Francis-Oliviero, F;
Cambon, L;
Wittwer, J;
Marmot, M;
Alla, F;
(2020)
Theoretical and practical challenges of proportionate universalism: A review.
Pan American Journal of Public Health
, 44
10.26633/RPSP.2020.110.
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Abstract
Objective. In 2010, the principle of proportionate universalism (PU) has been proposed as a solution to reduce health inequalities. It had a great resonance but does not seem to have been widely applied and no guidelines exist on how to implement it. The two specific objectives of this scoping review were: (1) to describe the theoretical context in which PU was established, (2) to describe how researchers apply PU and related methodological issues. Methods. We searched for all articles published until 6th of February 2020, mentioning “Proportionate Universalism” or its synonyms “Targeted universalism” OR “Progressive Universalism” as a topic in all Web of Science databases. Results. This review of 55 articles allowed us a global vision around the question of PU regarding its theoretical foundations and practical implementation. PU principle is rooted in the social theories of universalism and targeting. It proposes to link these two aspects in order to achieve an effective reduction of health inequalities. Regarding practical implementation, PU interventions were rare and led to different interpretations. There are still many methodological and ethical challenges regarding conception and evaluation of PU interventions, including how to apply proportionality, and identification of needs. Conclusion. This review mapped available scientific literature on PU and its related concepts. PU principle originates from social theories. As highlighted by authors who implemented PU interventions, application raises many challenges from design to evaluation. Analysis of PU applications provided in this review answered to some of them but remaining methodological challenges could be addressed in further research.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Theoretical and practical challenges of proportionate universalism: A review |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.26633/RPSP.2020.110 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2020.110 |
| Language: | Finnish |
| Additional information: | This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/legalcode), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No modifications or commercial use of this article are permitted. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that PAHO or this article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the PAHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article’s original URL. |
| Keywords: | Health Equity; Health Policy; Socioeconomic Factors |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10115730 |
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