Temple University, USA.
Milbank Q. 2010 Jun;88(2):169-210. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2010.00595.x.
Public health law has received considerable attention in recent years and has become an essential field in public health. Public health law research, however, has received less attention.
Expert commentary.
This article explores public health law research, defined as the scientific study of the relation of law and legal practices to population health. The article offers a logic model of public health law research and a typology of approaches to studying the effects of law on public health. Research on the content and prevalence of public health laws, processes of adopting and implementing laws, and the extent to which and mechanisms through which law affects health outcomes can use methods drawn from epidemiology, economics, sociology, and other disciplines. The maturation of public health law research as a field depends on methodological rigor, adequate research funding, access to appropriate data sources, and policymakers' use of research findings.
Public health law research is a young field but holds great promise for supporting evidence-based policy making that will improve population health.
近年来，公共卫生法受到了相当多的关注，已成为公共卫生领域的一个重要分支。然而，公共卫生法的研究却较少受到关注。
专家评论。
本文探讨了公共卫生法研究，将其定义为对法律和法律实践与人群健康之间关系的科学研究。本文提供了公共卫生法研究的逻辑模型和研究法律对公共卫生影响的方法分类。研究公共卫生法律的内容和普遍性、法律的采纳和实施过程，以及法律影响健康结果的程度和机制，可以借鉴流行病学、经济学、社会学和其他学科的方法。公共卫生法研究作为一个领域的成熟取决于方法的严谨性、充足的研究资金、获取适当数据来源的机会，以及政策制定者对研究结果的使用。
公共卫生法研究是一个年轻的领域，但它有很大的潜力为支持循证决策提供支持，从而改善人口健康。
