Current Projects

EuroHeathNet takes part in the following projects related to health equity and tackling health inequalities:

DRIVERS

Background:

There is evidence that a social gradient in health exists both between and within countries. Research within the DRIVERS project will build on the recommendations of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) and the Marmot Review of Health Inequalities, as well as on two European reviews commissioned by the EC and WHO Europe that are currently underway. It will focus on three of the key drivers to reduce health inequities:

• Early child development;

• Employment and the work environment;

• Income, welfare and social protection.

DRIVERS will review evidence and the methods to assess the impact of policies and programmes in these three areas relating to health inequities, develop new methods and evidence, and provide policy recommendations and advocacy guidance.

GRADIENT

Background:

Health inequalities are currently regarded as one of the most important public health challenges in the EU. However, we do not have sufficient knowledge of which actions are effective to level up the gradient in health inequalities.

Public Health Capacity in the EU

Background:

To address the need for capacity building for public health in the EU, a systematic exercise to map public health and health promotion capacity within the 27 Member States has been undertaken. It is based on a conceptual model of public health capacity, covering seven areas domains: country specific context with relevance for public health, leadership & governance, organizational structures, resources, workforce, partnerships, knowledge development.

The European Commission (EAHC and DG Sanco) contracted a consortium of organisations representing the major professional organisations in public health in Europe to review the current public health capacity in Europe and to make recommendations for EU action and support.

SPREAD

Background:

The concept of sustainable lifestyles refers to patterns of behaviour shaped by personal and social interactions and conditioned by environmental and socio-economic contexts. It aims at improving well-being and health of present and future generations. Sustainable lifestyles are a relatively new idea in the sustainable consumption and production domain. A comprehensive research agenda and a policy strategy for promoting it is still missing in the EU.

The SPREAD Sustainable Lifestyles 2050 project aims to fill this gap by consolidating the existing knowledge gained from research projects and experiences of stakeholder networks. The project comprises researchers, health and education experts, industry, services and civil society representatives. It will create scenarios of sustainable lifestyles in 2050, and develop a roadmap with a timeline on how to achieve sustainable lifestyles. Knowledge and information on sustainable lifestyles will be shared and transferred through an on-line platform for stakeholders that will host an ongoing dialogue open to the public.

Joint Action on Health Inequalities

Background:

Action to tackle health inequalities is required at EU, national, regional and local level, with a wide range of stakeholders across a range of policy areas. The challenge for this Joint Action is to assist the Member States involved to develop tools to better enable health inequalities to be addressed in cross-government policy making, to access the evidence, and to engage with key stakeholders especially regions. Much of the work is mapping and consensus building, and is a practical approach to taking forward the EU Communication, building on earlier work on Health Impact Assessments (HIA), Health in All Policies (HiAP), and modelling.

Health Inequalities Tender

Background:

This work is a response to the Communication from the Commission in 2009 “Solidarity in Health: Reducing Health Inequalities in the EU”. This Communication recognised that while EU citizens live, on average, longer and healthier lives than previous generations, the EU is faced with an important challenge: the large gaps in health which exist between and within EU Member States.

The Communication launched the debate to define potential EU-level measures to support actions by Member States and other actors to address health inequalities. In order to be able to do so, there is a need to:

Update the work that has been done previously to investigate the scale of inequalities between and within countries across the EU, as much of the data used in previous reports is now out of date.
Review routine data collections across the European Union as some countries are not in a position for the full impact of health inequalities to be assessed.
Review and assess current action being taken to reduce health inequalities and to propose more effective policy, action, interventions and delivery systems or to advocate greater scale and intensity of activity.

Crossing Bridges

Background:

Improving health and well being and reducing health inequities cannot be achieved by the health sector alone, since policies and actions taken by many other sectors also affect health. As set out in Council Conclusions in 2006 a ‘health in all policies’ (HiAP) approach is required, whereby health considerations are integrated into policies beyond the health sector.

While the concept of HiAP is broadly accepted, implementation in practice remains difficult. It requires a clear mandate from the central government, effective and responsive leadership, systematic policy changes, and new methodologies and capacities to “cross bridges”. It is only then that real progress can be made in the EU’s efforts to reduce health inequalities and promote the health of all European citizens.

Working for Equity in Health

Background:

Work, worklessness and social welfare systems play an important role in shaping health inequalities in Europe and more widely throughout the globe. The processes of economic globalisation, the interventions of international governmental institutions, and welfare and labour market reforms mean that up-to-date research is needed to understand the relationships between work, worklessness and social protection in determining health inequalities.

ENGENDER

Background:

Health equity and gender are interlinked. Although many policies and interventions are being implemented, there is a lack of knowledge about effective practices and promising programmes and policies which may improve gender equity in health.