EUREGHA Welcomes New Members to Our Growing Network 🌟
As part of our continuous efforts to strengthen regional health collaboration, we’re excited to announce the addition of a new full member: the Buskerud Department of Health!
In a special welcome interview, we had the pleasure of speaking with Åse Marit Hovden and Daniel Inglis, Senior Advisers Public Health in Buskerud County, to discuss their vision and contributions to our network. You can find the full interview below!
Additionally, we’re thrilled to share that over the course of this month, EUREGHA will be introducing three more new members to our expanding community. Stay tuned for more updates!
Buskerud was already a member of our Association a few years ago. What motivated the region of Buskerud to rejoin EUREGHA?
Our experience with previous membership in EUREGHA is excellent. Norway is not a member of EU. However, it is important for Buskerud to collaborate with regions and other actors within EU, since that put Buskerud in the position to be a part of the development work of public health in Europe. Buskerud has experienced that the presence of EUREGHA in Brussels and their huge network is crucial for us to be able to participate in projects and to have an eye on everything that happens in EU. Buskerud experiences that EUREGHA is a network which helps us to maneuvers and gives us access to the public health work within EU level.
What are the main responsibilities of the Public health department in Buskerud County and what is your role there?
We both work as a senior adviser of public health for Buskerud County, located just south of Oslo, in Norway. Buskerud county consists of a total of 18 municipalities, with a population of around 270 000 people.
Adhering to the Norwegian public health act, entered in to force 1. January, 2012, our main responsibilities entail having an overview of our resident’s health, as well as factors that may have a positive or a negative influence on their health. In turn, this allows us to target our public health measures in a more accurately and in a more systematical order. In addition to this, the public health overview should act as a basis for work in our regional planning.
We also advice and provide support to the public health work in our municipalities.
What are your current health policy priorities at the Department of Health?
A portion of our population experience unemployment, are not in education nor training (NEETS), or other meaningful activities. In turn, this may further contribute to poor quality of life in our population. Especially amongst our youths. Additionally, with an increasing social inequality in our country, prioritizing school completion, employment, and creating safe and inclusive local communities must be prioritized
The main objective for the public health work in Buskerud is to reduce the social inequalities in health. Main activities are projects regarding health promotion in primary schools and kindergartens, and health promotion in upper secondary schools. The main objective is to contribute to a broader and more common understanding of what factors that promotes children and youths’ wellbeing, development and learning. Further, ensure policy development and action according health promotion schools and societies. The long-term impact is lower social inequality in health, and a social sustainable society.
What is typical about your region?
Our region is known for its varied nature with its big mountains and large forest areas. Quality of life is reported to be good amongst our residents, and our population is healthy in general.
Like most other countries, Norway included, Buskerud is facing demographical changes with an ageing population. Consequently, Buskerud is facing a greater burden of support in coming years, meaning that there will be less people between the age of 20-60 years to take care of our 66+ year old residents. Ensuring supportive environments in which allow active and independent living for our aging population is therefore imperative.
What specific objectives does Buskerud hope to accomplish by rejoining EUREGHA?
It is important for Buskerud to participate in public health work and projects together with EU partners. The main objective with the projects is that we achieve results and solutions within the public health work that contribute to equalize social inequalities. Furthermore, it is crucial to achieve the local objectives according to our plans in addition to our common objectives for EUREGHA.
Which elements of your previous engagement with EUREGHA were particularly effective, and how do you plan to build on them?
Buskerud County was one of the partners with EUREGHA in the Horizon project BOOST. In this project our experience with EUREGHA was excellent. EUREGHA opened the doors to DG Education and other organizations of importance according to achieve the results in the BOOST project. Buskerud will contribute in the EUREGHA network. From Buskerud’s point of view, it is very useful that EUREGHA give the members access to the WHO public health network.
What new initiatives or contributions does Buskerud plan to share with the EUREGHA network by the end of the year/next twelve months?
Buskerud County in collaboration with the municipalities will conduct a survey called Ungdata. Ungdata is a national data collection scheme, designed to conduct youth surveys at the municipal level in Norway. Ungdata is regarded as the most comprehensive source of information on adolescent (from 10 years to 19 years old) health and wellbeing at the municipal and national levels. It is among other things used in municipal and county planning and developmental work related to public health and preventive measures aimed at young people. The results of the survey and have we use results in practice can be shared with the EUREGHA network.
Buskerud County, in collaboration with the Norwegian public health institute, will be coordinating and administrating a regional public health questionnaire for adults, at the end of next year. The questionnaire will address a variety of public health related topics such as quality of life, sleep, mental health, health habits and more. The knowledge gained from this questionnaire, amongst other sources of statistics and knowledge, provides us with an overview of our public’s health, which in turn allow us to target our efforts more accurately and systematically. The knowledge and results from this work can be shared with EUREGHA network.
Buskerud County is part of a national public health program over a ten-year period (2017-2027) in collaboration with the municipalities. The main objective of the program is to promote the resident’s health and quality of life, with emphasis on mental health and drug prevention with children and young people. The program will facilitate knowledge-based development of working methods, measures and tools, including stimulating collaboration between the sectors within the municipalities and the research actors in the work with projects to achieve the objectives. There are measures in the following categories: equalize social inequalities, kindergarten and schools, wellbeing within children and young people, participation in activities, leisure time and social meeting places, drug prevention. Buskerud can share the results so far in the project and further priority topics in the last project period.
