Imagined in Policy, Inscribed on Bodies: Defending an Ethic of Compassion in a Political Context: Comment on "Why and How Is Compassion Necessary to Provide Good Quality Healthcare?"

In response to the International Journal of Health Policy and Management (IJHPM) editorial, this commentary adds to the debate about ethical dimensions of compassionate care in UK service provision. It acknowledges the importance of the original paper, and attempts to explore some of the issues that are raised in the context of nursing practice, research and education. It is argued that each of these fields of the profession are enacted in an escalating culture of corporatism, be that National Health Service (NHS) or university campus, and global neoliberalism. Post-structuralist ideas, notably those of Foucault, are borrowed to interrogate healthcare as discursive practice and disciplinary knowledge; where an understanding of the ways in which power and language operate is prominent. Historical and contemporary evidence of institutional and ideological degradation of sections of humanity, a 'history of the present,' serve as reminders of the import, and fragility, of ethical codes.

Human rights of the mentally ill in Indonesia

BACKGROUND

The mentally ill are vulnerable to human rights violations, particularly in Indonesia, where shackling is widespread.

AIM

The aim of this study was to understand the provision of mental health care in Indonesia, thereby identifying ways to improve care and better support carers.

METHODS

Grounded theory methods were used. Study participants included health professionals, non-health professionals and individuals living with a mental disorder who were well at the time (n = 49). Data were collected through interviews conducted in 2011 and 2012.

RESULTS

The core category of this grounded theory is 'connecting care' a term coined by the authors to describe a model of care that involves health professionals and non-health professionals, such as family members. Four main factors influence care-providers' decision-making: competence, willingness, available resources and compliance with institutional policy. Health professionals are influenced most strongly by institutional policy when deciding whether to accept or shift responsibility to provide care. Non-health professionals base their decisions largely on personal circumstances. Jointly-made decisions can be matched or unmatched. Unmatched decisions can result in forced provision of care, increasing risks of human rights violations.

LIMITATIONS

Generalization of this grounded theory is difficult as the research was conducted in two provinces of Indonesia.

CONCLUSION

Institutional policy was important in the process of connecting care for the mentally ill in Indonesia and needs to be underpinned by legislation to protect human rights.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Strengthening mental health legislation in Indonesia will allow nurses to connect care more effectively.

Public participation: more than a method?: Comment on "Harnessing the potential to quantify public preferences for healthcare priorities through citizens' juries"

While it is important to support the development of methods for public participation, we argue that this should not be at the expense of a broader consideration of the role of public participation. We suggest that a rights based approach provides a framework for developing more meaningful approaches that move beyond public participation as synonymous with consultation to value the contribution of lay knowledge to the governance of health systems and health research.

Street food on the move: a socio-philosophical approach

In the last decade social and hard scientists have increasingly analysed the issue of street food, which is now become a question of common concern in international public discourse. However, considering present literature and investigations, a socio-philosophical approach to the issue under examination has been until now not properly developed. For this reason, this paper is not aimed at improving an empirical research on street food. Rather, it is interested in developing an innovative methodological approach, which assumes transcultural, intersectional, diachronic and interdisciplinary viewpoints in the analysis of the phenomenon. Taking as a background the very rich theoretical and empirical literature on food (which is difficult to be summarised in a few pages), the paper intends to strengthen a conceptual analysis of street food as a social construction and historical symbol, opening up new theoretical, comparative, sociological and pragmatic perspectives. The normative and critical content of street food refers thus ex negativo to the right to the quality of food and to have a decent and peaceful existence in both post-colonial and post-industrial societies in an interconnected global age.

Family reunification: policies and issues

"International standards provide for protection of the family as the fundamental unit of society. However, a consequent right to family reunification for migrants is not sanctioned and continues to be resisted. This article reviews the formulation of the possibility for family reunification as provided for in international and regional standards and by migration policies. It argues that family separation, if inherent in some forms of migration, should not be institutionalized by migration policies and that state sovereignty is limited when dealing with human rights. More specifically it argues that labor migration, as currently developing in Asia, will require appropriate family reunification policies, because it will evolve into some form of settlement."

The crisis of international migration in an integrating West Africa: a case study of Nigeria and Ghana

The mass expulsions of illegal immigrants that have taken place in recent years in Western Africa are examined, with particular reference to those in Ghana in 1969 and Nigeria in 1983. The author considers "the context within which they have taken place, including some of the longterm causes, and the systematic nature of the migrations which preceded them; the ways in which these have been handled by the states concerned; and their implications for the rights and status of migrants as a particular form of exploited labour within the development process in the subregion." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

How and why the one-child policy works in China

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the implementation of China's one-child policy in terms of embeddedness in the Confucian tradition of morality in government. To do this, the authors describe the modern Chinese efforts to control its population. They describe briefly how the one-child policy evolved from earlier family planning policies and how it has been implemented in ways consistent with Confucian views. Finally, the authors describe key aspects of the implementation of this policy within four Chinese provinces from the perspective of the families who participated in a survey of schoolchildren in 1990.

Regulation and resistance: strategies of migrant domestic workers in Canada and internationally

This article "is divided into three parts. The first part locates the Canadian migrant domestic/live-in caregiver program in the global context of domestic worker migration, and provides data on its scope. The second part addresses the obstacles to protection of domestic worker rights in the regulatory scheme composed of policies and laws of sending and receiving societies. The third part discusses some of the strategies employed by migrant domestic workers and their advocates to resist exploitation, and to attempt to provide meaningful rather than merely symbolic rights for migrant domestics."

Law No. 5 of 1985 (Civil Code), 1985

Among other things this Law contains the following provisions: Article 71. (1) The personality (status of person) of a human being shall commence at the moment of being born alive. It shall terminate upon his death. (2) The law shall lay down the rights of a foetus in utero. Article 72. (1) The facts of birth and death shall be recorded (or: proved) by entries in registers kept for that purpose. (2) If there is no such evidence or if it should appear that the entries in the register are incorrect, it shall be permissible to prove the same by any legal means of proof. Article 76. (1) The family of a person shall consist of his spouse and relatives. (2) All persons coming from a common stock shall be deemed to be relatives. Article 77. (1) A direct relationship is the relationship of root and branch (direct lineage). An indirect relationship is the link between persons of common stock without direct lineage, whether or not within the degree of consanguinity precluding marriage. Article 78. In calculating the degree of direct relationship each upwards stage of generation to the source shall be regarded as one degree away from that source. In calculating the degree of indirect relationship degrees of ascent from the descendants to the common origin shall be taken into account, and then downwards from him to the last generation, and each stage shall be counted as a degree with the exception of the common source. Article 79. One of the relations of the spouses shall be regarded as having the same degree of relationship to the other spouse.

[Theories on migration and migration policy]

"In its first part the article gives a short historical overview of theories on migration.... The author tries to clarify the term[s]...'migration policy' and...'migration' itself and assesses the usefulness of various migration typologies. The final chapter analyses determinants and trends of migration policies in Europe in the 1990s: the continuing pressures for migration in developing countries, the end of numerous barriers to emigration, the revival of nationalistic concepts of immigration and exclusionary tendencies founded on culturalistic arguments, the process of harmonizing control mechanisms in the European Union, and the influence of international human rights declarations on the formulation of migration policies." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)