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. 2020 Nov;65(8):1225-1234.
doi: 10.1007/s00038-020-01432-0. Epub 2020 Jul 17.

Evaluating the success of Slovenia's policy on the health of children and adolescents: results of an audit

Tine Bizjak  1   2 , Rok Novak  3   4 , Marko Vudrag  5 , Andreja Kukec  6   7 , Branko Kontić  3
Affiliations

Evaluating the success of Slovenia's policy on the health of children and adolescents: results of an audit

Tine Bizjak et al. Int J Public Health. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: The aims of this audit were twofold: (1) to demonstrate the contribution of the auditing process in evaluating the success of child and adolescent health policy in Slovenia between 2012 and 2019, and (2) to expand on the commentary published in the International Journal of Public Health in 2019 to demonstrate the benefits of auditing in improving public health policy in general.

Methods: The audit followed health, safety and environmental approaches as per the standards of public health policy.

Results: Due to poor intersectoral coordination and weak associations between environmental and health indicators, no clear evidence could be established that child and adolescent health policy contributed to positive changes in child and adolescent health from 2012 to 2019.

Conclusions: Auditing should become an essential component of measuring the success of public health policies. Attention should also be paid to the following issues affecting youth health: sleeping and eating habits, economic migration, poverty, etc.

Keywords: Adolescent health; Auditing; Environmental quality; Indicators; Public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Elements of the audit programme
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Air quality and adolescent health in Slovenia between 2013 and 2018. a Annual hospitalisations due to respiratory conditions by age group in Slovenia from 2013 to 2018; b concentrations of PM10 (Slovenia and Ljubljana) and PM2.5 (Ljubljana) from 2013 to 2018; c potential exposure of urban population to PM10 and PM2.5 air pollution in Slovenia from 2011 to 2017; d annual asthma-related hospitalisations in children and adolescents under 20 years of age in Slovenia and Ljubljana from 2016 to 2019
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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