Health Conferences in Germany, Austria and France—An Overview

Abstract

AbstractPurpose: Structured health conferences have the function of “round tables” for setting priorities in healthcare and health promotion, for regional health planning, cooperation and participation. They are a problem-solving approach in the health policy of France, Austria and Germany. Methods: The literature review describes and explores health conferences. It is based on a search in Cochrane Library, MEDPILOT/LIVIVO, PubMed and the “Health for All”-database of WHO Europe. Results: The literature review shows that health conferences are widespread and identifies numerous health conferences in Germany, Austria and France at the country, federal state, regional and community levels. The conceptual basis varies. The implementation strategies ranged from solely communal activities to efforts by federal states up to a nationwide establishment of regional health and autonomy conferences in France. Health conferences are carried out in five federal states in Austria and in 14 federal states in Germany. In Germany, there are about 190 regional health conferences, and health regionsplus can be found in approx. half of the country and city districts. The few existing evaluation studies claim positive effects of health conferences on cooperation and networking but also contain critical reflections regarding their limited options. Conclusions: There is a need for formative and summative evaluation. Health conferences may be helpful in countries with federal structure or in health systems based on a social insurance system. More exchange between the different health conferences could foster their conceptual basis and help to develop innovative approaches.KeywordsHealth targetsHealth planningHealth careHealth promotionHealth regions