Vanessa Puig-Barrachina1, Pol Giró2, Lucía Artazcoz3,4,5,6, Xavier Bartoll5,7, Imma Cortés-Franch4,5,8,9, Ana Fernández4,10, Patricia González-Marín4,7, Carme Borrell4,5,6,11. 1. Evaluation and Intervention Methods Department, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 2. Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. 3. Division of Health Promotion, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 4. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain. 5. Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica (IIB Sant Pau), Barcelona, Spain. 6. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. 7. Health Information Systems Service, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 8. Occupational Health Service, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 9. Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 10. Community Health Service, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. 11. Management, Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Since the last Western great recession of 2008, an increasing interest on the effects of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) on improving health has emerged. The aim of our review is to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of ALMPs and whether some types of ALMP are more effective. METHODS: Using the Scoping review methodology, we conducted a literature review in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science and selected articles published between 1990 and 2017 in high income countries. We applied four sequential phases of document screening to the list of retrieved articles. RESULTS: Of the 416 documents detected in the search, 36 documents were finally selected. Most of them focused on mental health and related components (72.2%) and found positive results at least in one outcome (80.6%). The ALMPs reported mainly attempt to build capacity through job search assistance (31.6%) with a component on mental health, showing positive results on health; some offer job training (16.7%) and few subsidized employment (8.3%), showing more controversial results, although mostly positive. The rest include a combination of different types of ALMPs. CONCLUSIONS: This review shows that ALMPs have a positive impact on health and quality of life. There are relatively few studies of the impact of ALMPs on general health, and most of the studies found are focused on Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries. The most significant knowledge gaps are the mechanisms involved in achieving this improvement, and above all the differential health impacts according to axes of inequality and welfare state.
BACKGROUND: Since the last Western great recession of 2008, an increasing interest on the effects of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) on improving health has emerged. The aim of our review is to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of ALMPs and whether some types of ALMP are more effective. METHODS: Using the Scoping review methodology, we conducted a literature review in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science and selected articles published between 1990 and 2017 in high income countries. We applied four sequential phases of document screening to the list of retrieved articles. RESULTS: Of the 416 documents detected in the search, 36 documents were finally selected. Most of them focused on mental health and related components (72.2%) and found positive results at least in one outcome (80.6%). The ALMPs reported mainly attempt to build capacity through job search assistance (31.6%) with a component on mental health, showing positive results on health; some offer job training (16.7%) and few subsidized employment (8.3%), showing more controversial results, although mostly positive. The rest include a combination of different types of ALMPs. CONCLUSIONS: This review shows that ALMPs have a positive impact on health and quality of life. There are relatively few studies of the impact of ALMPs on general health, and most of the studies found are focused on Anglo-Saxon and Nordic countries. The most significant knowledge gaps are the mechanisms involved in achieving this improvement, and above all the differential health impacts according to axes of inequality and welfare state.
Authors: Bożena Wielgoszewska; Jane Maddock; Michael J Green; Giorgio Di Gessa; Sam Parsons; Gareth J Griffith; Jazz Croft; Anna J Stevenson; Charlotte Booth; Richard J Silverwood; David Bann; Praveetha Patalay; Alun D Hughes; Nishi Chaturvedi; Laura D Howe; Emla Fitzsimons; Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi; George B Ploubidis Journal: BMC Med Date: 2022-04-06 Impact factor: 11.150
Authors: Charlotte Booth; Bożena Wielgoszewska; Michael J Green; Giorgio Di Gessa; Charlotte F Huggins; Gareth J Griffith; Alex S F Kwong; Ruth C E Bowyer; Jane Maddock; Praveetha Patalay; Richard J Silverwood; Emla Fitzsimons; Richard Shaw; Ellen J Thompson; Andrew Steptoe; Alun Hughes; Nishi Chaturvedi; Claire J Steves; Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi; George B Ploubidis Journal: Soc Sci Med Date: 2022-07-20 Impact factor: 5.379