PGZ2025
Public Health Policy
Maastricht University
1
, Policy is sometimes simply defined as “a statement of what should happen”. A more
extensive definition is “Policy … refers to a deliberate course of (in-)action selected from
available alternatives to achieve a certain outcome.” (Versluis et al., 2010). Public health
policies can for instance be aimed at reducing sickness absence rates of employees or
forbidding smoking in public places. Policies can be developed on various levels:
globally, e.g. by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or International Labour
Organisation (ILO); nationally, by governments; and locally, in municipalities and public
or private organizations.
Public Health Policy
Public Health policy addresses how public and private policies about public health are
developed and implemented. Characteristic for these policies is that they aim at
improving health of specific populations. It includes policies made in the public sector
(by government) as well as policies in the private sector. Because Public Health is
influenced by many determinants outside the Public Health system, there is also interest
in actions of organizations outside the Public Health system. For example, in relation to
occupational health, many private agencies offer services to improve employee health
and reduce sickness absence.
Policy Making Process
The process of policy-making is defined as the process from agenda setting, policy
formulation, policy implementation, to policy evaluation and policy assurance. Policy
making is regarded as a political process involving a certain distribution of power: Who
makes the decisions? Why are certain policies developed? Who is implementing them?
Knowledge of contextual factors is necessary to understand decisions made, policies
developed and success and failure of implementation.
Public Health policy is regarded as the outcome of research, knowledge, institutional
characteristics such as legislation and the political process itself. Public Health policy
itself needs to be implemented in order to become effective. There are two ways to
implement health policies in general: change the culture (such as routines of
professionals) and designing systems that encompass organizational change. Often both
are combined. Once a Public Health policy is implemented, monitoring is needed. This
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Public Health Policy
Maastricht University
1
, Policy is sometimes simply defined as “a statement of what should happen”. A more
extensive definition is “Policy … refers to a deliberate course of (in-)action selected from
available alternatives to achieve a certain outcome.” (Versluis et al., 2010). Public health
policies can for instance be aimed at reducing sickness absence rates of employees or
forbidding smoking in public places. Policies can be developed on various levels:
globally, e.g. by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or International Labour
Organisation (ILO); nationally, by governments; and locally, in municipalities and public
or private organizations.
Public Health Policy
Public Health policy addresses how public and private policies about public health are
developed and implemented. Characteristic for these policies is that they aim at
improving health of specific populations. It includes policies made in the public sector
(by government) as well as policies in the private sector. Because Public Health is
influenced by many determinants outside the Public Health system, there is also interest
in actions of organizations outside the Public Health system. For example, in relation to
occupational health, many private agencies offer services to improve employee health
and reduce sickness absence.
Policy Making Process
The process of policy-making is defined as the process from agenda setting, policy
formulation, policy implementation, to policy evaluation and policy assurance. Policy
making is regarded as a political process involving a certain distribution of power: Who
makes the decisions? Why are certain policies developed? Who is implementing them?
Knowledge of contextual factors is necessary to understand decisions made, policies
developed and success and failure of implementation.
Public Health policy is regarded as the outcome of research, knowledge, institutional
characteristics such as legislation and the political process itself. Public Health policy
itself needs to be implemented in order to become effective. There are two ways to
implement health policies in general: change the culture (such as routines of
professionals) and designing systems that encompass organizational change. Often both
are combined. Once a Public Health policy is implemented, monitoring is needed. This
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