West Oakland's Experience in Building Community Power to Confront Environmental Injustice Through California's Assembly Bill 617.

We explored how air quality management processes associated with Assembly Bill 617 (AB 617) in West Oakland, California, represent a shift in power relationships between government agencies and communities toward the goal of addressing legacies of environmental injustice. We drew from a statewide assessment of community engagement in AB 617's first year, and an analysis of the West Oakland AB 617 process. The first comprised 2 statewide surveys (n = 102 and n = 106), 70 key informant interviews, observation of all AB 617 first-year sites, and analysis of related planning documents. The second comprised 2 rounds of interviews (n = 22 and n = 23, with a total of 19 individuals) and extensive participant observation. Several factors are necessary for pursuing environmental justice: (1) invest in community partnerships and collaborations, (2) honor community knowledge and data, (3) ensure that community constituents share power in environmental governance, and (4) adopt explicit racial justice frameworks. Although still a work in progress, AB 617 offers important lessons for community and policy organizations nationwide engaged in environmental justice. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(2):262-270. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306592).

The Impact of the Long-term Care Homes Act and Public Reporting on Physical Restraint and Potentially Inappropriate Antipsychotic Use in Ontario's Long-term Care Homes.

BACKGROUND: We report on the impact of two system-level policy interventions (the Long-Term Care Homes Act [LTCHA] and Public Reporting) on publicly reported physical restraint use and non-publicly reported potentially inappropriate use of antipsychotics in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: We used interrupted time series analysis to model changes in the risk-adjusted use of restraints and antipsychotics before and after implementation of the interventions. Separate analyses were completed for early ([a] volunteered 2010/2011) and late ([b] volunteered March 2012; [c] mandated September 2012) adopting groups of Public Reporting. Outcomes were measured using Resident Assessment Instrument Minimum Data Set (RAI-MDS) data from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2014. RESULTS: For early adopters, enactment of the LTCHA in 2010 was not associated with changes in physical restraint use, while Public Reporting was associated with an increase in the rate (slope) of decline in physical restraint use. By contrast, for the late-adopters of Public Reporting, the LTCHA was associated with significant decreases in physical restraint use over time, but there was no significant increase in the rate of decline associated with Public Reporting. As the LTCHA was enacted, potentially inappropriate use of antipsychotics underwent a rapid short-term increase in the early volunteer group, but, over the longer term, their use decreased for all three groups of homes. CONCLUSIONS: Public Reporting had the largest impact on voluntary early adopters while legislation and regulations had a more substantive positive effect upon homes that delayed public reporting.

Academic Advocacy: Opportunities to Influence Health and Science Policy Under U.S. Lobbying Law.

Medical school faculty and their colleagues in schools of nursing, public health, social work, and elsewhere often research issues of critical importance to health and science policy. When academics engage with government policymakers to advocate for change based on their research, however, they may find themselves engaged in "lobbying," thereby entering a complex environment of legal requirements and institutional policies that they may not fully understand. To promote academic advocacy, this article explains what is and is not legally permitted when it comes to engaging with policymakers and encourages academic institutions to facilitate permissible advocacy activities.U.S. law permits academic researchers to conduct certain types of policy-focused advocacy without running afoul of legal restrictions on lobbying. Academics acting in their personal capacities and with their own resources may freely engage with policymakers in any branch of government to provide their expertise and advocate for desired outcomes. When acting in their professional capacities, academics are free to engage in most advocacy activities directed to the executive and judicial branches, and they also may advocate to influence legislation and legislators within certain limits that are particularly relevant to academic work. In all cases, academics must take care to not use restricted funds for lobbying.Academic researchers have an important role to play in advancing evidence-based health and science policy. They should familiarize themselves with legal restrictions and opportunities to influence policy based on their research, and their institutions should actively support them in doing so.

La protección al consumidor en las webs de juego online de los operadores con licencia en España / Consumer protection on online gambling websites hosted by licensed operators in Spain

La evolución del sector del juego online en España muestra una tendencia alcista desde el inicio del mercado regulado. Al margen de su impacto económico, es preciso tomar en consideración los aspectos sociales, de orden público y de salud asociados a esta actividad recreativa. Con el fin de promocionar actitudes de juego moderado, no compulsivo y responsable, en el artículo 8 de la Ley 13/2011, de 27 de mayo, de regulación del juego, se establece la obligatoriedad de desarrollar esta actividad lúdica desde una política integral de responsabilidad social corporativa que contemple acciones preventivas, de sensibilización, intervención y control, así como medidas para paliar los efectos negativos producidos. En este contexto, el objetivo general de esta investigación reside en analizar la política de protección al consumidor en las webs de juego responsable de los operadores de juego online con licencia en nuestro país. De la muestra inicial de 45 operadores que dispone, al menos, de un sitio web que ofrece juego online, 40 presentan una página web operativa. Las variables objeto de estudio se configuran en torno a los dos componentes principales de cualquier programa de prevención de adicciones (1) Información y sensibilización; (2) Promoción de medidas preventivas específicas. Se observa que, en líneas generales, los operadores de juego online cumplen con el deber de información sobre el juego con control, aunque se precisan mejoras que afectan tanto al fondo como a la forma de dichos mensajes

Since market regulation was first implemented, the online gambling sector in Spain has exhibited a significant upward trend. In addition to its financial impact, the social, public well-being and health implications of this leisure activity should also be taken into account. In order to foster moderate, non-compulsive and responsible attitudes towards gambling, Article 8 of the 2011 law regulating the sector requires that this leisure activity be carried out in line with a coherent policy of corporate social responsibility that encompasses prevention, awareness-raising, intervention and oversight measures, as well as strategies to deal with any negative consequences of such gambling. Against this backdrop, the overall purpose of our study is to explore the consumer protection policies posted on online gambling websites hosted by licensed operators in Spain. Of the 45 operators detected in our initial research sample, each hosting at least one online gambling website, 40 run an operational web page. The research methodology used here is content analysis. The variables explored relate to the two main dimensions of any addiction prevention program: (1) information and awareness-raising, and (2) the promotion of specific prevention measures. In general terms, real compliance with basic prevention criteria requires improvements both in terms of the content and form of these communications

Las personas mayores como colectivo especialmente protegido en el ámbito del consumo / Older people as a particularly vulnerable collective within the field of consumption / Les persones grans com a col·lectiu especialment protegit en l'àmbit del consum

¿Puede considerarse que las personas mayores son un colectivo que merece una especial protección? Esta es la pregunta que sirve como punto de partida al análisis que realiza el presente artículo. La dificultad de establecer las fronteras de edad unido al hecho de que la edad no puede ser considerado un parámetro exclusivo de vulnerabilidad nos conduce a replantear la redacción del art. 111-2 c) del Código de Consumo de Catalunya

Shall we consider older people as a collective deserving special protection? That is the starting point for the subject of the present study. The difficulty to establish the age barriers, linked to the fact that the age cannot be considered the unique and exclusive criteria of vulnerability, give us rise to reconsider the writing of the art. 111-2 c) of the Consumer Catalan Code

Es pot considerar que les persones grans són un col·lectiu que mereix una especial protecció? Aquesta és la pregunta que serveix com a punt de partida de l'anàlisi que es realitza en el present article. La dificultat d'establir les fronteres d'edat ,unit al fet que l'edat no pot ser considerat un paràmetre exclusiu de vulnerabilitat, ens condueix a replantejar la redacció de l'art. 111-2 c) del Codi de Consum de Catalunya

Criminal Justice Barriers to Treatment of Opioid Use Disorders in the United States: The Need for Public Health Advocacy.

Expanding access to treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) is central to addressing the US overdose mortality crisis. Numerous barriers to OUD treatment are encountered in criminal justice institutions and processes, with which people with OUD are disproportionately involved. OUD treatment access is severely limited in US corrections facilities, with few exceptions. Drug treatment courts, which in principle provide court-supervised treatment as an alternative to prison, have also unduly limited treatment options, particularly medication-assisted treatment. The voice and expertise of health professionals are urgently needed to remove these barriers and ensure that criminally accused persons are systematically linked to the care they need.

The development and adoption of the first statewide comprehensive policy on food service guidelines (Washington State Executive Order 13-06) for improving the health and productivity of state employees and institutionalized populations.

National health authorities uniformly express an urgent need for large-scale policies that incorporate population-based strategies to improve diet-related population health outcomes. On October 30, 2013, Washington State passed the first statewide comprehensive policy on food service guidelines (i.e., Executive Order 13-06: "Improving the Health and Productivity of State Employees and Access to Healthy Foods in State Facilities") aimed at improving diet-related health outcomes and estimated to impact 73,000 individuals. The aim of this study was to examine the facilitators and constraints to the development and passage of Executive Order 13-06 to inform future food service guideline development and passage in other agencies, states, and municipalities. We conducted 17 semi-structured telephone interviews with key stakeholders involved in the development and/or passage of Executive Order 13-06. Recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Interviewees were from local and state public health departments, Washington State government, public agencies, academia, advocacy coalitions, and national organizations. Two main coalitions (proponents and opponents) diverged in their support of the passage of Executive Order 13-06. Proponents supported it given its potential to increase access to healthy food and beverage options. Opponents felt that it was not feasible to meet food service guidelines without affecting sales and profit. Study findings highlight the importance of early engagement with stakeholders most impacted by proposed food service guidelines, using existing guidelines rather than developing new guidelines, and creating a workgroup to discuss the feasibility of food service guideline implementation and compliance.

Soberania alimentar na interseção entre bioética e direitos humanos: uma revisão integrativa da literatura / Soberanía alimentaria en la intersección entre bioética y derechos humanos: una revisión integrada de literatura / Food sovereignty in the intersection between bioethics and human rights: an integrative review of literatura / Sobirania alimentària en la intersecció entre bioètica i drets humans: una revisió integrada de literatura

O conceito de soberania alimentar pauta-se na tentativa de contrariar o sistema de produção alimentar, comandado pelas grandes empresas, que retiram o direito dos povos de decidirem sobre sua alimentação. Realizou-se uma revisão integrativa da literatura com pergunta norteadora orientada pela bioética, através da Declaração Universal sobre Bioética e Direitos Humanos. Para busca, utilizaram-se os descritores «soberania» e «alimentar», tendo como resultado 21 artigos para leitura integral. Compilou-se em três categorias: [I] Aspectos do meio-ambiente, [II] Direitos Humanos e [III] Aspectos político-econômicos. A análise demonstrou que a concentração de terras, de meios de produção, e capital, têm trazido consequências para a saúde e iniquidades das populações, sem atentar-se com a sustentabilidade e a sobrevivência do próprio planeta

El concepto de soberanía alimentaria se basa en intentar contrarrestar el sistema de producción de alimentos desarrollado por grandes empresas que anula la autonomía de las personas para decidir sobre su consumo alimentario. A través de la Declaración Universal sobre Bioética y Derechos Humanos, se realizó una revisión integral de la literatura existente guiada por una preguntada orientada dentro del campo de la bioética. La búsqueda en la base de datos se hizo con los descriptores «soberanía» y «comida», y como resultado aparecieron 21 artículos de lectura completa. Éstos se compilaron en tres categorías: [I] Aspectos vinculados al medio ambiente, [II] Derechos Humanos y [III] Aspectos político-económicos. El análisis ha demostrado que la tenencia de la tierra en pocas manos, los medios de producción y el capital han traído graves consecuencias para la población y para su salud, sin tener en cuenta la sostenibilidad y la supervivencia del planeta

El concepte de sobirania alimentària es basa en intentar contrarestar el sistema de producció d'aliments desenvolupats per grans empreses que anul·la l'autonomia de les persones per a decidir sobre el seu consum alimentari. A través de la Declaració Universal sobre Bioètica i Drets Humans, es va realitzar una revisió integral de la literatura existent guiada per una preguntada orientada dins del camp de la bioètica. La recerca dins la base de dades es va fer amb els descriptors «sobirania» i «menjar», i com a resultat varen aparèixer 21 articles de lectura completa. Aquests es van recopilar en tres categories: [I] Aspectes lligats al medi ambient, [II] Drets Humans i [III] Aspectes polític-econòmics. L'anàlisi ha demostrat que la tinència de la terra en poques mans, els mitjans de producció i el capital han generat grans conseqüències per a la població i per a la seva salut, sense tenir en compte la sostenibilitat i la supervivència del planeta

The concept of food sovereignty is based on the attempt to counteract the food production's system, led by large companies, which withdraw the autonomy of people to decide on their food actions. An integrative review of literature was conducted with a guiding question oriented by bioethics, through the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. The search on the database was made with the descriptors «sovereignty» and «food», resulting in 21 articles for full reading. They were compiled in three categories: [I] Aspects of the environment, [II] Human Rights and [III] Political-economic aspects. The analysis has shown that the concentrations of land, means of production, and capital, have brought consequences for the iniquities of populations and their health, without regard to the sustainability and survival of the planet

El TJUE reafirma que las bebidas vegetales no pueden llamarse «leche» en base a las normas de protección del mercado lácteo, pero ¿qué hay del interés del consumidor? / The CJEU confirms firms that plant based products cannot use the term «milk» because of the rules of protection of the dairy market. But what about consumer interest? / El TJUE reafirma que les begudes vegetals no poden anomenar-se «llet» en base a les normes de protecció del mercat làctic, però què hi ha de l’interès del consumidor?

El pasado 14 de junio, el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea resolvió en cuestión prejudicial que la denominación «leche» y otras denominaciones de "productos lácteos" deben reservarse a productos de origen animal. El fallo responde a la cuestión prejudicial planteada por un Tribunal alemán durante el litigio entre VSW, asociación empresarial alemana y TofuTown, productora y distribuidora de alimentos vegetarianos/veganos. El fallo del Tribunal señala que designar un producto puramente vegetal como «leche de…» vulnera el derecho de la Unión por ser contrario a la normativa de protección del sector lácteo. Pero la sentencia no analiza si estas denominaciones ponen en jaque la protección del derecho del consumidor a una información alimentaria clara, objetiva y contrastada científicamente

On June 14, the Court of Justice of the European Union resolved in a preliminary ruling that the name "milk" and other denominations of "dairy products" must be reserved for products of animal origin. The verdict responds to the preliminary ruling proposed by a German Court during the lawsuit between VS W, German business association and TofuTown, a company that produces and distributes vegetarian/vegan foodstuffs. The Court's ruling indicates that designating a purely plant based product like "milk" breaks the Union Law to be contrary to the legislation protecting the dairy sector. However, the ruling does not analyze whether these descriptions check the protection of the consumer right to clear, objective and scientifically corroborated food information

El passat 14 de juny, el Tribunal de Justícia de la Unió Europea va resoldre en qüestió prejudicial que la denominació «llet» i altres denominacions de «productes làctics» han de reservar-se a productes d'origen animal. La decisió respon a la qüestió prejudicial plantejada per un Tribunal alemany durant el litigi entre VSW, associació empresarial alemanya i TofuTown, productora i distribuïdora d'aliments vegetarians/vegans. La decisió del Tribunal estableix que designar un producte purament vegetal com a «llet de…» vulnera el dret de la Unió Europea perquè és contrari a la normativa de protecció del sector làctic. Però la sentència no analitza si aquestes denominacions posen en entredit la protecció del dret del consumidor a una informació alimentària clara, objectiva i contrastada científicament

Balance Billing by Health Care Providers: Assessing Consumer Protections Across States.

ISSUE: Privately insured consumers expect that if they pay premiums and use in-network providers, their insurer will cover the cost of medically necessary care beyond their cost-sharing. However, when obtaining care at emergency departments and in-network hospitals, patients treated by an out-of-network provider may receive an unexpected "balance bill" for an amount beyond what the insurer paid. With no explicit federal protections against balance billing, some states have stepped in to protect consumers from this costly and confusing practice. GOAL: To better understand the scope of state laws to protect consumers from balance billing. METHODS: Analysis of laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and interviews with officials in eight states. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Most states do not have laws that directly protect consumers from balance billing by an out-of-network provider for care delivered in an emergency department or in-network hospital. Of the 21 states offering protections, only six have a comprehensive approach to safeguarding consumers in both settings, and gaps remain even in these states. Because a federal policy solution might prove difficult, states may be better positioned in the short term to protect consumers.

Predicament of Chinese legislation on genetically modified food (GMF) labeling management and solutions - from the perspective of the new food safety law.

BACKGROUND: This paper considers the background of Article 69 of the newly revised Food Safety Law in China in combination with the current situation of Chinese legislation on GMF labeling management, compared with a foreign genetically modified food labeling management system, revealing deficiencies in the Chinese legislation with respect to GMF labeling management, and noting that institutions should properly consider the GMF labeling management system in China. RESULTS: China adheres to the principle of mandatory labeling based on both product and processes in relation to GMFs and implements a system of process-centered mandatory labeling under a negotiation-construction form. However, China has not finally defined the supervision mode of mandatory labeling of GMFs through laws, and this remains a challenge for GMF labeling management when two mandatory labeling modes coexist. CONCLUSION: Since April 2015 and October 1, 2015 when the Food Safety Law was revised and formally implemented respectively, the applicable judicial interpretations and enforcement regulations have not made applicable revisions and only principle-based terms have been included in the Food Safety Law, it is still theoretically and practically difficult for mandatory labeling of GMFs in juridical practices and conflicts between the principle of GMF labeling and the purpose that safeguards consumers' right to know remain. The GMF labeling system should be legislatively and practically improved to an extent that protects consumers' right to know. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.