@article{b55e23bd1a6f408a860f06e8532a8a1c,
title = "Perceptions and beliefs of public policymakers in a Southern European city",
abstract = "Introduction: Socio-economic inequalities in health are large in urban areas; however, local municipal governments may plan, manage and provide services and policies which can reduce these. The objective of this study was to describe the beliefs and perceptions of public policymakers in a European city, Barcelona. They are the key actors in designing and implementing urban public policies. Methods: A qualitative research study describing policymakers' beliefs on health inequalities. The study population were twelve policymakers. These were politicians or officers from the city council. Informant profiles were selected using a theoretical sample. Semi-structured individual interviews were performed to collect the data and a thematic content analysis was carried out. Results: Politicians were aware of health inequalities in their city and identified diverse social causes. They viewed reducing inequalities as a priority for the city's government. Officers were less knowledgeable and described less efforts in addressing health inequalities. It was stated by some that reducing inequalities in non-health sectors helped to reduce health inequalities indirectly and there was some collaboration between two sectors. The most frequent barriers encountered when implementing policies were funding and the cities' limited authority. Conclusions: Officers and policymakers had different levels of awareness and access to information on health and its socials determinants. Officers referred to specific causes of health inequalities and policies which related to their sectors and politicians were more familiar with upstream determinants and policies. Some participants explained that policies and programmes needed to be evaluated and very little intersectoral action was said to be carried out. More efforts should be made to provide all policymakers with information on the social determinants of health inequalities. Research on health inequalities and policy should engage with policymakers and promote health as a cross cutting issue in the city council in liaison with the third sector.",
keywords = "Health inequalities, Knowledge, Perception, Policymaker, Public policies, Qualitative research, Urban health",
author = "Joana Morrison and Mariona Pons-Vigu{\'e}s and Elia D{\'i}ez and Pasarin, {Maria Isabel} and Sergio Salas-Nic{\'a}s and Carme Borrell",
note = "Funding Information: This study forms part of the {\textquoteleft}Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality: evidence and policies in cities of Europe{\textquoteright} (INEQ-Cities) project, funded by DG-SANCO, European Commission [17]. The European Commission funded INEQ-Cities project has advanced the research in this area [18,19]. The project is made up of two main components: an analysis of mortality inequalities in small areas in 16 European cities and an exploratory description of policies and interventions delivered to address health inequalities in the participant cities. The second component includes a comparison of health policy documents [20], a scoping review of interventions [21], the view of managers delivering municipal interventions to address health inequalities [22] and policymaker{\textquoteright}s perceptions on health inequalities and policies to reduce them in 13 European cities [23]. Our study is complementary to the later as it analyses the discourse of policymakers from different municipal sectors in a principal European city. Accordingly, it uses qualitative methodology to explore in-depth the following research questions: What perceptions and beliefs do policymakers have regarding health inequalities and their causes, which are political institutions{\textquoteright} priorities regarding inequalities in health and sectors involved? Furthermore, do social actors participate in policy making processes and which barriers and opportunities have policymakers encountered, in addition to what kind of information is available on health inequalities? The objective of this study was to describe the perceptions and beliefs of public policymakers regarding social inequalities in health and policies to reduce these in Barcelona. Funding Information: This article has been partially funded by the project INEQ-CITIES, “Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality: evidence and policies of cities of Europe”; project funded by the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers-DG SANCO (Commission of the European Union), project n°2008 12 13 and CIBER Epidemiolog{\'i}a y Salud P{\'u}blica. Furthermore, we would like to thank the informants who participated in the interviews and the key informants who helped contact them. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 Morrison et al.",
year = "2015",
month = feb,
day = "3",
doi = "10.1186/s12939-015-0143-5",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "14",
journal = "International journal for equity in health",
issn = "1475-9276",
publisher = "BioMed Central",
number = "1",
}