From the NNIP Listserve:

Social determinants of health: a call for papers

The Lancet, Volume 371, Number 9627, 31 May 2008

Website: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673608607722/fulltext

“…..On Nov 8, 2008, The Lancet will publish a theme issue devoted to the social determinants of health. We invite submission of research papers, reviews, viewpoints, and comments with an emphasis on action—what the doctor, public-health worker, policy maker, and politician can do to reduce inequalities and tackle the broad interplay of economic and social forces affecting health.

This theme issue will be produced in parallel with a conference being held in London (Nov 6–7,2008) called :Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity Through Action on the Social Determinants of Health

The conference also aims to identify actions based on recommendations set out by the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. That Commission, chaired by Michael Marmot, will publish its final report after the summer. Launched in 2005, the Commission has used an ambitious process of knowledge networks, country consultations, and wide engagement with civil society and academia to devise a global strategy to realise longstanding hopes for health equity.

One telling example of the complexity the Commission will have to grapple with was provided last week by Save the Children. In its report The Road Less Travelled: Barriers to Poor Children's Healthcare Utilisation in Developing and Transitional Countries, Save the Children described how the child mortality gap is widening in the world's poorest countries. Transport can cost as much as half the total cost of health care. Corruption can be a major obstacle to preventive services, such as vaccination. And high drug prices can dissuade families from purchasing the care they need.

In the Commission's interim report, Marmot described health as “a universal human aspiration and a basic human need”. Although that view commands wide medical and political support, translating this vision into a practical, realisable, and affordable plan has proven beyond the ability of most nations. The Commission's work is an opportunity to turn advocacy into action. The Lancet invites clinical and public-health scientists and practitioners to make their contribution to this unprecedented international event….”

WHO: http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/

From CIC:


The Community Indicators Consortium's Sixth International Conference is only a few weeks away and it promises to be another great conference. The conference will bring together individuals and organizations from around the world to increase their knowledge of indicators and performance measurement, share ideas and experiences, and network to renew relationships and build new ones. Have you registered for the conference and booked your hotel room? If not, you can do so by going to http://www.communityindicators.net/.

The conference will focus on such topics as
--collecting, displaying and reporting data,
--linking community indicators and government performance measures,
--using data to make a difference, and
--promising practices from community indicator projects.

Panelists will be discussing community indicator projects from Boston, Massachusetts to Anchorage, Alaska from Chicago, Illinois to Miami, Florida, just to name a few. Plus, panelists will be talking about indicator systems in France and Mexico as well as globally. In addition to talking about comprehensive community indicator and performance measurement systems, panelists will also focus on measuring such important topics as measuring health, education, children's wellbeing, and the environment.

Interested in knowing more about indicator projects around the world? Then don’t miss the conference’s plenary speakers to find out about a national indicator project for the US, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing, and an international project to measure the progress of societies. Plenary speakers are:

Chris Hoenig, President and CEO, The State of the USA, who will be discussing the current status of The State of the USA’s effort to build a key national indicator system for the United States.

Alex Michalos, Ph.D., F.R.S.C., Chancellor, Director, Institute for Social Research and Evaluation, and Professor Emeritus, Political Science, University of Northern British Columbia and Research Director, Canadian Index of Wellbeing and Lynne Slotek, National Project Director, Canadian Index of Wellbeing, Atkinson Charitable Foundation will discuss their efforts to build a Canadian Index of Wellbeing.

Enrico Giovanni, Chief Statistician and Director of Statistics, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) will discuss "Measuring the Progress of Societies", a project hosted by the OECD and in collaboration with other international and regional partners.

Additionally, conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn about and provide their ideas for creating a handbook for community indicator projects by OECD.

The conference hotel, the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, located in Arlington Virginia, is an excellent venue for the conference and is conveniently located to Washington Reagan National Airport. Amtrak's Union Station is a short taxi cab or subway ride to the hotel.

Register today for this wonderful conference at http://www.communityindicators.net/. Please inform your colleagues and friends about the conference so they too will not miss this great opportunity.

A new article from Miller-McCune approaches the question of measuring happiness from a different direction. In Maybe the Government Can Make You Happier. Should It? Ryan Blitstein reviews the work being done globally, including Bhutan's Gross National Happiness index, the Beyond GDP conference, the Local Wellbeing Project, the Happy Planet Index, and more. (His review is pretty good -- he starts back with Epicurus.) Then he discusses the political framework that tends to focus on consumption rather than well-being.

His conclusion? "Still, there is no real U.S. hub for happiness policy."

Read the article, and let me know what you think. Are we missing the boat in the U.S. by not pursuing happiness indicators more aggressively? What lessons should we be learning from the amount of research being conducted?

Guest Editor:
Professor Tony Proctor, Chester Business School, University of Chester.

Marketing in the public sector faces challenges both a regional and national level. In particular, there is emphasis on performance management and the adoption of an approach to business that parallels that in the profit making private sector. As public organisations aim to produce impacts on their external environment, their performance needs to be measured, not only at the internal level but also at the external level. This is the reason why marketing approaches and their specific tools have a key role to play in the management and measurement of public performance.

The creation of initiatives between public and private sectors, involving partnerships and joint ventures companies, and, the emphasis on changing attitudes and behaviour in Society, have focussed attention on making strategic decisions in increasingly market-oriented ways. A successful adoption of a market orientation allows the public sector to become better positioned to exploit emerging opportunities. Recognition of opportunities that exist, the marketing orientation required to exploit these opportunities and the enabling strategies demanded are key to the future development of public sector organisations in the 21st century.

Theoretical and empirically-based papers are being sought for a special issue of IJPSPM which will explore to what extent marketing can, should and indeed must improve the customer orientation within the public sector and the ways in which this goal can best be achieved. The exploration of key marketing challenges and the identification of best practice in differing marketing contexts are highly topical and important. Papers adopting a theoretical approach are welcome provided they deal with new marketing tools and approaches. However, priority will be given to papers which concentrate on empirical researches (cases studies). The general theme of the special issue will be around how public sector executives plan strategic marketing activities to increase performance within their organisations.

This special edition aims to inform readers on the processes and the consequences of adopting marketing approaches within public sector. It will focus on “marketisation” (increase performance in service delivery) and social marketing in order to link these integrated marketing approaches to performance that relies not only on promotion and communication, but also on the will to identify the needs of their public. Areas that may provide an appropriate focus include (but are not necessarily limited to):

· Diversity of the demand the public manager has to face with (consumers, users, voter, tax payers). Which marketing tools are more adapted to cope with this specific demand?
· Market segmentation, targeting and positioning approaches – traditional or new approaches more adapted to public services.
· How new public services are adapted to meet the needs of a specific demand
· Analysis of users’ satisfaction within public sector organisations.
· Targeting specific publics to reach social goals.
· How marketing tools are used and adapted in order to reach performance in changing social behaviours?
· Value based marketing
· Innovation and improved service delivery through public-private partnerships and networks or co-operation with other public sector providers
· Measuring short and long term future demand for services
· Effective delivery of customer service to reflect and reinforce the desired corporate brand image
· Methods of improving customer service
· Issues regarding pricing of services in the public sector
· Marketing communication approaches
· Social marketing in practice
· E-marketing and the public sector customer.

All manuscripts must be submitted in line with the guidelines for the International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management .

Important Dates
Submission of full paper before: 1st November, 2008
Notification of acceptance before: 15th February, 2009
Submission of final and revised manuscripts: 1st April, 2009

Editors and Notes
You may send one copy in the form of an MS Word file attached to an e-mail (details in Author Guidelines) to the following:

Tony Proctor
E-mail: tony_proctor@btinternet.com

with a copy to:
IEL Editorial Office
E-mail: ijatm@inderscience.com

and:
Marcel Guenoun
E-mail: marcel.guenoun@univ-cezanne.fr

This is really quite interesting, and a great example of how thousands of data points can be displayed to quickly convey information. The USA National Gas Temperature Map displays the price for a gallon of gasoline across the country, and is searchable by city, state, or zip. Update times are listed at the bottom of the map.

You can zoom in and see gas prices down to the zip code level and further to the individual gas stations. It's a fun tool, informative, and easy to use. What other indicators could we be displaying in this manner?

(Hat tip: Information Aesthetics)