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A special edition of the Australian Journal of Primary Health

Rethinking health inequity at a time of reform: Theory, Policy and Practice  


Social inequities are persistent causes of ill-health in our populations.  Primary care and public health professionals are at the forefront of dealing with these effects of social and structural injustices. Health inequity is more than a problem of providing equitable access to services; it is a critical moral problem that requires practical, theoretical and policy responses.   

We are calling for papers to ‘rethink health inequity at a time of reform’ for a special edition of the Australian Journal of Primary Health (AJPH) due to be published in September 2011. 

Health reform is often driven by a stated concern to improve equity of outcomes for populations. Access to health care is a key concept. In practice there are multiple perspectives on understanding, describing, measuring and valuing equity. Our aim in this special edition is to draw together a range of papers that illustrate these varied perspectives.  

We seek contributions from those engaged in practice, theory and policy settings. 
In particular, this special edition will provide detailed consideration of the potential for current reforms to mitigate or worsen the health effects of multiple forms of social disadvantage.  We would particularly encourage papers that explore the links between:
	Practical examples of how professionals could respond to health inequities;
	Examples of theoretical frameworks including ethical and philosophical understandings of health inequity;
	Analyses of contemporary health care policy reforms in Australia in relation to health inequity.
	Professional responsibilities and actions to respond to health inequity including the realities of practice in socially disadvantaged contexts as reforms are implemented

Co-editors John Furler and Victoria Palmer, Primary Care Research Unit, University of Melbourne 
All papers will be peer reviewed through the Journals online submission system. 
Expressions of interest in the form of a short abstract (up to 500 words) should be emailed to: [log in to unmask] by 31 October 2010.  Abstracts will be reviewed and contributors notified in November 2010. Final date for submitting full articles will be 30 April 2011.