The voice of society in healthcare politics in Latvia (original) (raw)
Related papers
Cooperation and Collaboration Impact on Policy Development: HIV/AIDS Policy in Latvia
Sociology Study
This article describes a case study of trends of governance approach implementation in the health policy development and implementation process in Latvia, in the state in transition, or "new democracy". Latvia became an independent democratic state in 1991, regaining its freedom after being part of the Soviet Union for 50 years. As the three Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) had a common history and starting point in the health reform implementation, the data of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) incidence and implemented policy steps were analyzed and compared of all the three states. The research provides insight into the HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) situation in Latvia from the time when the first patient was diagnosed till nowadays, describing the initiatives that were implemented to combat the spread of HIV infection and analyze the impact of different stakeholders in the policy development and implementation process. Although the main reform implementation actors in Latvia were Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or patient organizations by performing cooperation and collaboration with all the actors involved in the policy development and implementation process, more profound investigation reveals that major impact came from "old democracies", international and global organizations as well as from physicians and commercial powers by providing a suitable environment for the reform development.
Participatory Governance in the Public Healthcare Systems of the Scandinavian and Baltic Countries
2011
The diminished trust of citizens in the public sector, the increased complexity of policy issues and the reforms in accordance with the new public management principles generate the need of focusing more extensively on participatory governance. Participatory governance can be defined as the genuine engagement of citizens and other organizations in the formulation of policies and strategies, in the decision-making
Policy, 2009
For further information, please contact: The Institute On Governance (IOG) is a Canadian, non-profit public interest consultancy that provides an independent source of knowledge, research and advice on governance issues, both in Canada and internationally. Governance is concerned with how decisions important to a society or an organization are taken. It helps define who should have power and why, who should have voice in decision-making, and how account should be rendered. Using core principles of sound governance-legitimacy and voice, direction, performance, accountability, and fairness-the IOG explores what good governance means in different contexts. We analyze questions of public policy and organizational leadership, and publish articles and papers related to the principles and practices of governance. We form partnerships and knowledge networks to explore high priority issues. Linking the conceptual and theoretical principles of governance to the world of everyday practice, we provide advice to governments, communities, business and public organizations on how to assess the quality of their governance, and how to develop programs for improvement. You will find additional information on our activities on the IOG website at www.iog.ca
International Journal of Health Governance, 2020
PurposeThe effectiveness of non-governmental organization (NGO) participation in the healthcare sector has been demonstrated globally. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the status of Iranian NGOs’ contribution to health policy-making, the barriers to and strategies for developing their contribution.Design/methodology/approachIn this qualitative study, 25 participants were recruited from health-related NGOs in Tabriz, Iran. Semi-structured, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted. Furthermore, a set of relevant documents were collected and their contents evaluated. The text of documents and interviews were analyzed using a thematic (deductive–inductive) approach using NVivo software.FindingsMost NGO activity has been in the area of providing services, whereas the least amount of activity has been in the domain of policy-making. Factors that were influential for NGO participation in policy-making were divided into three categories: those related to government, to civi...
Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2017
The Bulgarian Partnership for Health was established in 2015 as a new forum for health policy formulation and discussion. The Partnership presents a new approach of structured and sustained stakeholder involvement to overcome the lack of public participation in health policy development and implementation. Constituted as a permanent consultative body to the Council of Ministers, the Partnership engages a wide variety of stakeholders and professionals to shape and improve health policies. The shared governance of the Partnership between the Minister of Health and a patient organisation supports the elaboration of legislative acts based on the stakeholders' collaboration in priority areas. The governance and organisational structure of the Partnership assures capacity building, fast mobilisation of experts, continuity of stakeholder involvement, and increased responsibility in health policy development and implementation. This type of participatory approach may help reconcile init...
Scandinavian Political Studies, 2012
The article presents a comparative analysis of the strategies applied by Danish and Norwegian patient organisations and organisations for disabled persons in order to promote the interests of their members. Three research questions are addressed: Are Danish and Norwegian patient organisations service organisations operating according to a 'logic of membership' or political pressure groups acting according to a 'logic of influence'? Do patient organisations apply 'insider' or 'outsider' strategies in their efforts to influence healthcare policies? What impact do different authority structures have on the patient organisations' influencing strategies? The latter question is related to recent reforms in the public healthcare systems of the two countries. The major responsibility for public hospitals now rests with regional authorities in Denmark and central government in Norway.The study is based on a survey among nationwide patient organisations in the two countries and shows that most patient groups are 'polyvalent' 'venue shoppers' combining a variety of influencing strategies.
Evaluation of healthcare policy in Latvia
SHS Web of Conferences, 2018
Performance of healthcare system of Latvia has been criticised for several years, due to the problems of accessibility, weak efficiency and insufficient funding. Politicians, foreign and local experts all agree upon the need of reforms to improve the performance of the healthcare system. The aims are defined in long-term policy documents, but there are no defined tasks to be made and aims to be achieved in mid-term and short-term policy. The aim of the research was to make evaluation of performance of Latvia healthcare system as well as evaluation according to “Health 2020” framework recommendations. The results showed that changes in the healthcare system in Latvia are made on ‘ad-hoc’ basis without a strategic long-term plan, and despite the fact that guidelines on the public health refear to “Health 2020”, the changes that are made and reforms that are planned are not in compliance with “Health 2020”. Work on social determinants (equity, universal coverage, accessibility) hasn’t ...
Involvement that makes an impact on healthcare: Perceptions of the Swedish public
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2017
Aim: ‘Participation and influence in society’ is the first of 11 objective domains in Swedish public health policy. The aim of this article is to investigate the views of the Swedish general population on the impact of a range of health participation activities, and whether these views were associated with sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: The study utilizes a national representative survey of the Swedish population, aged 15 years and over ( n = 1500). Results: Apart from voting in regional elections – which most of the respondents believed to be an influential way to make improvements in healthcare (74%) – respondents believed more in individual patient activities than activities associated with adopting a citizen role and acting collectively. A majority of respondents believed in the impact of replying to patient surveys (67%), making a complaint (61%), talking directly to staff (58%) or changing their healthcare provider (54%). Fewer believed in the impact of joining a p...
Objective: To assess the concept of public involvement in the decision-making process in the healthcare sector in Poland. Methods: A poll was conducted in 2011 on a representative random sample of residents of Poland. Respondents were asked about their preferences concerning the selection of the groups most appropriately representing public interests in the process of decision-making in the healthcare: Patients' Advocacy Groups (PAGs), Carers' Advocacy Groups (CAGs) and Citizens' Councils (CCs). A systematic literature review was performed to study real life examples of patients' involvement in the decision making processes in the Polish healthcare sector as well. Results: In total, 83% of respondents would wish the participation of PAGs in decisionmaking concerning healthcare resources. The attitude to the engagement of CAGs and CCs was still positive but significantly lower, by 6 and 7 percentage points respectively. Some socio-demographic differences were observed. In the literature review, five examples of the Polish patients' empowerment and three cases of PAGs' engagement in decision making process were identified. Conclusions: Although its importance was met with a universal approval by the majority of responders, real life examples of public engagement in decision making process indicate there is still room for improvement in the Polish healthcare.
Role of Interest Groups in Brokering Health Policy: The Case of Czech Health-Care Reform
With respect to an experience from a health-care reform process in the Czech Republic,the authors (corresponding to similar views of other authors) assume that failing health-care reforms can be explained by studying the roles and positions of key interest groups (health-care providers, insurance funds, pharmaceutical industry,etc.) in the health-care sector. From this point of view, a successful reform policy has to take into consideration not only objective concepts (such as need, access, quality and / or cost-control) but also the level of satisfaction of each key interest group involved in the service delivery. The aim of the paper is (1) to reveal economic interests of the principal Czech health-care sector actors and (2) to deduce whether the latest reform proposal could be successful.