Participants
Partner 1
Partner 2
Partner 3
Partner 4
Partner 5
Partner 6
Partner 7
Partner 8
Partner 9
Partner 10
Partner 11
Partner 12
Partner 13
Partner 14
Partner 15
Partner 16
Partner 1
Coordinating centre
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (Queen Mary, University of London)
Supported by East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust
Established in 1997
The Unit of Social and Community Psychiatry is attached to Barts and The London School of Medicine (Queen Mary, University of London) and supported by East London and the City Mental Health Trust. The Unit is committed to expanding understanding within the domain of Mental Health. We employ a variety of methodologies and conceptual frameworks to try to understand how people with mental health problems interact with mental health services, relate to clinicians and benefit from care. The team of researchers, administrators and clinicians is involved in numerous projects, many in collaboration with other European countries. For further information please visit our Unit’s website [new window]
Professor Stefan Priebe [new window]
Marija Bogic [new window]
Address
Academic Unit
Newham Centre for Mental Health
Cherry Tree Way
London
E13 8SP
UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7540 6755
Fax: +44 (0)20 7540 2276
The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social Psychiatry (LBISP) belongs to the Ludwig Boltzmann Society and was founded in 1977 in conjunction with the Vienna Crisis Intervention Centre, which is providing low threshold access to help for persons in psychosocial crises. Both the Crisis Intervention Centre and the LBISP were established to pioneer social psychiatric aspects of mental disorders in order to complement academic psychiatry which has always focused more on biological aspects.
Mission StatementThe Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social Psychiatry (LBISP) defines its mission as
(1) carrying out research on the involvement of social factors in the pathogenesis, appearance, course and management of mental disorders, and
(2) disseminating knowledge on mental health issues in order to increase mental health literacy in general and to give advise to health and other politicians and administrators, with the ultimate aim of improving the prevention and management of mental disorders.
The LBISP's main areas of research and activities are:
(1) Improving the quality and availability of mental health information
(2) Prevention of mental disorders and promotion of mental health
(3) Mental disorders in non-psychiatric health care settings
(4) Strengthening the user perspective: quality of life, stigma and discrimination, human rights, accessibility of help
(5) Long-term aspects of suicidal behaviour
(6) Disseminating research results and informing mental health politicians and administrators
Heinz Katschnig, MD, Professor of Psychiatry
Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social Psychiatry since its foundation in 1977. Former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna (1991 to 2007). Main areas of interest: Quality of Life, Life Events, Health Services Research, Schizophrenia and the Family.
Michaela Amering, MD, Professor of Psychiatry
Coordinator of EU Projects. Professor of Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna. Main areas of interest: social psychiatry, recovery, users' and carers' movement and involvement.
Christa Straßmayr, MA, Sociologist Research Assistant at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social Psychiatry.
Main person responsible for the EU funded project EUGATE and PROMO. Previous research responsibilities were in the field of sociology of health and medicine. Main areas of interest are: mental health promotion, migration and health, stigma prevention and drug and addiction prevention.
Gisela Hagmair, Sociolinguist, Research Assistant at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social Psychiatry.
Currently main researcher for the EU funded project ITHACA and research assistant for EUGATE. Previous research experience in the field of language attitudes, language (minority) policies and text analysis. Main areas of interest are: human rights in mental health institutions, migration and health.
Contact
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Social Psychiatry
Lazarettgasse 14A-912
1090 Vienna
AUSTRIA
Tel.: +43 -1- 406 07 55
Fax: +43 -1- 406 07 55-10
Email: office (at) lubis.lbg.ac.at
lubis.lbg.ac.at
Université Catholique de Louvain
The Belgian team of Eugate is made of Vincent LORANT, Charlotte GEERTS and Marie DAUVRIN.
They belong to the Institute of Health and Society, a research Institute of the Université Catholique de Louvain. The Institute of Health and Society is a research group of forty professors and researchers involved in research areas linked to the socio-economic determinants of health, health care use and quality of care.
Vincent Lorant is professor, he teaches sociology of health and medicine, qualitative methods, Health policy, Health surveys. His research interests are linked to socio-economic inequalities in mental health and health policies as well as to health human resources. He is also involved in the Mighealthnet project with David Ingleby and in the Promo project with Stefan Priebe.
Charlotte Geerts is a sociologist working on both the Eugate and the Promo project. She is also involved in the Mighealthnet project with David Ingleby.
Marie Dauvrin is a research fellow F.R.S. - F.N.R.S. of the Institute of Health and Society, Catholic University of Louvain. She is also involved in the Mighealthnet project with David Ingleby.
The team is particularly interested in the issue of networks, coordination of care, inequalities in mental health and the understanding of the different cultural interpretations of the diseases’ symptoms.
Our institution has two addresses:
The main address of our university is the following:
http://www.uclouvain.be/ (English version of the website available) [new window]
While the address of our research department is the following:
http://www.sesa.ucl.ac.be/SesaWeb/index.htm [new window]
Department of Health Services Research, University of Copenhagen
The Department of Health Services Research was established in 1997 at the Institute of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen. The department consists of 34 academic staff coming from a multidisciplinary background and two technical administrative staff.
The research projects carried out in the department contribute to a deeper understanding of health policy and the health care system. One of the core research areas of the department is social and ethnic inequality. Research projects in this area deal with the relation between social resources, migration and ethnicity and the need and use of services offered by the health system as well as for the behaviour of health personnel towards different patient groups.
Allan Krasnik, Professor
Scientific main interest lies in health services research with special attention to prevention and effects of structure of the health care system on access and utilisation patterns for various population groups. Allan Krasnik has been involved in several projects concerning inequity in access to health services, including studies on health services utilisation by immigrants in Denmark.
Signe Smith Nielsen, MSc in Public Health
The main interest is on health services research with a particular focus on organization of the health care system, and social and ethnic inequality in access to health care services. Signe Smith Nielsen is already involved in several projects concerning the health of migrants and ethnic minorities.
Natasja Koitzsch Jensen, MSc in Public Health
The main areas of interest are international perspectives within health services research, inequality in access to health care service, access to health care as a human right and the organization of the health care system and related effects on access to health care services.
National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES)
in Finland is a governmental centre of expertise in social welfare and health care. It produces information and expertise for policymakers and other stakeholders. STAKES has coordinated and participated in numerous European Commission projects and has a broad network of both international and national partners.
STAKES' core activities are research, development and information production on the areas related to:
- Sustainability of welfare policy
- Effectiveness of welfare and health promotion and services
- Responding to demographic changes
- Reducing social inequalities
- Information as a basis for steering
- Innovativeness.
STAKES Vaasa Satellite Office is a part of the Mental health Group in the Municipal Services Division at STAKES. The Satellite Office engages in significant research and development work in the fields of mental health, substance abuse and immigrant work both nationally and internationally. The Offices strengths lie in the cross-sectoral view on the developing these fields and no distinction between the fields are made since the areas are considered to be interdependent and support each other.
More information: http://www.stakes.fi/EN [new window]
Contact partner participating in the EUGATE
Maritta Vuorenmaa - Development Manager
Maison Blanche Hospital (Etablissement public de santé Maison Blanche) [new window]
- Dr Tim Greacen
Research Laboratory
EPS Maison Blanche
4-6 rue Lespagnol, 75020
Paris
Tel: +33 1 43564764
tgreacen@ch-maison-blanche.fr
Maison Blanche is not just another psychiatric hospital. A network of community psychiatric services, Maison Blanche covers the whole north eastern section of the city of Paris, an inner city area with high levels of unemployment, exclusion, immigration, drug use, HIV/AIDS and poverty. Sixty different inpatient and outpatient facilities, including one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in France, offer mental health care to a target population of some 750,000 people.
Maison Blanche is currently undergoing a major transformation. For inpatients, the old hospital, some 25 kilometres out of Paris, is being progressively replaced by a series of smaller inpatient structures, situated as close as possible to the communities they serve. Of the 2600 beds on the old site at its high point in the mid sixties, only 400 beds are in use today – and, by the end of 2008, most will have been moved back into Paris. At the same time, a greater diversity of services are being created in order to meet more specific needs. Specialised units for children, adolescents, drug and alcohol users, people with HIV/AIDS and older people suffering from dementia offer a wide range of social and psychological prevention, care and rehabilitation services. In the year 2008, 70 per cent of Maison Blanche's 15,000 patients will use only outpatient services.
Nor does Maison Blanche only care for patients. A Further Education centre for specific staff skills training, a major nursing school, library and conference facilities and a new research centre are just some of the services available to both the personnel and the community. In addition, our open partnership policy has led to a large number of joint projects not only on local but also on international levels, with research, development and hospital co-operation programmes in a growing number of countries. Current research priorities include projects on user rights and satisfaction, two European projects, ISADORA, on dual diagnosis, and EMILIA on lifelong learning and employment in mental health, CAPEDP and EPITROPPE on prevention and promotion of mental health in young children, as well as a multitude of smaller service evaluation programmes.
User partner organisations include the National Federation of Associations of Users and Ex-Users of Psychiatry (FNAP-PSY www.fnappsy.org [new window] and the National Union of Friends and Family of People with Mental Health Problems (UNAFAM) www.unafam.org [new window] , both of which are represented on the Hospital Board.
The Maison Blanche web-site: http://www.ch-maison-blanche.fr [new window]
View from a room in a Maison Blanche after-care centre in Paris
Tim Greacen
Dr Tim Greacen, PhD in Psychology, is Director of the Maison Blanche Research Laboratory, currently managing projects on dual diagnosis patient pathways through care, access to lifelong learning for people with mental health problems, the promotion of mental health in children and attitudes and beliefs about mental illness in the general population. He is a recognised figure in France in the field of patients’ rights and user participation in health services and publishes in the fields of service user information, handicap and sexual health promotion and doctor-patient relationships. He is also co-founder of the Cité de la Santé, Secretary of the Ile-de-France Regional HIV/AIDS Prevention and Information Centre, Research Coordinator for the ENTER Mental Health Steering Group, and User Representative on the Executive Committee of the Ile-de-France Regional Health Authority. Dr Greacen teaches regular at the University of Paris, the University of Montpellier and the Ecole Centrale de Paris.
José Guerra
José Guerra is a public Health Registrar. The last six month, he participated in an epidemiological research in Bénin, among other things he studied how to take into consideration the socio-economic status in a rural population. Now he takes part in the European project EUGATE.
Project team at Charité, University Medicine Berlin, Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Charité – University Medicine Berlin
Charitéplatz 1
10117 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30 450 51 70 01/02
Fax: +49 (0)30 450 51 79 21
http://charite.de/psychiatrie/ [new window]
The Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy is part of University Medicine Berlin.
The structure of the whole University is a composition of three functions: Research, Care, Education.
Founded in 1710, the Charité is one of the oldest and well established hospitals in Germany and the largest University Clinic in Europe. Within its four sites, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Campus Berlin-Buch, Campus Charité Mitte and Campus Virchow-Klinikum, there are serving about 14.000 employees. The Charité receives about 100 million Euro research funding each year.
Research Manager at EUGATE: Professor Dr A Heinz, MD, MA
Director of the Clinic Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
e-mail: andreas.heinz@charite.de
He studied medicine, philosophy and ethnology/anthropology in Germany and the USA. He has additional titles in psychotherapy and social psychiatry.
Research fields: neurobiological and sociocultural factors determining mental health, transcultural psychiatry, schizophrenia, addictive medicine
Research Assistant at EUGATE: Ulrike Kluge, Dipl Psych
She studied psychology and ethnology/anthropology.
At present:
- research fellow at the Center for Cross- Cultural Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Supervision, Charité University Medicine Berlin
- psychoanalytical training at APB e.V. (Berlin)
Research fields: cultural psychology, qualitative social science, language and cultural mediators, ethnopsychoanalysis
Associated Project Members:
Eveline Fräßdorf, Administrative officer, e-mail: eveline.fraessdorf@charite.de
Partner 8
The National School of Public Health (NSPH) in Athens, offers higher post-graduate education. Its twelve Departments cover a wide range of areas of study. The School also hosts the National AIDS Reference Centre, the National Nutrition Reference Centre and the National Hepatitis Centre. The NSPH is designated by law as a teaching and research centre in public health and management of health services. Within this context, the NSPH has established a Centre for Balkan Public Health, and Focal Points or Observatories such as the Focal Point for Technology Assessment, the AIDS and Sexuality Observatory, and the National Focal Point for Aids and Mobility. The NSPH’s Department of Sociology has participated since 1990 as the national partner in European projects on sexual behaviour and HIV. The NSPH is internationally recognised by the WHO and the Association of Universities of Public Health Administration (AUPHA), and is a member of the Association of Schools of Public Health of the European Region (ASPHER).
The Department of Sociology
The staff of the Department of Sociology work in two broad areas: Sociology of health and illness and Science, technology and society. The first area examines the psychosocial and cultural dimensions of health and illness, including:
- Migrants’ health, social exclusion
- Communities and health
- Elder population and health issues
- The general population and the threat of AIDS
- HIV/AIDS in special settings (prisons). Psychological determinants of HIV risk behaviours in prison
- Constraints and modes of adaptation of HIV carriers in everyday life
- Peer education programmes on HIV/AIDS in schools
- Empowerment of people living with HIV/AIDS by using Telematics (Information and Communication Technology)
Researchers participating in EUGATE
Elisabeth Ioannidi- Sociologist –Senior Researcher
Eirini Kampriani- Social Antropologist
The University of Debrecen (UD), Hungary is a multidisciplinary university with 15 faculties which are organized into three main educational and research centres in the field of agriculture, arts and sciences, and medical and health sciences. The Medical and Health Science Centre (UD MHSC) has been included in the EUROPE'S 500 list of the most dynamically developing organisations in Europe. According to the scientometric data the UD MHSC is always among the 4 best of the more than 80 Hungarian research institutions and universities.
The Faculty of Public Health of the UD MHSC is the first and only institute in Hungary to offer the full spectrum of higher education training forms (BSc, MSc, PhD courses) and research in the field of public health. The main fields of research include: exploration of factors predisposing for the most important causes of premature mortality and morbidity (cardiovascular and malignant diseases, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, metabolic syndrome and diabetes) using analytical – including genetic – epidemiological methods; comprehensive analysis and evaluation of unfavourable national health measures including regional inequalities upon which national, regional and local health policies can be built, and development of targeted primary, secondary and tertiary preventive interventions. The faculty is participating in large scale R&D projects sponsored by the European Union, as well as the Hungarian Office for Research and Technology.
The Faculty of Health offers training in the field of health and social sciences including nursing, midwifery, health management, physiotherapy, social work, etc. for The main fields of research include: local organization of social security, health problems of the Hungarian Roma population living in colonies, migrants’ health, nosocomial infections in hospitals of the Hungarian-Ukrainen border regions.
Participating researchers:
Róza Ádány, MD, PhD, DSc, medical specialist in preventive medicine and public health
Professor of Public Health, Dean of the Faculty of Public Health
Zsigmond Kósa, MD, PhD, medical specialist in preventive medicine and public health,
Associate Professor of the Faculty of Health Sciences
Attila Sárváry, MD, PhD, medical specialist in preventive medicine and public health,
Associate Professor of the Faculty of Health Sciences
Laziosanità - Agenzia di Sanità Pubblica (ASP) – Italia
Mental Health Unit Leader and Project Coordinator: Dr Andrea Gaddini.
ASP (www.asplazio.it) [new window] is the regional agency for the governance and the management of the Health Service of Lazio Region, the local administrative area which includes Rome and accounts for a population of 5.3 million people.
The Mental Health Unit, directed by Dr Andrea Gaddini, is part of the Prevention and Health Promotion Department.
The Unit manages the Psychiatric Services Information System which collects detailed data on users and activities of outpatient mental health services in the region of Lazio. Its duties include analysis of data on psychiatric inpatients facilities, collected by the Hospital Information System, and Emergency Room utilization by people suffering from psychiatric disorders, collected by the Information System of Emergency Rooms. Collected data are processed and spread by the Public Health Agency of Lazio through annual publications. Policy guidelines to be submitted to the Regional Health Authorities are formulated in order to improve mental health services administration resources. The activities of the Mental Health Unit include the set up of educational programmes for the staff of regional mental health services. Other research activities include pharmacoepidemiology of psychotropic substances.
The Unit is currently participating to two NHS founded research projects directly linked to mental health issues and to the following European multi-centre studies funded by the Research Directorate of the European Commission:
- “PROMO - Best Practice in Promoting Mental Health in Socially Marginalized People in Europe” (a study coordinated by the Unit of Social and Community Psychiatry of Queen Mary, University of London).
- “EUGATE - Best Practices and Tool Kit for Improving Access, Quality and Appropriateness of Health Care for Migrants, Immigrants and Minorities in the European” (a study coordinated by the Unit of Social and Community Psychiatry of Queen Mary, University of London).
- “IPPHEC - "Improve the Preparedness to give Psychological Help in Events of Crisis" (a study coordinated by the Italian Ministry of Health).
Dr Gaddini is a psychiatrist, with extensive experience in mental health epidemiological research, who is also interested in transcultural psychiatry.
Lilia Biscaglia is a psychologist with experience in epidemiological research and in qualitative research methods.
Kaunas University of Medicine (KMU)
KMU is the largest center of medical education in Lithuania. It is an autonomous university financed by state. The number of students is more than 2000. The university offers its facilities for more than 230 students from 20 foreign countries too. KMU has five faculties: Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Nursing and faculty of public health. Kaunas University Hospital and 4 research institutes (Biomedical Research, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Psychophysiology and Rehabilitation complete the structure of the institution. Teaching staff of KMU consists of more than 600 instructors and research workers, including more than 75 professors and 300 associate professors. KMU is the largest medical research center in Lithuania. It participates in the number of international projects. KMU is a WHO collaborating center for research and training in epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular and other chronic non-communicable diseases. Web page: www.kmu.lt [new window]
MINDAUGAS STANKUNAS. Lecturer at the Department of Health Management (Kaunas University of Medicine / Lithuania) and member of the Council of the Faculty of Medicine. Education: 2002 - Master of Management in Public Health, at the Faculty of Public Health, Kaunas University of Medicine; 2004 Master of Public Health (the Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg, Sweden); 2005 Certificate of Public Health Leadership Training Program (Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, UK); 2007 Doctoral dissertation (PhD) “Associations of unemployment with health and health care accessibility”, Kaunas University of Medicine. Author of more than 50 scientific publications in the field of public health and health management.
Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL)
Mission and activities
NIVEL, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, contributes to the body of scientific knowledge about the provision and use of health care services. For this purpose NIVEL carries out research activities [new window] on the national and international level on the entanglement between:
- the need for health care (health status, life style, social environment, norms and attitudes)
- the supply of health care (volume, capacity, organisational structure, quality and efficacy)
- health care policy (legislation, regulations, financing and insurance).
Expertise
NIVEL started as the scientific institute of the Dutch College of General Practitioners. Our domain expanded gradually to primary care, secondary and hospital care. Nowadays, our research covers the broad domain of health services. An important basis for this expertise is our responsibility for national databases and information systems.
NIVEL research on Migrant health
Health of migrants
In 2001, the second Dutch National Survey in General Practice was carried out. The well-being of and use of health care by ethnical minorities was also examined. Several publications highlight the differences in health care use and use of medicines by ethnic minorities. Patients from Turkish and Moroccan origin are now being followed for five years.
Asylum seekers and refugees
NIVEL submitted several manuscripts on health and health care use with respect to asylum seekers and refugees. The data originate from the second Dutch National Survey in General Practice and a study carried out among asylum seekers and refugees about their differences in health status and use of primary care.
Deprived areas
NIVEL is studying the morbidity of patients attending general practices in deprived areas in the major cities in the Netherlands. This study is based on the National Network of General Practices. Since 1995 NIVEL updates every for years the index of deprivation for the Association of General Practitioners and Health Insurance Netherlands.
EUPHA
NIVEL presides at the EUPHA [new window] section for Migrant Health since 2005. The Section is co-organizer of the second conference on Migrant Health in Europe, 2008, Malmö. NIVEL is also a partner in European networks for migrant research.
Website: www.nivel.eu [new window]
EUGATE researchers
Walter Devillé, MD, PhD
Majda Lamkaddem, Msc
The Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw was established by a decision of the Cabinet of May 24th, 1951 as a Psycho-Neurological Institute. Since the beginning the Institute has been an independent research and development centre. On May 30th 1986 the Institute’s name was changed to its current one: “Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology” (IPiN). Nowadays the Institute is a national-level research centre specialized in developing new treatment methods of mental and neurological disorders.
The IPiN acts as a specialized unit monitoring psychiatric healthcare in Poland. Epidemiological studies based on data of psychiatric healthcare are a key element of that activity. The data provided by all psychiatric healthcare institutions is collected and processed in IPiN and published in periodic publications.
In 1992 IPiN received the status of WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and in 2006 WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence Based Health Promotion in Hospitals.
The IPiN’s research potential consists of 13 departments and ten clinics with total of 139 research posts (17 professors, 12 associate professors, 77 assistant professors and 33 research assistants).
EUGATE Team MembersJacek Mosklewicz, PhD sociologist. His research interests cover alcohol and drug epidemiology, social history, policy oriented research. Expert of a number of international organizations including WHO, UNODC, Council of Europe, European Commission. Currently, head of the Department of Studies on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and Department of Health Care Organisation at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland
Marta Welbel, MA, sociologist, currently completing her MA in psychology. Since October 2007 Research Assistant in the Department on Studies on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and in the Department of Health Care Organisation.
Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology
Sobieskiego 9
02-957 Warsaw
Poland
Tel: (48 22) 45 82 800
Fax: (48 22) 642 53 75
Email: ipin@ipin.edu.pl
http://www.ipin.edu.pl [new window]
Medical School, University of Porto (FMUP)
Partner institution - description of competence and experience in the project area:
FMUP was found in 1825 and ranks first in graduate students choice, research production and clinical excellence among Portuguese medical schools. Porto University is responsible for 25 per cent of Portuguese scientific publications. The research work at the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology is developed in close cooperation with other departments of FMUP and the university hospital but also with different national and international institutions. There is an emphasis on methodological and substantive epidemiologic research, mainly based on three population cohorts – adults, adolescents and newborns – focusing genetic and environmental health determinants with particular attention to perinatal, cardiovascular and oncologic diseases and to the determinants and consequences of psychosocial and behavioural factors such as smoking or violence. The department staff comprises a diverse background with medical doctors, pharmacists, nutritionists, social scientists and psychologists working together in multiple projects. Our institution assembled the only population cohorts available in the country, developed national research tools such as a validated food frequency questionnaire and pioneered the evaluation of the frequency and the health impact of violence against pregnant women. Moreover, the department runs a well established master and PhD program in public health that results in the graduation of around 15 students every year both Portuguese and from abroad, and is involved in various EU projects such as PROMO, EUGATE and ABUEL and other international projects.
Key staff of the partner - names, description of competence and experience in the project area:
HENRIQUE BARROS (HB) is a medical doctor, PhD in Medical Sociology, Professor in Medical Sociology, Director of the PhD/Master programmes at the University of Porto, Medical School and Head of Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology at the University of Porto, Medical School. HB is the Coordinator of the HIV/AIDS Infection – Portuguese Ministry of Health, Lisbon. HB has published more than 150 papers in different topics of public health. HB is the editor for several scientific journals of medicine, epidemiology and a member of the scientific committee of the Science and Technology Foundation. HB is tutor of various PhD/Master students in various topics of Public Health. HB is currently representing the institution's partnership in awarded EU projects such as PROMO, EUGATE and ABUEL, and other international projects.
SONIA DIAS (SD) is a psychologist, PhD in international health and assistant professor in public health at the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine/Faculty of Medical Sciences (Lisbon) and senior lecturer at University of Porto, Medical School. SD has led epidemiological and intervention projects concerning health of vulnerable groups, HIV/Aids prevention in migrant youth, Peer education projects, access of vulnerable groups to health services and health promotion. SD cooperates with various countries in Africa in projects concerning health issues and disease prevention, mainly HIV/Aids prevention. SD is currently involved in EU projects in topics of Public Health, as migrants’ health and sexual and reproductive health of migrants (PROMO, EUGATE, ABUEL and EN-Hera Network). SD has published over in Portuguese and English in peer reviewed journals in areas such as disease prevention and health promotion. SD is tutor of various PhD/Master students on various topics.
The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB)
Agència de Salut Pública (ASPB)
Since 1889
The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) has its origins in three centenarian organizations: the Barcelona Municipal Laboratory, founded in 1889; the Municipal Hygiene Institute, created in 1891; and the corps of Municipal Veterinarians, which dates from 1899. After democracy was re-established in the city, the three institutions merged in the 1980s, along with other services and structures, in what was known as the Public Health Area. The Municipal Institute for Public Health was created in 1997 and then merged with Catalan government institutions in 2002 to create the ASPB. Besides managing and administering public health centres and services in the city of Barcelona, the ASPB also manages services of the Catalan government for the city of Barcelona.
Mission
The ASPB safeguards the health of the citizens of Barcelona and the people who visit the city, in particular by:
- Evaluating the health needs of the general population, including subgroups with special risks.
- Developing policies and actions for disease prevention and control, as well as health promotion and protection.
- Ensuring equal access of citizens to services that allow them to maintain and improve their health.
- Contributing to the development of an environmental and social context that is sustainable for health.
A Benchmark Organization
The ASPB is the single Point of entry for citizens in matters related to public health in Barcelona. This involves grouping all the public-health competencies of the Catalan government and the city of Barcelona under a single umbrella organization for efficient concentration and management of these competencies in the city.
The ASPB began its activity on January 1 2003 and is governed by its Board. It is organized in five main functional areas for the rendering of services: the Institute for Food Safety and Health (ISAS), the Laboratory, the Institute for Community Services, the Public Health Observatory and the Office for Environmental Surveillance Services. The activities of all these areas are listed in the catalogue of products and services.
Website: http://www.aspb.es/ [new window]
Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)
Karolinska Institutet (KI), founded in 1810, is Sweden’s only university especially focusing on biomedical sciences. In addition, KI annually awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. KI ranks as one of the world’s leading medical universities, thanks in part to the quality of its research activities, which today accounts for 40 per cent of all medical research in Sweden. KI has about 4000 employees, nearly one third are women. Research makes up 80 per cent of KI’s work and occupies 600 research groups covering all medical fields. KI provides excellent postgraduate training and 2,300 postgraduates from around the world are active in both basic and clinical research. Research at KI has a strong European dimension, with almost 200 ongoing projects within the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme. Of these, KI is coordinating 28 projects. KI is also the major Swedish beneficiary of funds from the NIH. At the Department of Public Health Sciences we conduct research, teaching and consultations based on the public health concept in various types of populations and ages. The research focuses on health problems in the population and alleviation through community based prevention and development of appropriate health care systems. Epidemiologists and social scientists work along with researchers with medical and nursing backgrounds. Planning and evaluation of health services and understanding of health behaviour are common perspectives in the projects. The ultimate aim of this research is the optimal use of resources to accomplish a change in health determinants and in access to and utilization of health services for the promotion of equity in health.
Web site: www.ki.se [new window]
JOAQUIM JF SOARES (JS) is a licensed psychologist and psychotherapist, PhD in psychology, associated professor in psychology (Uppsala university) and in public health health sciences (KI), and senior lecture at the KI, where he also leads the research group on violence. JS has led epidemiological/intervention projects concerning mental/physical health, violence and pain experiences among various populations. JS has cooperated/cooperates with Britain and various countries in Africa (eg Mozambique) on projects concerning health and violence issues, and is member/part of The Swedish Psychological Association, WHO Community Safety Promotion, The International Society for Violence and Injury Prevention and EUPHA. JS has been awarded funds from national (eg Vårdal) and international research foundations (PHEA) and is currently representing the institution's partnership in a recently awarded project, PROMO. JS is also the project co-ordination of ABUEL (eldely neglect/abuse) awarded by the PHEA. JS has published over 50 scientific papers in such areas as pain, mental health and violence. JS is often demanded as reviewer (eg European Journal of Pain) and tutors various PhD students on violence topics.
Shahnaz Afroze is a research assistant at the department of Public Health Sciences at Karolinska Institutet (medical University). She is the principal coordinator of EUGATE project from the Swedish part. Ms. Afroze did her BSc degree in biological science from Dhaka University in Bangladesh and MSc degree in Public health Sciences from Umeå University in Sweden. Furthermore, she has done a higher degree in Public Administration from Stockholm University in Sweden. While doing this degree she did her internship in the ministry of Agriculture in Sweden.