DEMETRIQ

Developing methodologies to reduce inequalities in the determinants of health

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Rationale Social inequalities in health are a major challenge to public health in Europe and hence a priority topic for the EU. While the average level of health in EU countries has continued to improve over the last decades, differences in health between advantaged and disadvantaged sections of the population within each country remain substantial. A broad spectrum of policies influences the determinants of health inequalities. Such interventions are seldom evaluated for their impact on population health in general and even more rarely for their differential impact on different socioeconomic groups. There is an urgent need to extend and strengthen the evidence base on differential policy impact, to help identify the most effective ways to reduce health inequalities in different EU countries. Methodologically, this is a highly challenging task for which traditional experimental evaluation designs are neither adequate nor feasible.

Objectives 1 Develop, evaluate and refine methodologies for assessing the effects of social, economic and health policies on the pattern and magnitude of health inequalities among socioeconomic groups. 2 Assess the differential health effects by socioeconomic group of ‘natural policy experiments’ in the fields of unemployment and poverty reduction; tobacco and alcohol control; and access to education and preventive health care. 3 Synthesise the evidence from the findings of objectives 1-2, and actively engage users in the research in order to promote transfer of knowledge for policy and practice with maximum effectiveness.

Approach New methods of policy analysis and evaluation of natural experiments will be combined with a unique longitudinal dataset of health determinants and health outcomes by socioeconomic group in more than 20 European countries covering several decades, in order to generate new knowledge on differential effects of policies targeting the strategic drivers of health inequalities.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Reducing health inequalities

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Health inequalities are associated with factors such as living conditions, psychosocial conditions, lifestyle and access to critical services such as healthcare. To tackle health inequalities and understand their determinants, one must account for the actions of individuals, communities, private companies and governments. Currently, empirical evidence on suitable interventions are lacking as researchers have only recently begun developing and evaluating interventions.

Funded by the EU, the project 'Developing methodologies to reduce inequalities in the determinants of health' (http://www.demetriq.eu/ (DEMETRIQ)) is exploring natural policy experiments to effectively reduce health inequalities in various European states.

Researchers will develop, evaluate and refine methodologies to identify policies that reduce health inequalities among socioeconomic groups. Different natural policy experiments' will be conducted to determine differential health effects by socioeconomic group. Factors taken into account will include unemployment and poverty reduction, tobacco and alcohol control, and access to education and preventive health care. These results will then be used to engage stakeholders and promote knowledge exchange for enhanced policies and practices.

Project members' employed a mixed-methodologies approach to better understand which policies work, and how and why they work. Researchers have selected natural policy experiments for review and produced guidance reports that evaluate their impacts on social inequalities in health. One work group is processing longitudinal data by socioeconomic group on risk factors and morbidity (27 countries) and mortality data (22 countries).

Ongoing project activities will result in an empirically tested set of methodologies to better address inequalities in healthcare. This positive impact on public health policy will ultimately translate to economic impact and reduced healthcare system losses arising from socioeconomic inequalities.