SPHERE Overview and findings

1
SPHERE Overview and findings
Strengthening Public Health Research in Europe
Gabrielle Harvey Mark McCarthy University
College London
2
The EU research call

• Sixth Framework Research Programme Policy
  Oriented Research Scientific Support to
  Policies
• to examine the ways and means by which research
  priorities in the field of public health at the
  European level can be identified, taking into
  account the interaction and needs of
  stakeholders, policy makers, the scientific
  community and end users and how research
  outcomes can be best integrated into the policy
  process.

3
EUPHA Conference Helsinki
Study Set up EUPHA Conference Graz
EUPHA Conference Montreux
Pre-meeting EUPHA Conference Oslo
Final report
First report
Literature
Consultation
Preliminary Assessment
Proposal
Strategy
Stakeholders
Analysis
DESCRIBE
CONSULT
4
Three activities

• Literature - bibliometry
• citations for all public health literature
• counts of 6 specialist public health topics
• and French-language publications
• Strategy
• Stakeholders perspectives
• Management
• using EUPHA annual conferences
• coordination through Faculty Public Health UK

5
Strategy - stakeholders
6
Ministries of health and science

• 38 ministries from 24 / 27 EEA invited countries
• ministries pointed to processes involving
  different degrees of interaction and
  participation of researchers, funders and society
• decisions of financial support were more
  important than priority setting
• difficulty identifying available funds
• no strategies exist to determine if research
  findings, or best practices, are being
  implemented
• many national agencies are knowledge translation
  platforms rather than formal research
  commissioners

7
National Support to Public Health Research -
Austria

• Management of Public Health Research
• Ministries Inquired
• Organisations Involved in Ministries Supporting
  Public Health Research
• Other Organisations Involved in Supporting Public
  Health Research
• Relevant National Documents
• Ministerial Priorities in Public Health Research

8
Training institutions

• Questionnaire to 116 institutions 31 responded
  from 22 countries
• no systematic listing of research institutions or
  training arrangements

Training Institutions Sources of funding for
public health research training institutions
EU 15 (pre-2005) New
Member States
9
Non government organisations

• Eastern European country NGOs - EPHA project
• Responses from 80 organisations in 28 European
  countries
• 81 national, 14 working at an international
  level
• 34 had international experience
• NGOs concerned with their topic, but not research
  needs
• advocacy, networking, health promotion, health
  protection and human rights the main content of
  their work
• future research priorities - environmental health
  and tobacco, access health care systems and
  healthcare reforms

10
International perspectives

• Reports from Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Turkey
• US funds public health research federally
• National Institutes of Health - focusing on
  clinical disease research
• AHRQ - health services research
• Communicable Disease Control - health promotion
  and environmental research
• Canada has Health Service Research Foundation
  (English/French)

11
Concluding remarks

• Public health research is alive in Europe
• The 7th Framework Programme is good but not
  enough
• Public health research will flourish if
  Ministries of Health address shared agendas
• EUPHA must continue to lobby