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Researching the Practices of Policymakers in Implementing a Social Policy Intervention in Ghana

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Global Handbook of Health Promotion Research, Vol. 1

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Abstract

An ontological underpinning of health promotion (HP) is that the practices and actions of policymakers and other institutional actors have wide implications for health. Researching the practices of policymakers and other stakeholders is, thus, key to advancing health promotion knowledge and practice. This chapter presents a case study of a research focused on understanding how a social policy intervention called the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) works to influence the social determinants of health (SDH) and the factors that influence health sector involvement in the programme in Ghana. The chapter reflects on the epistemological and ethical framework, which governed this HP research to shed light on how the practices of policy actors and policy entrepreneurs advance or fail to advance action on the SDH. It also outlines the contribution of this case study to advancing HP research. In doing so, the chapter argues that HP research needs to take pragmatic measures to ensure that the research process, which is an HP practice, is in congruence with health promotion values and adopts study designs and methods that would optimise these values.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bureau of Integrated Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Ebenezer Owusu-Addo

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  1. Ebenezer Owusu-Addo
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Correspondence to Ebenezer Owusu-Addo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Louise Potvin

  2. UNESCO Chair and WHO Collaborating Centre in Global Health & Education, University of Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Didier Jourdan

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Owusu-Addo, E. (2022). Researching the Practices of Policymakers in Implementing a Social Policy Intervention in Ghana. In: Potvin, L., Jourdan, D. (eds) Global Handbook of Health Promotion Research, Vol. 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97212-7_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97212-7_31

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-97211-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-97212-7

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