EUROTHINE - Tackling Health Inequalities In Europe: an integrated approach

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Description
Action Improving information and knowledge for the development of public health Area of activity This project collects and analyses information on socioeconomic inequalities in health from a wide range of European countries, in order to facilitate mutual learning and to help policy-makers develop rational strategies for tackling health inequalities. Summary The specific objectives are: 1. To develop health inequalities indicators, and to provide bench-marking data on inequalities in health and health determinants to participating countries 2. To assess evidence on the effectiveness of policies and interventions to tackle the determinants of health inequalities, and to make recommendations on strategies for reducing health inequalities in participating countries 3. To disseminate the results, and to develop a proposal for a permanent European clearing house on tackling health inequalities. More info...
Description      -      Financing      -      Outcomes      -      More info
Financing
Leader organisation EMC (Erasmus MC) Universitair Medisch Centrum Rotterdam (University Medical Center Rotterdam) Dr. Molewaterplein 50 NL-3015 GE Rotterdam THE NETHERLANDS Tel: +31.10.408.77.14 Fax: +31.10.408.94.55 Web site: http://www.erasmusmc.nl/mgz	Contact Person Johan P. MACKENBACH E-mail: j.mackenbach@erasmusmc.nl Anton KUNST E-mail: a.kunst@erasmusmc.nl Tel: +31.10.408.77.19 Fax: +31.10.463.84.74
Associated beneficiaries • Statistics Denmark - established in Denmark • University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine - established in Slovenia • Universitat Pompeu Fabra - established in Spain • Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London - established in the United Kindgom • Statistics Norway - established in Norway • Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona - established in Spain • Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona - established in Spain • Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institutet - established in Sweden • DREES - established in France • Department of Public Health and Microbiology, Turin University - established in Italy • Norwegian Centre for Health Services - established in Norway • Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VUB - established in Belgium • The University of Liverpool of Senate House - established in the United Kingdom • Centre for Prevention and Health Services Research, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment - established in The Netherlands • Charles University of Prague, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development - established in the Czech Republic • Department of Public Health and Management, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy - established in Romania • Pavol Jozef Safárik University in Kosice - established in Slovakia • Statistics Netherlands - established in The Netherlands • Lancaster University - established in the United Kingdom • Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies - established in Turkey • National Institute for Health Development of Estonia - established in Estonia • Zentrum für Sozialpolitik, Abt. Gesundheitspolitik, Arbeits- und Sozialmedizin, Universität Bremen - established in Germany • University of Glasgow, Faculty of Medicine, Health Promotion Policy Unit - established in the United Kingdom • Demographic Research Institute, Hungarian Central Statistical Office - established in Hungary • Latvjias Universitāte - University of Latvia - established in Latvia • Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki - established in Finland • The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) - established in Ireland • Södertörns Högskola University College (SCOHOST) - established in Sweden • Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet - established in Sweden • Országos Egészségfejlesztési Intézet - National Institute for Health Development (OEFI) - established in Hungary • GSF - Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, GmbH - National Research Center for Environment and Health, Institute of Health Economics and Health Care Management - established in Germany • Lund University, Department of Community Medicine - established in Sweden • Scientific Institute of Public Health - established in Belgium • Department of Epidemiology, Local Health Authority ROMA - established in Italy • The University of Edimburgh, Old College - established in the United Kingdom • Centre de Recherche, d'Etudes et de Documentation en Economie de la Santé (CREDES) - established in France • National Public Health Institute - established in Finland • Statistics Norway - established in Norway • Department of Preventive medicine and Public Health, Universidad Complutense de Madrid - established in Spain • Dr Anna Ritsatakis - established in Greece • Charles University of Prague, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Demography and Geodemaography - established in the Czech Republic • Centro de Estudos Geográficos da Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Coimbra - established in Portugal • STAKES (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health) - established in Finland • Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (I.SP.M.) - established in Greece • Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm university / Karolinska Institutet - established in Sweden • Państwowy Zakład Higieny (National Institute of Hygiene), Instytut Naukowo-Badawczy - established in Poland
Starting date and duration of project - 01/09/2004 - 36 months	Total cost 1,056,727.00 € Subsidy from the Commission 634,036.00 €
Description      -      Financing      -      Outcomes      -      More info
Outcomes
The main deliverables of this project will be a number of publications. In addition to 3 reports with detailed results, an edited volume accessible to a wider audience and containing a summary of the main results of all work-packages will be produced and submitted to an international publisher. Other dissemination activities include the creation of a website that facilitates Europe-wide exchanges of experiences with reducing health inequalities, and the development of a postgraduate training course. Final report (7 MB) Annex to the final report: Towards a clearing-house for evidence on tackling health inequalities in Europe (50 KB) Comparison of educational inequalities in general health in 12 European countries: application of an integral measure of self-assessed health (125 KB) Anton Kunst, Albert-Jan Roskam and national representatives Educational differences in self assessed health in 18 European countries: the role of smoking and overweight (245 KB) Anton Kunst, Albert-Jan Roskam and national representatives Development of health inequalities indicators for the Eurothine project (50 KB) Anton Kunst, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, 2008
Description      -      Financing      -      Outcomes      -      More info
More info
Statement of project aim(s) and objectives Socioeconomic inequalities in health are a major challenge for public health throughout Europe. In all countries with available data health inequalities are substantial: differences in life expectancy typically amount to 5 years or more, and differences in healthy life expectancy to 10 years or more between people with higher and lower educational, occupational or income levels. There is thus a great need for developing effective strategies to reduce health inequalities. In some countries (United Kingdom, Sweden, Netherlands) understanding of the determinants of health inequalities has improved to the extent that systematic and comprehensive strategies to tackle health inequalities have already been devised, but most countries are in earlier stages of policy development vis-à-vis health inequalities, and some are still in a pre-measurement stage in which even the most elementary data are lacking. While this variation is already highly apparent between current members of the European Union, it is even wider when the applicant countries are considered which are generally characterised by huge health inequalities and a lack of experience in dealing with them. This not only creates considerable need, but also extensive scope for mutual learning. The over-all aim of this project is to facilitate such mutual learning by collecting and analysing information from different European countries that will help policy-makers at the European and national level to develop rational strategies for tackling socioeconomic inequalities in health. The specific objectives are: • To develop and collect health inequalities indicators, and to provide bench-marking data on inequalities in health and health determinants to participating countries • To assess evidence on the effectiveness of policies and interventions to tackle the determinants of health inequalities, and to make recommendations on strategies for reducing health inequalities in participating countries • To disseminate the results, and to develop a proposal for a permanent European clearing house on tackling health inequalities. The integrated approach adopted here represents a significant step forwards as compared to previous projects in this field: the quantitative analyses of health indicators (objective 1) will show what the main entry-points for tackling health inequalities in the participating countries are, while a wide range of evidence on effectiveness (objective 2) will provide guidance as to the policies and interventions that can help to address these entry-points.
Methods Each objective will be covered by a separate strand of work. The strands are divided over different partners (subcontract The project will have 3 main strands, corresponding to each of its objectives: (a) collection and analysis of data on health inequalities indicators; (b) collection and analysis of evidence on effectiveness of policies and interventions; (c) dissemination and clearing house development. Each of these strands will consist of a number of work-packages to be carried out by either the co-ordinating center or one of the 8 collaborating centers, with inputs from leading experts in the field based in 25 European countries. Essentially, the quantitative analyses in the first strand will show what the main priorities and entry-points for tackling health inequalities in the participating countries are, while the evidence to be assessed in the second strand will provide guidance as to the policies and interventions that can help to address these priorities and entry-points.