time inside the houses and that a number of additional environmental and behavioural hazards were identified by our study emphasizes the importance of the indoor air quality for health and thus priority attention should be paid to these issues by health authorities and researchers. Further research is essential and study designs must consider cultural background and specific characteristics of the community, especially in order to obtain valid data on health outcomes.

Relation of employment status, behavioral and social conditions on individual perception of health in a region of Slovakia: pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The question of the health status of the unemployed in the Slovak Republic is a relatively unexplored area of study, in spite of the fact that the country has experienced one of the most consistently high unemployment rates among the 27 states of the EU. The aim of the pilot study was to identify the health and the other impacts of unemployment on the population in the region of Zvolen. METHODS: two groups of respondents were studied: the long-term unemployed and a control group of the employed. The data was collected using the guided-interview questionnaire procedure. A total of 214 respondents were observed out of which 107 were from the long-term unemployed group and 107 from the control group. There were 83 male (38.8%) and 131 female respondents (61.2%). The average age of the group was 36.0 (CI 95% = 33.8-38.3). RESULTS: Using logistic regression, it was established that the chances of finding a job were 1.08 times greater in cases of a higher level of education (OR = 1.08, CI 95% = 1.04-1.12, P < or = 0,001). It was also established that smoking decreases the chances of finding employment by OR = 0.91 (CI 95% = 0.83-0.98) times (P < or = 0.01). People who are employed consume more alcohol attaining OR = 1.28 (CI 95% = 1.21-1.35) compared to the unemployed (P < or =0.0001). CONCLUSION: The study proved that even with restricted resources it is possible to obtain credible results comparable with those achieved by more complex studies.