Invest4Health – Mobilising novel finance models for health promotion and disease prevention
The goal of Invest4Health (“Mobilising novel finance models for health promotion and disease prevention”) was to incentivise new ways of financing health promotion and disease prevention, using a model called ‘Smart Capacitating Investment’ (SCI), where the financial benefits to health and other sectors outweigh the initial costs and give a sustainable return on investment.
The project was kicked off in February 2023.
The goal of Invest4Health (“Mobilising novel finance models for health promotion and disease prevention”) was to incentivise new ways of financing health promotion and disease prevention, using a model called ‘Smart Capacitating Investment’ (SCI), where the financial benefits to health and other sectors outweigh the initial costs and give a sustainable return on investment.
The project was kicked off in February 2023.
Objectives:
- To draw on available evidence to strengthen how smart capacitating investment is framed and communicated,
- To assess and enhance organisational readiness for testing SCI models in regional test-beds in Spain, Germany, Sweden and the UK ,
- To develop and test business models that are compatible with SCI,
- To develop and test novel finance models to determine which of the business models align with pre-defined contingencies for delivering SCI,
- To develop and test a prototype collaborative platform for governing SCI in health promotion and prevention.
EuroHealthNet led a work package on ‘Operational readiness and capacity building,’ which aimed to achieve (1) stronger cooperation between health systems, public health entities, and other key actors; (2) support integration of locally-run and financially sustainable interventions, and (3) support decision and policymakers to bring about change in financing health promotion. Other key tasks included supporting the development of a conceptual framework for smart capacitating investment.
Overall, work built on the existing eGuide for Financing Health Promotion, as well as best practices identified in the guide and through other projects (e.g., JA CHRODIS PLUS).
Resources from the project
Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI) package
The Invest4Health Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI) package is a comprehensive support framework designed to help initiative operators, project managers, and decision-makers develop, implement, and sustain health promotion and disease prevention initiatives beyond the project time frame.
Information briefs
Developed by EuroHealthNet, the informations briefs introduce Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI) as a novel approach to financing health promotion and disease prevention and outline how SCI can be applied in practice to move from ideas to implementation.
Publications
- Rapid scoping review: Innovative financial and non-financial investment in health promotion and disease prevention. Open Science Framework (OSF). Project protocol and methodological framework supporting the development of the Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI) concept.
- White Paper: Hard but not impossible: Scaling what works in health promotion, disease prevention and integrated health and care through the ‘missing middle’.
- Invest4Health: Finanzierung von neuen Wegen der Gesundheitsförderung und Krankheitsprävention /Invest4Health: Funding New Ways of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
- Podcast: Ecosystems Need Policies
Scientific articles
- A protocol for mobilising novel finance models for collaborative health promotion and disease prevention initiatives: taking a smart capacitating investment approach in the Invest4Health project (Co-authored by EuroHealthNet)
- Broadening sources of finance for health promotion and disease prevention: Smart Capacitating Investment (opens in new tab) (Co-authored by EuroHealthNet)
- Towards a Multi-sectoral Approach to Population Health: A Scoping Review of Cross-sectoral Evaluations of Health Interventions.
- Social impact bonds: opportunities for funding health promotion and disease prevention
- Transdisciplinary health economics for 2050: the challenge of preventing the adverse health effects of obesity, inequalities, and climate change
Events
- Invest4Health final event, May 2026. (PowerPoint slides available.)
- European Public Health Conference 2025, practice session: Reimagining how to plan investment in health promotion and disease prevention
Prioritising equity through public health investments: European Public Health Week 2026 Kick-off Webinar
Innovative investments in Health Promotion – Invest4Health Public Workshop, 10 December 2024
The Guide for Financing Prevention and Health Promotion
The Guide for Financing Prevention and Health Promotion was designed by EuroHealthNet to support health and social care planners, public authorities, and policymakers at all levels — local, regional, and national — to mobilise greater investment in health promotion and disease prevention. It offers guidance for mobilising resources and driving system change that supports both human and planetary health.
Drawing from real-world examples across Europe and beyond, the Guide combines evidence, tools, and strategies to help you build smarter, fairer, and more sustainable approaches to health and wellbeing.
Section 3 of the guide - How you can get started - draws on the experience of the Invest4Health consortium to present a flexible pathway that can be adapted to different settings, capacities, and policy environments. It introduces Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI) and outlines how it can be applied in practice to move from ideas to implementation.
The EuroHealthNet
Guide for Financing Prevention and Health Promotion
