Who are we?
DETERMINE brings together a Consortium of over 50 health bodies, public health and health promotion institutes, governments and various other organisations from 26 European countries. It is coordinated by EuroHealthNet in collaboration with the contract holder, the Czech Institute of Public Health and EPHA is a collaborating partners in this project.
What do we aim to achieve?
By fostering greater cooperation between health and other sectors, DETERMINE aims at improving health and addressing health inequities via the social determinants of health. This project builds on the work of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (2005-2008), which brings together evidence on how social determinants affect the socio-economic conditions in which people live and work, and on the effectiveness of policies and interventions directly addressing them. The work that is being carried out by DETERMINE partners in an EU context contributes to the goals of the WHO Commission to initiate a sustainable global movement for action on health equity and social determinants.
What do we work on?
The work of DETERMINE is composed of seven work packages, led by different organisations. The Consortium meets three times in conjunction with EU Presidencies, and concludes its work with a final event in March 2010.
During the first year of the project, the Consortium has focused on what the EU and its Member States are doing to address the social determinants of health inequalities, and it has explored existing collaboration mechanisms between health and non-health sectors.
Consortium members have also identified innovative approaches in their countries, involving e.g. public-private partnerships and social marketing to change health related behaviours amongst socio-economically vulnerable groups. To this end, a review was undertaken of the published ‘grey’ literature on innovative approaches across the EU. Three small scale pilot projects that apply innovative approaches will be selected and implemented during the course of the year.
A consultative process engaging policy makers from sectors other than health has also begun, in order to identify existing practices and to evaluate current barriers and capacity needs for enhancing cross-sectoral action to address health inequalities.
How can I find out more?
Please consult www.health-inequalities.eu in order to learn more about DETERMINE and the outcomes of the first year of this initiative. For more information on the start and structure of the project, please consult the article on EPHA website
