ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2010
The role of urban municipal governments in reducing health inequities: A meta-narrative mapping analysis.
Article in International journal for equity in health, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 80 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research evidence use in local government-led public health interventions: a systematic review.Health research policy and systems · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A hybrid type 1 trial of a digital behaviour change intervention for frailty prevention in community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years and older.Age and ageing · 2026Trial
- Bridging systems for health equity: a scoping review of municipal-public health partnerships.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Trends in Socioeconomic Inequalities of Dental Caries Experience among 12-Year-Olds in Chile: An Ecological Cohort Study.Caries research · 2026Article
- Municipal deprivation and cardiometabolic outcomes in Mexican adults: findings from ENSANUT 2021-2023.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Bridging theory and practice: a qualitative interview study of barriers to and facilitators of research collaborations between academia and public health services in Germany.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- "I would be very proud to be part of an initiative that didn't exclude people because it was hard": mapping and contextualising health equity responsibilities and decision-making tensions in the implementation of a multi-level system reform initiative.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Interrogating Healthy Community Discourse in Municipal Policies: Priorities of a Medium-Sized CMA in Ontario, Canada.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Evaluating the Impacts of Community-Campus Engagement on Population Health in Ottawa and Thunder Bay, Canada: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Contribution Analysis.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Co-Creation and Implementation of a Healthy Snacks Policy in Primary Schools: Data from Sintra Grows Healthy.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Global issues, local action: exploring local governments use of research in "tackling climate change and its impacts on health" in Victoria, Australia.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Strengthening local government policies to address health inequities: perspectives from Australian local government stakeholders.International journal for equity in health · 2023Article
- Creating Political Will for Action on Health Equity: Practical Lessons for Public Health Policy Actors.International journal of health policy and management · 2022Article
- Learning from intersectoral action beyond health: a meta-narrative review.Health policy and planning · 2021Review
- Early childhood development and urban environment in Mexico.PloS one · 2021Article
- Healthcare Systems Strengthening in Smaller Cities in Bangladesh: Geospatial Insights From the Municipality of Dinajpur.Health services insights · 2020Article
- Elusive implementation: an ethnographic study of intersectoral policymaking for health.BMC health services research · 2018Article
- Easy read and accessible information for people with intellectual disabilities: Is it worth it? A meta-narrative literature review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2017Review
- Perceptions and beliefs of public policymakers in a Southern European city.International journal for equity in health · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion coincided with a preponderance of research, worldwide, on the social determinants of health and health inequities. Despite the establishment of a 'health inequities knowledge base', the precise roles for municipal governments in reducing health inequities at the local level remain poorly defined. The objective of this study was to monitor thematic trends in this knowledge base over time, and to track scholarly prescriptions for municipal government intervention on local health inequities.
methodsUsing meta-narrative mapping, four bodies of scholarly literature - 'health promotion', 'Healthy Cities', 'population health' and 'urban health' - that have made substantial contributions to the health inequities knowledge base were analyzed over the 1986-2006 timeframe. Article abstracts were retrieved from the four literature bodies using three electronic databases (PubMed, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science), and coded for bibliographic characteristics, article themes and determinants of health profiles, and prescriptions for municipal government interventions on health inequities.
results1004 journal abstracts pertaining to health inequities were analyzed. The overall quantity of abstracts increased considerably over the 20 year timeframe, and emerged primarily from the 'health promotion' and 'population health' literatures. 'Healthy lifestyles' and 'healthcare' were the most commonly emphasized themes in the abstracts. Only 17% of the abstracts articulated prescriptions for municipal government interventions on local health inequities. Such interventions included public health campaigns, partnering with other governments and non-governmental organizations for health interventions, and delivering effectively on existing responsibilities to improve health outcomes and reduce inequities. Abstracts originating from Europe, and from the 'Healthy Cities' and 'urban health' literatures, were most vocal regarding potential avenues for municipal government involvement on health inequities.
conclusionsThis study has demonstrated a pervasiveness of 'behavioural' and 'biomedical' perspectives, and a lack of consideration afforded to the roles and responsibilities of municipal governments, among the health inequities scholarly community. Thus, despite considerable research activity over the past two decades, the 'health inequities knowledge base' inadequately reflects the complex aetiology of, and solutions to, population health inequities.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.