The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #38937

Thomas Skovgaard, MA and Evelyne de Leeuw, MPH, PhD. Department of Health Promotion Research, University of Southern Denmark, Niels Bohrs Vej 6, 6700 Esbjerg, Denmark, +45 6550 4115, tsk@health.sdu.dk

The Third Phase (1998-2002) of the WHO/EURO Healthy Cities Programme emphasizes the importance of monitoring and evaluation. Designated cities (1998 - 39; 2002 - 47) submit annual reports in a standardized format, addressing 12 open-ended questions concerning key variables (both structural and human resources) with a presumed impact on the overall Healthy City effort in particular urban environments. Data allow for cross-national time-series analyses. The effectiveness of Healthy Cities is measured against the set of parameters put forth by WHO for the inclusion of cities as ‘designated’ members of the European network. These include commitments to values, principles, resources, and communication. The underlying assumption in Healthy Cities is that local political and administrative arrangements have significant influence on local public policy output understood as the ability to achieve objectives set by WHO as well as by specific urban administrations. Such arrangements are linked to levels of: · support from policy and decision makers on health issues · intersectoral collaboration and accountability in health issues · community involvement in health issues. Findings and analyses up to the 2001 batch of annual reports indicates that general features in the domains of political commitment and resource potential at both local and national level are crucial for the success or failure of Healthy City operations. Independent from political commitment and resourcing it is demonstrable that characteristic qualities of local arrangements can promote effective Healthy City action. These arrangements specifically relate to sustainable and significant community action for health embedded in networked policies and structures.

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