A “Health in All Policies” Evolution in New York City’s PlaNYC

Background: Health in All Policies (HiAP) is a framework requiring that the promotion of health be embedded in all substantive policy areas to have a comprehensive approach to the health and well-being of local citizens. Purpose: To determine the extent to which the Bloomberg Administration in New York City used an HiAP approach to promote attention to health outcomes in peer agencies (outside the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene) within the city bureaucracy. Methods: Document analysis was completed on a hallmark sustainability plan in New York City, called PlaNYC: the 2007 PlaNYC report, 2011 PlaNYC update, and PlaNYC progress reports from 2008 to 2013. Two coders, using standard qualitative techniques, coded the reports in March and April 2014. The reports were analyzed to gauge the extent to which peer city agencies incorporated health as a policy justification or planned outcome into their initiatives. Results: The analysis shows that New York City has stimulated attention to health outcomes in peer agencies implicitly more than explicitly, that the extent to which peer agencies reference health has increased over time, and that every policy area in PlaNYC has some stated health relevance and health outcomes. Further, New York City appears to have progressed from early to later stages in the maturity model, indicating embedded HiAP. Implications: The results illustrate the feasibility of a comprehensive HiAP initiative and could provide inspiration and direction for other jurisdictions

Evidence Use in New York City Public Health Policymaking

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has attracted national attention for his public health policy reforms. The policy process behind the reform program has received less scrutiny, especially the use of research by policymakers. We show that the process used to develop, promote, and evaluate polices is heavily based on five types of data and research. New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene staff conducted in-depth appraisals of existing published research, used local health surveys and private laboratory surveillance data, engaged in “shoe-leather” field research, formed research collaborations within and outside government, and disseminated research to legitimize policy changes. The findings are based on 27 semi-structured key-informant interviews with individuals from a range of organizations engaged in implementing or influencing public health policies in New York City

What does Big Data mean to public affairs research? Understanding the methodological and analytical challenges

The term ‘Big Data’ is often misunderstood or poorly defined, especially in the public sector. Ines Mergel, R. Karl Rethemeyer, and Kimberley R. Isett provide a definition that adequately encompasses the scale, collection processes, and sources of Big Data. However, while recognising its immense potential it is also important to consider the limitations when using Big Data as a policymaking tool. Using this data for purposes not previously envisioned can be problematic, researchers may encounter ethical issues, and certain demographics are often not captured or represented

Have you been served? The impact of university entrepreneurial support on start-ups’ network formation

University-based entrepreneurial support organizations devote increasing efforts to create a context and opportunities for interaction among start-up firms. The basic assumption behind these efforts is that networks facilitate access to knowledge and resources and increase the chances of success for start-ups. However, the mechanisms that facilitate the creation of business ties with other members of the same community are yet to be identified and empirically tested. This paper leverages the social network and firm incubator literatures to hypothesize and test mechanisms that create the context and opportunity for business interaction among member firms within one university-based entrepreneurial support organization. The study uses the empirical setting of a large, university based support organization and the sample includes firms with different levels of membership-support. This empirical context allows us to compare different levels of membership-support and identify the dimensions that have greater impacts on a firm’s opportunity to establish ties with other members. The results reveal that geographical proximity, ad-hoc service support including shared space, and a larger community of member and graduate firms to which network ties may be formed increases the chance of connecting with other past or current member firms.</p

Big Data in Public Affairs

This article offers an overview of the conceptual, substantive, and practical issues surrounding “big data” to provide one perspective on how the field of public affairs can successfully cope with the big data revolution. Big data in public affairs refers to a combination of administrative data collected through traditional means and large-scale data sets created by sensors, computer networks, or individuals as they use the Internet. In public affairs, new opportunities for real-time insights into behavioral patterns are emerging but are bound by safeguards limiting government reach through the restriction of the collection and analysis of these data. To address both the opportunities and challenges of this emerging phenomenon, the authors first review the evolving canon of big data articles across related fields. Second, they derive a working definition of big data in public affairs. Third, they review the methodological and analytic challenges of using big data in public affairs scholarship and practice. The article concludes with implications for public affairs.publishe

Caveat emptor: what do we know about public administration evidence and how do we know it?

This article provides an overview of a new feature in Public Administration Review called Evidence in Public Administration. This feature was created to provide a space in which scholars and practitioners of public administration can meet to engage in a dialogue about evidence in public decision making. In this feature, we will shine a light on the evidence needed to make effective decisions and examinations of the evidence that currently exists for contemporary public sector efforts. We explicitly want to create a resource for both practitioners and scholars to consult when trying to find evidence on a particular topic and to know the limitations and parameters of that evidence. This article lays out the purpose, scope, and rationale for the feature, as well as a call to engage in this endeavor

Managed Care and Provider Satisfaction in Mental Health Settings

We assess the satisfaction of mental health providers using four dimensions from the medical practice literature-degree of autonomy, relationship with patients, compensation, and administrative burden-and extend current work on professional satisfaction to include frontline service providers rather than only psychiatrists or other physicians. In contrast to results reported for primary care settings, we find that the impact of managed care on satisfaction is minimal for the mental health providers in our study of a Medicaid capitation demonstration in the southeastern US. Instead, variables relevant to everyday working conditions have an important effect on job satisfaction

Networks in Public Administration Scholarship : Understanding Where We Are and Where We Need to Go

This article examines the road that network scholarship has followed in Public Administration. We look at the historical drivers of the use of networks in practice and scholarship in the field and discuss how that has shaped the current literature. The body of the article focuses on the current challenges that network scholars face in the discipline, specifically basic theoretical issues, knowledge about formal networks, knowledge about informal networks, and methodological issues. We close the article with a look to the future and some suggestions for the future of network scholarship in Public Administration.publishe