What we do
The utilization of offered health services is significantly less for families with a socio-economically worse status and / or with a migrant background. As of today, there have only been a few successful solutions to improve access in Austria. New, efficient strategies must be created and tested in order to:
- close these gaps,
- promote equal opportunity,
- encourage families with a lower socio-economic status or migrant background to utilize health services,
- identify the main factors as to why the access is less,
- make offers more attractive for these target groups and
- tap new communication channels.
In addition to health care and health preservation, practical health promotion is also in the focus of our work. Through our measures, we want to improve the health of all people living in Austria – independent of education, income and social origin. Our main focus here is on nutrition for pregnant women, nursing mothers and infants. Health should be maintained so that we do not have to first react to the illness (primary prevention). We want to avoid risks, encourage people to eat healthy and allow access to different health services. It is particularly important to us not only to offer scientific health information, but rather to also make this understandable and to prepare it for non-specialists.
In order to allow for the solutions above, not only a clear definition of our goals and our target group is required, but rather effective and efficient measures as well. To do this, we will use proven and high quality measures and also have the courage to innovate, to try out new strategies and simultaneously act in a sustainable manner with a successful implementation. Here we place the greatest value on equal health opportunities and equality.
Principles of health promotion
Based on the principles of health promotion (Ottawa Charta 1986) , ARGEF would like to promote ethnic minorities and families that are economically worse off. The focus here should be on nutrition for pregnant women, nursing mothers, infants and families. New solutions should be developed and research work executed for this purpose. The goal is to close gaps, but also to better understand the complex interaction of different health determinants. Even more information is needed in order to identify the risk factors of sensitive groups and to better understand their motivation, fears and needs.
The promotion of equal health opportunities is always in focus and the following aspects, among others, are considered:
- Education, income, occupational position, social origin
- Migrant background, residential region
- Age, gender, marital status
Health goals are the relevant control instruments in health promotion
The ARGEF works according to national and international health goals
- Austrian health goals
- Health 2020
- EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014-2020
- Europe 2020
- Health 21
Our goal is to improve the health of all people living in Austria independent of education, income, social origin. Health should be maintained so that we do not have to first react to the illness (primary prevention).
Our main goals include
- generating evidence-based knowledge about the needs of sensitive groups and to guarantee children the best possible start in life.
- increasing understanding as to why specific nutrition patterns exist in the families (promotional and preventive) and identification of their fears, motivation, needs, etc.
- through the integration of local communities and the target group itself, the cooperation and mutual understanding should be improved.
- Establishment of a better understanding of the needs of children and their families so that interventions can be planned in a more direct and appropriate manner.
- Prevention of nutrition-related diseases like diabetes as well as the reduction of unequal opportunity and therefore the promotion of social justice.
- Minimization of follow-up costs through efficient intervention planning and generation of knowledge that can be used as a basis for effective intervention planning.