Transcript Slide 1

www.health-inequalities.eu
‘Closing the Gap: Strategies for Action to Tackle Health Inequalities in Europe’
project (2004-2007)
‘Closing the Gap’ facilitates and encourages the exchange of good practice between European partners on the
reduction of health inequalities, both in terms of policy and practice. The project brings together national public
health and health promotion organisations from 22 European counties. The Institute of Public Health in Ireland
is the Irish partner.
The project is co-ordinated by the network EuroHealthNet and the Federal Centre of Health Education in
Germany (BZgA) and is funded by the European Commission.
The ‘Closing the Gap’ Good Practice Directory provides access to a range of exemplary interventions which
illustrate what is being done across Europe to tackle health inequalities. The Directory is a useful tool when
planning local projects and undertaking research in the field of health inequalities.
The Good Practice entries were selected by participating countries on the basis of a set of good practice criteria.
Each entry contains a wide range of information such as the intervention’s main aims, the target group, the way
in which it addresses health inequalities and why it is considered to be good practice.
The Irish projects listed on the Good Practice Directory include:
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North side Community Health Initiative (NICHE) - Aims to improve community and individual health and
well-being in disadvantaged areas of Cork city using a community development approach.
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Springboard Family Support - A national initiative of family support projects targeting vulnerable families
which aims to improve the wellbeing of children and parents.
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The Food and Health Project – A peer led nutrition project aiming to improve nutrition knowledge, cooking
skills and attitudes to healthy eating of disadvantaged groups living in the Midlands area.
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Cairde – A programme to build the participation of ethnic minority communities in health and primary care at
a local, regional and national level.
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The Warming up Project – A project aimed to enable older people to access the support and services
they required to achieve affordable warmth in their homes in south and east Belfast and Castlereagh.
The identification of good practices is an on-going process. 78 projects from approximately 15 countries have
been collected as of Autumn 2006 and are currently available at www.health-inequalities.eu