Shaping EUROpean policies to promote HEALTH equitY

ended

Health inequities have been increasing in Europe, particularly in a context of an ageing society and economic crisis. In countries with different levels of infrastructures and health system preparedness, inequities create significant policy challenges. The main goal of this project is to advance knowledge of policies that have the highest potential to enhance health and health equity across European regions with particular focus on metropolitan areas. To achieve this goal, the project will develop tools – based on a population health index – to evaluate the health and wellbeing of European population. This index will be informed by evidence on the relationship between multiple determinants (e.g. demographic, social, economic, environmental, lifestyle, and health care) and health outcomes in the past 15 years. It will be constructed using a multicriteria model structure, following a socio-technical approach: integrating the technical elements of a multicriteria value model and the social elements of interdisciplinary and participatory processes. The index will be applied to evaluate the population’s health in 273 NUTS 2 European regions and 9 selected pilot metropolitan areas (covering populations of 28 EU countries). The space-time analysis and comparison of the population health index will be enabled by a user-friendly web-based Geographic Information System. The population health index will be used to foresee and discuss the impact of multilevel policies and combinations of policies in population health and health equity across European regions, thus providing a basis for policy dialogue. Multicriteria resource allocation models, conflict analyses, analysis of policies’ feasibility, and scenario analyses will then assist in providing evidence on which policies have the highest potential to improve health and reduce health inequities at different geographical levels, and in suggesting alternative policy options for health policy development and regulation.