Location:
Objective of the practice:
The aim of the Coordination Office is to promote the health of people in difficult situations and the health of vulnerable people.
Subtopics of the practice:
Geographical scope of the practice:
Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Short summary of the practice:
The Coordination Office is responsible for creating transparency and disseminating knowledge about the practice of health promotion focused on social determinants. It identifies and spreads approaches to good practice as well as tools for quality assurance. The center also empowers municipal actors through professional events, training sessions, and workshops. Additionally, it offers guidance and consulting services to municipalities and non-profit organizations on matters of health equity and integrated local strategies. Finally, the KGC BW facilitates the networking of stakeholders involved in social determinants-based health promotion, aiming to strengthen the capacity of local actors and support the implementation of inclusive and equitable public health initiatives.
Detailed information on the practice:
The coordination office is part of the nationwide “Cooperation Network for Health Equity” and serves as a competence and networking hub at the federal state level for all stakeholders involved in socially determined health promotion and prevention. The current focal points of the coordination office are growing up healthy, aging healthily, and community-based physical activity promotion. The tasks of the coordination office are diverse and include creating transparency and spreading knowledge about socially determined health promotion, identifying and disseminating good practice examples and quality assurance tools, empowering local stakeholders through training, workshops, and events, supporting and advising municipalities and independent organizations on health equity and integrated community strategies, as well as networking all actors in socially determined health promotion. A key concern of the coordination office is to create synergies so that successful projects can be transferred and do not need to be repeatedly carried out. To this end, the coordination office identifies good practice examples based on the Good Practice criteria. They also aim to strengthen the exchange among professionals in health promotion. The coordination office also provides a “CitySpace Monitor.” This is a participatory analysis tool for (health-promoting) neighborhood development. Using the tool, residents of a district, municipality, or neighborhood can comprehensively assess their living conditions and immediate surroundings based on 15 categories covering mobility, public space, supply/work/housing, climate adaptation, and social cohesion. The tool helps city and municipal administrations systematically steer and legitimize their priorities and actions. The CitySpace Monitor is based on the Scottish tool, »Place Standard – How good is my place?«
Resources needed:
The coordination office is part of the state strategy »Cooperation Network for Health Equity« and is partially funded by the health insurance companies.
Results achieved:
One result is the provision of the CitySpace Monitor, which supports local authorities in the systematic planning and implementation of measures. Additionally, various publications have been released on topics such as village development “Impulses from Health Promotion and Prevention,” or municipal health promotion and neighborhood development. Although the coordination office itself may not be directly considered a good practice example, it is responsible for identifying good practice examples in Baden-Württemberg and supports projects in meeting the good practice criteria.
Potential for learning:
The coordination office can be helpful in providing fundamental knowledge about good practice examples, health promotion, and neighborhood development.
Further information:
https://sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/gesundheit-pflege/koordinierungsstelle-gesundheitliche-chancengleichheit-baden-wuerttemberg
Keywords:
Health, good practice criteria, City Space Monitor, health promotion, neighbourhood development
