César García

Diffusion theory and knowledge dissemination, utilization, and integration in public health.

Legislators and their scientific beneficiaries express growing concerns that the fruits of their investment in health research are not reaching the public, policy makers, and practitioners with evidence-based practices. Practitioners and the public lament the lack of relevance and fit of evidence that reaches them and barriers to their implementation of it. Much has been written about this gap in medicine, much less in public health. We review the concepts that have guided or misguided public health in their attempts to bridge science and practice through dissemination and implementation. Beginning with diffusion theory, which inspired much of public healths work on dissemination, we compare diffusion, dissemination, and implementation with related notions that have served other fields in bridging science and practice. Finally, we suggest ways to blend diffusion with other theory and evidence in guiding a more decentralized approach to dissemination and implementation in public health, including changes in the ways we produce the science itself.

Diffusion theory and knowledge dissemination, utilization and integration.

Part of the Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Health and Medical Administration Commons, Health Policy Commons, Health Services Administration Commons, Health Services Research Commons, and the Public Health Education and Promotion Commons. Many accomplishments of public health have been distributed unevenly among populations. This article reviews the concepts of applying evidence-based practice in public health in the face of the varied cultures and circumstances of practice in these varied populations. Key components of EBPH include: making decisions based on the best available scientific evidence, using data and information systems systematically, applying program planning frameworks, engaging the community and practitioners in decision making, conducting sound evaluation, and disseminating what is learned. The usual application of these principles has overemphasized the scientific evidence as the starting point, whereas this review suggests engaging the community and practitioners as an equally important starting point to assess their needs, assets and circumstances, which can be facilitated with program planning frameworks and use of local assessment and surveillance data.

PR, clientelism and economics: a comparison of southern Europe and Latin America

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between clientelist relationships and economics in public relations practice in European Mediterranean countries and Latin America. It considers the cases of Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a critical-conceptual method through a re-conceptualization of themes from secondary qualitative analyses of existing qualitative data sets and reviews of published qualitative papers. Findings – The public relations practice in these two regions is similar. The characteristics of the public relations landscape in these countries must be understood in relation to a broader history of clientelism and economics emphasizing government relationships at the expense of other publics, as well as the lack of scale economies. Persuasive models are prevalent, although a number of forces – including integration in supranational organizations, democratization, and globalization – have strength...

Using Strategic Communication for Nation-Building in Contemporary Spain: The Basque Case

This article analyzes the use of strategic communication for nation-building purposes in the case of regions, or the so-called “stateless nations” of contemporary Spain. It describes the case of the Basque Country region where successive nationalist governments over the last 30 years have used soft and hard power methods for this purpose. The soft power methods have consisted fundamentally of the use of mass media campaigns and funded institutional publicity to generate a climate of opinion that opposes Basque identity and Spanish identity. Other soft power methods have involved the promotion of Basque culture, beliefs, and values through mostly public diplomacy efforts (which also had an impact among internal audiences). Soft power approaches have resulted in a positive climate of opinion concerning an inclusive (not ethnic) Basque identity without political connotations. Nevertheless, this positive outcome has been contradicted by other hard power approaches such as the implementation of coercive linguistic laws and a level of passivity towards terrorism. Far from reinforcing each other, the intensive use of one-way communication and hard power methods seems to have created a dissonance between Basque identity and Basque nationalism.

Using street protests and national commemorations for nation-building purposes: the campaign for the independence of Catalonia (2012–2014)

ABSTARCT This article analyses how mass demonstrations can be used for nation-building purposes. In particular, it shows how, in this digital and discorporate era, the occupation of the streets by large numbers of people is still a powerful strategic communication tool with strong political implications. It reveals how traditional propaganda, mass media campaigns and grassroots lobbying organisations can work together with great effectiveness to effect political change. The Catalan case, which concerns the claim by the regional Catalan government of a referendum for independence, shows how the occupation of the streets by citizens can still be highly relevant for political change.