Social science & medicine
-
Social science & medicine · Apr 2011
Neighborhood walkability, physical activity, and walking behavior: the Swedish Neighborhood and Physical Activity (SNAP) study.
More knowledge concerning the association between physical activity and objectively measured attributes of the built environment is needed. Previous studies on the association between objectively measured neighborhood walkability, physical activity, and walking have been conducted in the U. S. or Australia and research findings are available from only one country in Europe - Belgium. ⋯ The statistically significant and "adjusted" results for individuals living in highly walkable neighborhoods, as compared to those living in less walkable neighborhoods, were: (1) 77% and 28% higher odds for walking for active transportation and walking for leisure, respectively, (2) 50 min more walking for active transportation/week, and (3) 3.1 min more MVPA/day. The proportion of the total variance at the neighborhood level was low and ranged between 0.0% and 2.1% in the adjusted models. The findings of the present study stress that future policies concerning the built environment must be based on context-specific evidence, particularly in the light of the fact that neighborhood redevelopments are time-consuming and expensive.
-
Social science & medicine · Apr 2011
Journal peer review in context: A qualitative study of the social and subjective dimensions of manuscript review in biomedical publishing.
Peer- and editorial review of research submitted to biomedical journals ('manuscript review') is frequently argued to be essential for ensuring scientific quality and the dissemination of important ideas, but there is also broad agreement that manuscript review is often unsuccessful in achieving its goals. Problems with manuscript review are frequently attributed to the social and subjective dimensions of the process (e.g., bias and conflict of interest). While there have been numerous efforts to improve the process, these have had limited success. ⋯ Importantly, these social and subjective influences were often viewed positively and were seen as expressions of, rather than threats to, editors' and reviewers' epistemic authority and expertise. From this we conclude that the social and subjective dimensions of biomedical manuscript review should be made more explicit, accommodated and even encouraged, not only because these dimensions of human relationships and judgements are unavoidable, but because their explicit presence is likely to enrich, rather than threaten the manuscript review process. We suggest a 'dialectical' model which can simultaneously accommodate, and embrace, all dimensions of the manuscript review process.
-
Social science & medicine · Apr 2011
Established users and the making of telecare work in long term condition management: implications for health policy.
Increasingly policy for long term condition management is focussing on new technologies. Telecare is viewed as a means of making services more responsive, equitable, cost and clinically-effective and able to play a central part in mediating between service users, professionals, and service providers. It has also been identified as helping to establish patient self-management for long term conditions. ⋯ However, the nature of patient work involved is 'low level' rather than requiring higher level interpretation of readings and decision making commensurate with realising a policy vision of more independent and responsible self -managers. Indeed a paradox of the reliance and acceptance of telecare is the creation of new relationships and dependencies rather than the diminution of reliance envisaged by policy. The illumination of practices around telecare provides evidence for policy makers and others to adjust the predictions and presumptions about how telecare might enable and promote more effective long term condition management.