Building resilience in times of change
EuroHealthNet Annual Report
June 2021-June 2022
2. Building Resilience
2021/22 continued to be marked by change and uncertainty. Despite the achievements in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, it looks likely that we will have to adjust to it remaining a part of our lives.
We must also confront, mitigate and adapt to the potentially immense consequences of climate change, which are already becoming apparent. And we must deal with the effects of the war in Ukraine, the end of a sense of security, the resulting refugee and humanitarian crisis and its economic implications, as energy, food and other prices rise. In the meantime, we must continue to manage the digital revolution, that is transforming the way we live and work, with many positive but also negative effects.
2021 was also marked with new opportunities. A global vaccination campaign of unprecedented scale kept public health in the spotlight, while greater awareness of the unequal impacts of the pandemic across society sparked calls for greater solidarity and social justice.
Unprecedented levels for funding for ‘recovery’, and the ten-fold budget increase for the EU health programme also offered new opportunities for more resources to invest in initiatives for systemic change. EuroHealthNet’s focus in 2021 was on seizing these opportunities for more investment in public health, health promotion, disease prevention and to reduce health inequalities.
The concept of ‘recovery’, which suggests going back to systems and approaches that clearly did not work for many people, and for the planet, no longer seem suitable. We must, rather, ‘transition’ to new systems and approaches, better able to sustain life, health and well-being for all. Individual resilience is a person's ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity. Viewed from a broader, societal perspective, the EC defines resilience as “the ability not only to withstand and cope with challenges but also to undergo transitions, in a sustainable, fair, and democratic manner.”
Our focus on health promotion and disease prevention in this context of change and uncertainty, is crucial. Good mental and physical health is an individual and collective resource that is essential to cope with and to navigate these uncertain times. Our focus on health inequalities is also highly relevant to building resilience given the ample evidence that ‘more equal societies do better’.
EuroHealthNet's Strategic Development Plan (2021-2026), adopted by members at the General Council in 2021 sets out how we will in the coming years help develop resilience, and steer change with a focus on health, equity and wellbeing.
The Strategy lies at the basis of our new four-year Framework Agreement with the European Commission. It sets out how we will ‘build on the foundations’ in our five main areas of work, and our cross-cutting themes, anticipate and respond to future developments and contribute to change.
During the General Council we also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the WHO Regional Office for Europe that sets out a framework for further structured collaboration between our organisations.
2. Building resilience
2021/22 continued to be marked by change and uncertainty. Despite the achievements in managing the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, it looks likely that we will have to adjust to it remaining a part of our lives.
We must also confront, mitigate and adapt to the potentially immense consequences of climate change, which are already becoming apparent. And we must deal with the effects of the war in Ukraine, the end of a sense of security, the resulting refugee and humanitarian crisis and its economic implications, as energy, food and other prices rise. In the meantime, we must continue to manage the digital revolution, that is transforming the way we live and work, with many positive but also negative effects.
2021 was also marked with new opportunities. A global vaccination campaign of unprecedented scale kept public health in the spotlight, while greater awareness of the unequal impacts of the pandemic across society sparked calls for greater solidarity and social justice.
Unprecedented levels for funding for ‘recovery’, and the ten-fold budget increase for the EU health programme also offered new opportunities for more resources to invest in initiatives for systemic change. EuroHealthNet’s focus in 2021 was on seizing these opportunities for more investment in public health, health promotion, disease prevention and to reduce health inequalities.
The concept of ‘recovery’, which suggests going back to systems and approaches that clearly did not work for many people, and for the planet, no longer seem suitable. We must, rather, ‘transition’ to new systems and approaches, better able to sustain life, health and well-being for all. Individual resilience is a person's ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity. Viewed from a broader, societal perspective, the EC defines resilience as “the ability not only to withstand and cope with challenges but also to undergo transitions, in a sustainable, fair, and democratic manner.”
The concept of ‘recovery’, which suggests going back to systems and approaches that clearly did not work for many people, and for the planet, no longer seem suitable. We must, rather, ‘transition’ to new systems and approaches, better able to sustain life, health and well-being for all. Individual resilience is a person's ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity. Viewed from a broader, societal perspective, the EC defines resilience as “the ability not only to withstand and cope with challenges but also to undergo transitions, in a sustainable, fair, and democratic manner.”
Our focus on health promotion and disease prevention in this context of change and uncertainty, is crucial. Good mental and physical health is an individual and collective resource that is essential to cope with and to navigate these uncertain times. Our focus on health inequalities is also highly relevant to building resilience given the ample evidence that ‘more equal societies do better’.
EuroHealthNet's Strategic Development Plan (2021-2026), adopted by members at the General Council in 2021 sets out how we will in the coming years help develop resilience, and steer change with a focus on health, equity and wellbeing.
The Strategy lies at the basis of our new four-year Framework Agreement with the European Commission. It sets out how we will ‘build on the foundations’ in our five main areas of work, and our cross-cutting themes, anticipate and respond to future developments and contribute to change.
During the General Council we also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the WHO Regional Office for Europe that sets out a framework for further structured collaboration between our organisations.
Investing in health promotion not only helps mitigate the immediate impacts of the different crises we are facing by cushioning against the negative consequences for health inequalities - but also improves the resilience of our health systems and societies over the long-term, thereby improving our future responses to crises.
- Dr. Sumina Azam, EuroHealthNet Executive Board Member and Consultant in Public Health, Policy Lead, Deputy Director – Policy and International Health, WHO Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health and Wellbeing, Public Health Wales
Our focus on health promotion and disease prevention in this context of change and uncertainty, is crucial. Good mental and physical health is an individual and collective resource that is essential to cope with and to navigate these uncertain times. Our focus on health inequalities is also highly relevant to building resilience given the ample evidence that ‘more equal societies do better’.
EuroHealthNet's Strategic Development Plan (2021-2026), adopted by members at the General Council in 2021 sets out how we will in the coming years help develop resilience, and steer change with a focus on health, equity and wellbeing.
The Strategy lies at the basis of our new four-year Framework Agreement with the European Commission. It sets out how we will ‘build on the foundations’ in our five main areas of work, and our cross-cutting themes, anticipate and respond to future developments and contribute to change.
During the General Council we also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the WHO Regional Office for Europe that sets out a framework for further structured collaboration between our organisations.
An Economy of Wellbeing
In 2021/22 we continued to be inspired by and explored the concept of an ‘Economy of Wellbeing’ as one that can provide hope and direction to help build resilience and navigate these times of uncertainty. The concept can motivate a wide range of actors to invest in the underlying socio-economic and environmental determinants of health.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of strong social protection systems, which is why in 2021/22 EuroHealthNet continued to promote the European Pillar of Social Rights, and its accompanying Action Plan amongst our members, as tools for health and wellbeing.
The pandemic has also demonstrated the importance of human connection and care, and the need to value and strengthen this, also in workplace and digital settings. People’s fundamental need for connection, care, nature, and physical activity is also why it is important to improve health professionals’ ability to refer to non-medical support and interventions.
We focused on these issues during an event and a workshop organised together with the Institute for Positive Health (NL), on how to promote health better in clinical settings as well as in the community through collaboration between primary care and the social sector as well as other services. We also focused on such themes during our Country Exchange Visit on social prescribing, in new policy briefings on employment conditions and gender and in responses to consultations.
Tell me about the Economy of Wellbeing in..
Addressing the social determinants of health equity
In 2021/22, much of the Partnership’s work focused on taking stock of and seizing the opportunities available to strengthen action and investments in the underlying determinants of health equity to address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the past year we advocated to shift the predominant bio-medical vision of and approach to physical and mental health, to gain more support for ‘holistic’ approaches.
We argued for this in for example our input to the response to the EU4Health workshop on ‘potential solutions for a healthier European Union, and the Consultation on a European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).
More holistic, social and equity-focused approaches to health can also complement bio-medical approaches and help their effectiveness, as attested by the IMMUNION project we are coordinating and the RIVER-EU project, on improving equitable vaccine uptake.
"If we want to build more resilient #health systems, we need to take a more societal approach. We need to make health and well-being the responsibility of the highest level of government." - @CaroCostongs, Director of @EuroHealthNet. pic.twitter.com/EbzvFOF4dz
— EuropeanPolicyCentre (@epc_eu) February 8, 2022
"If we want to build more resilient #health systems, we need to take a more societal approach. We need to make health and well-being the responsibility of the highest level of government." - @CaroCostongs, Director of @EuroHealthNet. pic.twitter.com/EbzvFOF4dz
— EuropeanPolicyCentre (@epc_eu) February 8, 2022
Good early childhood experiences provide the foundation for good health, resilience and well-being across the life-course. We therefore also engaged in the process of designing the EU Child Guarantee scheme, as a measure to help ensure that more children across Europe have a good start. We informed members about the scheme, encouraging them to get involved in the development of an Action Plan in their country, and to ensure it had strong health elements. In addition, we collaborated with organisations on interventions for healthy schools, as a key setting to support the physical and mental health of children and adolescents and to reduce health inequalities.
EuroHealthNet supported the EU Joint Acton on Health Equity Europe (JAHEE) that came to an end with a series of key recommendations, an overarching one being to ‘apply an equity lens, whenever and wherever possible’; Our 2021 analysis on how EU Member states could, or were, spending Resilience and Recovery funds in ways that can improve health equity, revealed that there is currently a lack of such a systemic focus, despite the rhetoric that they must be invested to contribute to a ‘fair’ and ‘just’ transition.
Our Health Inequalities Portal, that we re-developed and launched at the start of 2021 can serve as a key resource to help address the need to ensure action on health equity remains high on the political agenda and is implemented in practice. The Portal sets out the importance of reducing health inequalities and brings together information on policies, tools, research outcomes and other initiatives on health inequalities at all levels.
Happy to have contributed to this publication of the Council of Europe Development Bank. They set out a great vision for integrated and sustainable health systems, sensitive to climate, equity and the prevention of NCDs. Investors have vital roles to play @EuroHealthNet https://t.co/dY0ceDsNWQ
— Caroline Costongs (@CaroCostongs) August 31, 2021
Happy to have contributed to this publication of the Council of Europe Development Bank. They set out a great vision for integrated and sustainable health systems, sensitive to climate, equity and the prevention of NCDs. Investors have vital roles to play @EuroHealthNet https://t.co/dY0ceDsNWQ
— Caroline Costongs (@CaroCostongs) August 31, 2021
Harnessing the potential of the green transition
In 2021/22 we continued our focus on harnessing the potential of measures that are being taken in the context of the European Green Deal to improve health and equity, and thereby the resilience of people and planet.
The need to make food production systems more sustainable for example offers opportunities to reduce meat consumption and boost that of fruits and vegetables. The energy transition and greening of society offer opportunities to improve the quality of outdoor and indoor spaces, stimulating active travel, while all such initiatives offer chances for more community engagement.
Prof. Martin Dietrich, EuroHealthNet Executive Board Member and Acting Director of the Federal Centre for Health Education / Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung/BZgA – (Germany)
We are exploring these and other related themes in a new thematic working group (TWIG) on ‘Healthy Living Environments’ in which members are exchanging on promising initiatives in this area. We spoke on the theme of harnessing the potential of the green transition at a number of events, like the European Public Health Conference plenary that we organised. This took place on the same day as the closing session of the UN Climate Change Conference CoP26 in Glasgow where EuroHealthNet participated as accredited observer.
During these events, and our Country Exchange Visit on Climate change and Health, and in numerous consultation responses (e.g., social and labour aspects of the just transition towards labour neutrality; the EC’s ‘Healthier Together’ initiative on NCDs. We reiterated that measures to address climate change must be implemented in ‘fair’ ways, that do not inadvertently widen health inequalities.
A fairer and healthier digital world
We are increasingly living our lives in two domains, the physical and the digital, and therefore also need to build individual and social resilience through the digital transition. The benefits of the digital transformation, in terms of access to information and opportunities to connect, are clear, but the threats have become all too apparent also.
It is currently very difficult to regulate the on-line marketing of unhealthy goods and services, misinformation and bullying, while social media can set unrealistic standards, fuelling inequity, division and mental ill health.
There are also differences in levels of access to digital information, and in capacities to discern the accuracy and quality of information that we are exposed to. While for example, digitalization is transforming public health, health services, and the health information we receive, such developments could be harmful or may not reach everyone, unless measures are carefully designed. This was the focus of our Annual Seminar on Promoting Digital Health Literacy for Europe’s Digital Future, and of consultation responses, such as Making Europe’ digital decade fit for children and young people’.
We collaborated in efforts to limit marketing of unhealthy food to children also via e and m-health and took part in an EU-level e-health stakeholder group, to weigh in, from a public health perspective, on efforts to ensure that private data cannot be misused by public and private across. In addition, our members initiated and we began to facilitate another new thematic working group (TWIG) led by our members Santé Publique France and Trimbos (Netherlands), on the use of (digital) social marketing to address addictions.
It is through such, and a wide range of other initiatives that we aimed to seize the opportunities made available through tools and initiatives available at EU level to strengthen public health and health promotion across the EU and reduce health inequalities. We will continue to pursue this approach to help ensure that we build individual and collective resilience, to address the inter-related crises that we are facing and emerge as more environmentally and socially sustainable, and thereby healthier, societies.
Building health promoting systems fit for the future
EuroHealthNet Annual Report June 2021-June 2022
Building health promoting systems fit for the future
EuroHealthNet Annual Report June 2021-June 2022
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