Building resilience in times of change
EuroHealthNet Annual Report
June 2021-June 2022
5. Research
EuroHealthNet’s research platform aims to provide the evidence-base needed to develop policies and practices that promote health, equity, and wellbeing.
We analyse the EU research landscape and help members identify funding opportunities, and to collaborate on research proposals. We take part in research consortia addressing the different themes we engage in, such as health inequalities, environmental health, sustainable lifestyles and healthy food systems, digital health and literacy, and vaccination.
We ensure the outcomes of these activities are taken up through participation in relevant meetings and events, cross linking to our Policy, Practice and Communication Platforms.
CHAIN: contributing to research on health inequalities worldwide
CHAIN, The Centre for Health Inequalities Research, brings together academia from all research disciplines, the UN system, civil society, and the private sector to identify and analyse the determinants of health inequalities and the policy and practice responses that are most effective in reducing them.
As we take measures to recover from the pandemic, it is vital to ensure that such decisions do not further exacerbate inequalities within as well as between countries. This requires that decisions are based on evidence – evidence on who has been affected and how, and on what helps protect the more vulnerable among us.
Throughout the pandemic, CHAIN has played an active role in gathering such evidence, ranging from collecting and making data available to explain the impact of COVID-19 on employment and gender and identifying interventions that are effective in reducing inequalities. EuroHealthNet is a valued partner in CHAIN.
Explaining the impact of parental education on child mortality
A major development in 2021 was a study on parental education and child mortality, a product from the collaboration between CHAIN and the GBD study. The study was one of the first to include an examination of fathers’ education, which is critically under-communicated, as well as mothers’ education.
Additionally, the study went beyond the perinatal period to examine mortality during the first 5 years of life and by including over 3 million live births, exceeded the scope of any previous study.
EuroHealthNet created a factsheet visualising the study’s main messages, and disseminated the findings of the study throughout our network and media contacts.
European funding: informing and building consortia with members
Throughout the course of the year, EuroHealthNet has actively kept our Partnership updated with European funding opportunities for research, notably under the Horizon Europe, EU4Health and Erasmus+ programmes. EuroHealthNet encourages partners to reach out when they are interested in taking part in research proposals and seeks to involve members in existing consortia or to build new ones.
In a joint effort with our members, we have led and participated in several applications on different topics, such as mental health, digital health and literacy, cancer prevention, digital and green skills, food and obesity, and healthy schools.
We continue to actively advocate for a European research landscape which prioritises health promotion and health equity, as well as an intersectoral approach to health and wellbeing.
With its extensive network of professionals in the fields of public health and health determinants, EuroHealthNet brings immense value to European research projects. Its multi-platform approach covering policy, practice and research ensures that it provides research evidence to policymakers and practitioners on the ground, whilst feeding their experiences, needs and concerns back into state-of-the-art research.
- Paolo Stocco, EuroHealthNet Board Member and of the National Executive Committee of Federsanità ANCI, Italy
RIVER-EU
Running between 2021 – 2026, the RIVER-EU project aims to improve access to MMR and HPV vaccines amongst specific underserved populations in Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia.
Through a literature review and interviews with those communities, as well as communities with uncommonly high vaccine uptake in Finland, United Kingdom, and Israel, RIVER-EU will collect evidence on different barriers and enablers to vaccination. This evidence will be used to adapt, design, and implement health system interventions. Following on from this, guidelines and training materials will be developed.
Along with EuroHealthNet, three of our members/observers are represented in the consortium: THL (Finland), UKHSA (England) and PROLEPSIS (Greece).
Celebrating European Immunization Week
— RIVER-EU (@rivereuproject) April 28, 2022
Vaccines are one of the most impactful scientific innovations of all time, helping to protect generation after generation against many infectious diseases.
Our task is to remove health system barriers to vaccination for all. #VaccineEquity pic.twitter.com/DEhxsObRRa
PS Lifestyle
EuroHealthNet is also a partner in a new Horizon2020 project, PSLifestyle, which was launched in October 2021. PSLifestyle aims to engage with and mobilise individuals in eight European countries to adopt positive, sustainable, and healthier lifestyles by helping them reduce their environmental impact.
PS Lifestyle will develop an online tool to help individuals learn about the effects of their day-to-day lives on the environment as well as inspire them to think about their current habits and how they could be changed through smart everyday actions.
Label2Enable
“Label2Enable” (May 2022 – 2024) is the first HorizonEurope project in which EuroHealthNet takes part. It aims to support the development and implementation of the EU quality label for health apps. The project builds on the work on the ISO 82304–2 label (inspired by the EU Energy Label and the Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition label), which defines requirements for good quality health and wellness apps that can be used by health professionals and patients/citizens.
With over two decades of experience, EuroHealthNet has come to be known as an authority in the fields of health promotion and health equity. Its participation in major public health events, such as the European Public Health Conference, is always sure to attract an impressive crowd of professionals. By offering members a podium during such events, EuroHealthNet helps reach an international and multidisciplinary audience, resulting in wider dissemination of expertise and new opportunities for networking and collaboration.
- Vertti Kiukas, EuroHealthNet Executive Board Member and Secretary-General of the Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health (SOSTE)
EPHC 2021: profiling the Partnership and explaining the links between climate, justice and health
In November 2021, EuroHealthNet and many members of the partnership took part in the European Public Health Conference.
EuroHealthNet organised a plenary session on “Climate change, justice and public health”, which brought together
- Dr Maria Neira (Director, Environment, Climate Change and Health, World Health Organization);
- Dr Hans Bruyninckx (Executive Director, European Environment Agency);
- Monica Scatasta (Director, Technical Assessment and Monitoring Directorate, Council of Europe Development Bank);
- Patrick ten Brink (Deputy Secretary General and Director EU Policy, European Environmental Bureau)
"Some things that we call costs are actual investments. The so-called 'costs' of climate change action are actually investments in health and social equity." -Hans Bruyninckx of @EUEnvironment #EPH2021 pic.twitter.com/3MtQX9aidV
— EuroHealthNet (@EuroHealthNet) November 12, 2021
"World leaders clearly do not have the same ambition and urgency to act as we do. We didn't come to #COP26Glasgow to negotiate - our health is non-negotiable."@DrMariaNeira sets out key recommendations for climate action to protect health and health equity. #EPH2021 pic.twitter.com/aA1qIhjaVT
— EuroHealthNet (@EuroHealthNet) November 12, 2021
EuroHealthNet was active in other events at the European Public Health Conference too.
- We moderated a JAHEE pre-conference event discussing the lessons learned and key messages from the Joint Action.
- EuroHealthNet’s President Mojca Gabrijelčič Blenkus moderated a workshop on new inequalities emerging from the COVID-19 syndemic.
- EuroHealthNet and EUPHA organised a round table on clear communication in the face of changing evidence, with speakers from the Portuguese National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), RIVM, WHO Europe, and a science journalist.
- EuroHealthNet's Director was one of the speakers during a workshop titled ‘Looking beyond COVID-19: Putting people at the centre in the digital health era.’
Building health promoting systems fit for the future
EuroHealthNet Annual Report June 2021-June 2022
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Building resilience in times of change
EuroHealthNet Annual Report
June 2021-June 2022
5. Research
EuroHealthNet’s Research Platform aims to provide the evidence-base needed to develop policies and practices that promote health, equity, and wellbeing.
We analyse the EU research landscape and help members identify funding opportunities, and to collaborate on research proposals. We take part in research consortia addressing the different themes we engage in, such as health inequalities, environmental health, sustainable lifestyles and healthy food systems, digital health and literacy, and vaccination.
We ensure the outcomes of these activities are taken up through participation in relevant meetings and events, cross linking to our Policy, Practice and Communication Platforms.
CHAIN: contributing to research on health inequalities worldwide
CHAIN, The Centre for Health Inequalities Research, brings together academia from all research disciplines, the UN system, civil society, and the private sector to identify and analyse the determinants of health inequalities and the policy and practice responses that are most effective in reducing them.
As we take measures to recover from the pandemic, it is vital to ensure that such decisions do not further exacerbate inequalities within as well as between countries. This requires that decisions are based on evidence – evidence on who has been affected and how, and on what helps protect the more vulnerable among us.
Throughout the pandemic, CHAIN has played an active role in gathering such evidence, ranging from collecting and making data available to explain the impact of COVID-19 on employment and gender and identifying interventions that are effective in reducing inequalities. EuroHealthNet is a valued partner in CHAIN.
Explaining the impact of parental education on child mortality
A major development in 2021 was a study on parental education and child mortality, a product from the collaboration between CHAIN and the GBD study. The study was one of the first to include an examination of fathers’ education, which is critically under-communicated, as well as mothers’ education.
Additionally, the study went beyond the perinatal period to examine mortality during the first 5 years of life and by including over 3 million live births, exceeded the scope of any previous study.
EuroHealthNet created a factsheet visualising the study’s main messages, and disseminated the findings of the study throughout our network and media contacts.
European funding: informing and building consortia with members
Throughout the course of the year, EuroHealthNet has actively kept our Partnership updated with European funding opportunities for research, notably under the Horizon Europe, EU4Health and Erasmus+ programmes. EuroHealthNet encourages partners to reach out when they are interested in taking part in research proposals and seeks to involve members in existing consortia or to build new ones.
In a joint effort with our members, we have led and participated in several applications on different topics, such as mental health, digital health and literacy, cancer prevention, digital and green skills, food and obesity, and healthy schools.
We continue to actively advocate for a European research landscape which prioritises health promotion and health equity, as well as an intersectoral approach to health and wellbeing.
RIVER-EU
Running between 2021 – 2026, the RIVER-EU project aims to improve access to MMR and HPV vaccines amongst specific underserved populations in Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, and Slovakia.
Through a literature review and interviews with those communities, as well as communities with uncommonly high vaccine uptake in Finland, United Kingdom, and Israel, RIVER-EU will collect evidence on different barriers and enablers to vaccination. This evidence will be used to adapt, design, and implement health system interventions. Following on from this, guidelines and training materials will be developed.
Along with EuroHealthNet, three of our members/observers are represented in the consortium: THL (Finland), UKHSA (England) and PROLEPSIS (Greece).
Celebrating European Immunization Week
— RIVER-EU (@rivereuproject) April 28, 2022
Vaccines are one of the most impactful scientific innovations of all time, helping to protect generation after generation against many infectious diseases.
Our task is to remove health system barriers to vaccination for all. #VaccineEquity pic.twitter.com/DEhxsObRRa
PS Lifestyle
EuroHealthNet is also a partner in a new Horizon2020 project, PSLifestyle, which was launched in October 2021. PSLifestyle aims to engage with and mobilise individuals in eight European countries to adopt positive, sustainable, and healthier lifestyles by helping them reduce their environmental impact.
PS Lifestyle will develop an online tool to help individuals learn about the effects of their day-to-day lives on the environment as well as inspire them to think about their current habits and how they could be changed through smart everyday actions.
Label2Enable
“Label2Enable” (May 2022 – 2024) is the first HorizonEurope project in which EuroHealthNet takes part. It aims to support the development and implementation of the EU quality label for health apps. The project builds on the work on the ISO 82304–2 label (inspired by the EU Energy Label and the Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition label), which defines requirements for good quality health and wellness apps that can be used by health professionals and patients/citizens.
EPHC 2021: profiling the Partnership and explaining the links between climate, justice and health
In November 2021, EuroHealthNet and many members of the partnership took part in the European Public Health Conference.
EuroHealthNet organised a plenary session on “Climate change, justice and public health”, which brought together
- Dr Maria Neira (Director, Environment, Climate Change and Health, World Health Organization);
- Dr Hans Bruyninckx (Executive Director, European Environment Agency);
- Monica Scatasta (Director, Technical Assessment and Monitoring Directorate, Council of Europe Development Bank);
- Patrick ten Brink (Deputy Secretary General and Director EU Policy, European Environmental Bureau)
"Some things that we call costs are actual investments. The so-called 'costs' of climate change action are actually investments in health and social equity." -Hans Bruyninckx of @EUEnvironment #EPH2021 pic.twitter.com/3MtQX9aidV
— EuroHealthNet (@EuroHealthNet) November 12, 2021
"World leaders clearly do not have the same ambition and urgency to act as we do. We didn't come to #COP26Glasgow to negotiate - our health is non-negotiable."@DrMariaNeira sets out key recommendations for climate action to protect health and health equity. #EPH2021 pic.twitter.com/aA1qIhjaVT
— EuroHealthNet (@EuroHealthNet) November 12, 2021
EuroHealthNet was active in other events at the European Public Health Conference too.
- We moderated a JAHEE pre-conference event discussing the lessons learned and key messages from the Joint Action.
- EuroHealthNet’s President Mojca Gabrijelčič Blenkus moderated a workshop on new inequalities emerging from the COVID-19 syndemic.
- EuroHealthNet and EUPHA organised a round table on clear communication in the face of changing evidence, with speakers from the Portuguese National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), RIVM, WHO Europe, and a science journalist.
- EuroHealthNet's Director was one of the speakers during a workshop titled ‘Looking beyond COVID-19: Putting people at the centre in the digital health era.’
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