Settingbasierte Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention

Die „gesunde Kommune“ im Lichte „großer Wenden“ – ein sozialökologisch fundiertes Ziel kommunaler Gesundheitsförderung (KoGeFö)

Hintergrund

In Kommunen wird die Gesundheit der Bewohner*innen durch Lebensumstände geschützt, gefördert oder gefährdet. Kommunale Gesundheitsförderung (KoGeFö) findet in und mit der Kommune statt. In der Kommune konzentrieren sich Programme und Maßnahmen auf Endpunkte der Morbidität und Mortalität. Die Krankheitslast soll reduziert, sowie die individuelle Lebensqualität gestärkt werden. Mit der Kommune will Gesundheitsförderung die „gesunde Kommune“ entwickeln.

Fragestellung

Wann ist eine Kommune „gesund“? Welche Absichten werden in der Gesundheitsförderung mit der Kommune jenseits von Programmen verfolgt, die auf die Reduktion der Inzidenz und Prävalenz nicht-ansteckender Erkrankungen zielen, indem sie die Bewohner*innen motivieren und unterstützen, sich gesundheitsfördernd zu verhalten?

Material und Methoden

Vor dem Hintergrund „großer gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen“ und mit Rückgriff auf sozialökologische Ansätze wird erörtert, was eine „gesunde Kommune“ ausmacht, worauf die Gesundheitsförderung mit der Kommune zielt.

Ergebnisse

Die „gesunde Kommune“ entwickelt sich in der intersektoralen Zusammenarbeit von Akteur*innen der Politik, von Verwaltungseinheiten, der Zivilgesellschaft und der Bewohner*innen. Die „gesunde Kommune“ ist als faire Umgebung gestaltet. Sie öffnet den Einzelnen Möglichkeitsräume für dessen Handeln und gewährt Verwirklichungschancen für persönlich wichtige Ziele.

Schlussfolgerung

Die bevorzugte sozialökologische Perspektive schärft den Blick für die dynamische Interaktion von Umwelt- und Personenfaktoren. Mit Fairness, Möglichkeitsräumen und Verwirklichungschancen sind drei Kriterien benannt, die sich als Gradmesser für den Endpunkt „gesunde Kommune“ einer Gesundheitsförderung mit der Kommune eignen.

[Digital Applications in the Planning and Implementation of Structural Health Promotion and Prevention Settings: Results of a Scoping Review]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

In health promotion and prevention, digital applications, especially for behavioral changes, are being increasingly researched and applied. The aim of this study was to investigate possible uses of digital applications in the context of structurally oriented interventions in these settings.

METHODS

This is a supplementary analysis of the results of a scoping review. Eight scientific databases were searched for digital structural primary prevention and health promotion in settings from 2010-2020.

RESULTS

A total of 34 articles were included. Digital applications were found to be used only marginally for structural change in health promoting settings. They served as tools for project management, networking, problem identification, consensus building or participation. Participatory methods and projects were used, as well as tools such as labeling, placement, prompting, incentives, nudges, and political strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

More evidence is needed on how digital applications can be used to change structures in health promoting settings. Public health or sociological methods and theories can play a supporting role. The interdisciplinary and participatory development and implementation of health promoting technologies is of high relevance.

[School from the spirit of public health? : Health promotion in schools from a sociology of education perspective]

Im Rahmen der Gesundheitsförderung im Sinne der Ottawa-Charta wird der Schule eine Reihe von Aufgaben und Funktionen zugeschrieben, die unter anderem zur Reduktion von gesundheitlichen und sozialen Ungleichheiten beitragen sollen. Dabei finden allerdings in der Public-Health-Diskussion zur schulischen Gesundheitsförderung wichtige theoretische Überlegungen und empirische Erkenntnisse aus der Bildungssoziologie, die Schule als eine hierarchisierende, segregierende, Ungleichheiten produzierende und reproduzierende Institution analysiert, kaum Platz. In diesem Diskussionsbeitrag werden einige bildungssoziologische Positionen und die normative Rahmung der schulischen Gesundheitsförderung vorgestellt. Ferner wird auf die Widersprüche zwischen den Zielen der Gesundheitsförderung und den aktuellen schulischen Bedingungen eingegangen. Zum Schluss werden konzeptionelle Überlegungen für eine Perspektive vorgestellt, die Bildung aus dem Geist der Gesundheitsförderung entwickelt, dabei werden Verbindungen zu Inklusion, Demokratiebildung sowie Menschenrechten hergestellt.

Digital Health Promotion and Prevention in Settings: Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Digital technologies are increasingly integrating into people's daily living environments such as schools, sport clubs, and health care facilities. These settings play a crucial role for health promotion and prevention because they affect the health of their members, as the World Health Organization has declared. Implementing digital health promotion and prevention in settings offers the opportunity to reach specific target groups, lower the costs of implementation, and improve the health of the population. Currently, there is a lack of scientific evidence that reviews the research on digital health promotion and prevention in settings.

OBJECTIVE

This scoping review aims to provide an overview of research targeting digital health promotion and primary prevention in settings. It assesses the range of scientific literature regarding outcomes such as applied technology, targeted setting, and area of health promotion or prevention, as well as identifies research gaps.

METHODS

The scoping review was conducted following the Levac, Colquhoun, and O'Brien framework. We searched scientific databases and gray literature for articles on digital setting-based health promotion and prevention published from 2010 to January 2020. We included empirical and nonempirical publications in English or German and excluded secondary or tertiary prevention and health promotion at the workplace.

RESULTS

From 8888 records, the search resulted in 200 (2.25%) included publications. We identified a huge diversity of literature regarding digital setting-based health promotion and prevention. The variety of technology types extends from computer- and web-based programs to mobile devices (eg, smartphone apps) and telemonitoring devices (sensors). We found analog, digital, and blended settings in which digital health promotion and prevention takes place. The most frequent analog settings were schools (39/200, 19.5%) and neighborhoods or communities (24/200, 12%). Social media apps were also included because in some studies they were defined as a (digital) setting. They accounted for 31.5% (63/200) of the identified settings. The most commonly focused areas of health promotion and prevention were physical activity (81/200, 40.5%), nutrition (45/200, 22.5%), and sexual health (34/200, 17%). Most of the interventions combined several health promotion or prevention methods, including environmental change; providing information, social support, training, or incentives; and monitoring. Finally, we found that the articles mostly reported on behavioral rather than structural health promotion and prevention.

CONCLUSIONS

The research field of digital health promotion and prevention in settings is heterogeneous. At the same time, we identified research gaps regarding the absence of valid definitions of relevant terms (eg, digital settings) and the lack of literature on structural health promotion and prevention in settings. Therefore, it remains unclear how digital technologies can contribute to structural (or organizational) changes in settings. More research is needed to successfully implement digital technologies to achieve health promotion and prevention in settings.

[Digital interventions in prevention and health promotion: What kind of evidence do we have and what is needed?]

Digital technologies increasingly affect our daily lives and interact with our living environment. A high potential for prevention and health promotion is referred to digital interventions. So far, however, there is a lack of well-founded evidence on the effectiveness of such measures. This paper will address the challenges of evidence-based digital interventions in prevention and health promotion. The results are summarised in the form of a narrative review.So far, evidence-based medicine methods have not been sufficiently used in the evaluation of benefits and harms in the field of prevention and health promotion. The reasons for this are found in the complexity of the corresponding measures. This complexity is further increased by digital interventions. Nevertheless, it is urgently recommended to place a stronger focus on evidence-based interventions in order to enable meaningful and comprehensible evaluation procedures with regard to the effectiveness of digital interventions in prevention and health promotion.Digitalisation leads to new demands on prevention and health promotion. A critical perspective on the actual impact of digital interventions and their social implications is needed. The development of a solid knowledge base is necessary in order to promote acceptance of the technologies and to achieve sustainable implementation.

[DEVASYS - Development of an Online Tool to Support Systematic Evaluation of Intervention Projects in Prevention and Health Promotion]

OBJECTIVES

To date, knowledge about the effects and implementation quality of disease prevention and health promotion projects in Germany is limited. Only a few structured evaluation systems exist that can be easily used and which include features for evaluating research and practice projects. The aim of the current project was to develop and carry out a pilot study of an online evaluation tool that enables structured self-evaluation of projects in disease prevention and health promotion practice and contributes to an improved documentation and cyclical development of projects.

METHODS

The mixed-methods approach taken in this project included 2 steps: a) search of literature and database to develop a theoretical framework for the tool and b) adaptation process to test the fit of the tool for practice, including a focus group discussion and a usability test with different disease prevention and health promotion stakeholders (N=12).

RESULTS

The resulting documentation and evaluation system (DEVASYS) is comprised of the components "planning", "documentation", and "evaluation" which can be used independently of one another. The conceptual basis of the tool is the RE-AIM framework. To determine the quality of an individual project, dimensions of both the output (reach, acceptance, implementation) and the outcome levels (effectiveness, maintenance) can be documented with the tool.

CONCLUSION

DEVASYS is a practice-oriented tool contributing to an improved evaluation of existing practice-related intervention projects and the overall quality of future projects in the area of disease prevention and health promotion. Systematic dissemination and implementation of the tool are the next steps to be taken.

What should governments be doing to prevent diabetes throughout the life course?

Health systems and governments are increasingly required to implement measures that target at-risk populations to prevent noncommunicable diseases. In this review we lay out what governments should be doing to prevent diabetes throughout the life course. The following four target groups were used to structure the specific recommendations: (1) pregnant women and young families, (2) children and adolescents, (3) working age population, and (4) the elderly. The evidence to date supports the effectiveness of some known government policy measures, such as sugar taxes and regulatory measures in the (pre-)school setting for children and adolescents. Many of these appear to be more effective if they are part of a bundle of strategies and if they are supplemented by communication strategies. Although there is a current focus on strategies that target the individual, governments can make use of evidence-based population-level prevention strategies. More research and continuous evaluation of the overall and subgroup-specific effectiveness of policy strategies using high-quality longitudinal studies are needed.

[Study Designs for Effect Evaluation in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion - Meaning of Internal and External Validity in Intervention Studies]

BACKGROUND

Health promotion and disease prevention in Germany have become more important as a result of the Prevention Act that gives special attention to the setting. So far, however, there is neither a common understanding of the terms of this approach, nor are its potentials empirically derived. Therefore, a discussion about suitable evaluation and study concepts is required.

AIMS AND METHODS

The aims of this study were to address the meaning of internal and external validity of intervention studies in health promotion and disease prevention. We provide an overview of the achievable bias control for different study designs and provide examples for the evaluation of setting-based approaches.

RESULTS

Interventions in settings are often characterized by a multitude of measures, actors and intervention contexts. Methods of analysis from evidence-based medicine are viewed critically for health promotion and disease prevention in Germany. Such studies are considered to provide a high degree of internal validity, but the extrapolation of the results to "reality" is viewed as low. In contrast, the extrapolation of study results is not more of a challenge for setting projects than for any other research area. It is not limited by different contexts, but rather by different causal relationships. Impact assessment aims at causally attributing an observed outcome to the intervention. Thus, the epistemological requirements do not differ between studies that are designed for internal or external validity. The international discussion focuses on the refinement of (quasi)-experimental study designs. Examples for the evaluation of setting projects, mainly from Germany, illustrate that those alternative methods have already been used in evaluation practice.

CONCLUSION

A challenge for health promotion and disease prevention in settings is to systematically assess the different needs for evidence-basing. At present, there is a wealth of findings in a large number of intervention fields. These findings must be compiled and analyzed to determine whether and to what extent further evaluations need to be initiated and by which methods.

[Settings-based prevention of overweight in childhood and adolescents : Theoretical foundation, determinants and intervention planning]

BACKGROUND

Childhood and adolescent overweight can still be seen as a global public health problem. Based on our socioeconomic understanding, overweight is the result of a complex interplay of a diverse array of factors acting on different levels. Hence, in addition to individual level determinants overweight prevention should also address environmental related factors as part of a holistic and integrated setting approach.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to discuss the setting approach with regard to overweight prevention in childhood and adolescence. In addition to a summary of environmental factors and their empirical influence on the determinants of overweight, theoretical approaches and planning models of settings-based overweight prevention are discussed.

RESULTS

While settings can be characterized as specific social-spatial subsystems (e. g. kindergarten, schools), living environments relate to complex subject-oriented environments that may include various subsystems. Direct social contexts, educational contexts and community contexts as relevant systems for young people contain different evidence-based influences that need to be taken into account in settings based overweight prevention. To support a theory-driven intervention, numerous planning models exist, which are presented here.

DISCUSSION

Given the strengthening of environments for health within the prevention law, the underlying settings approach also needs further development with regard to overweigth prevention. This includes the improvement of the theoretical foundation by aligning intervention practice of planning models, which also has a positive influence on the ability to measure its success.