Enhancing Health 2020 monitoring and reporting

At the 63rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in 2013, Member States requested WHO/Europe to enhance the work on Health 2020 indicators in the area of well-being, through the adoption of resolution EUR/RC63/R3. In response, WHO established a workstream to better understand how we can best measure and report on key values-based Health 2020 concepts – such as subjective well-being, community resilience and empowerment. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the project is developing actionable strategies that can support meaningful reporting on the full complexity of the subjective, lived experience of people and communities.

The project operates under the umbrella of the European Health Information Initiative (EHII), a multimember WHO network that seeks to improve and harmonize information for health among the 53 Member States of the WHO European Region. Results from the project will be presented at regular intervals to the Regional Committee and disseminated to a wide range of state and non-state actors, thereby ensuring a short journey from research to policy and practice.

The project’s specific outputs are to:

  • devise a culture-centred approach to measuring values-based health concepts, such as well-being, empowerment and resilience;
  • develop meaningful, country-level reporting mechanisms that include quantitative and qualitative health information;
  • share lessons with policy-makers on the importance and benefits of health information that goes beyond numbers, in order to better understand the key drivers of positive, holistic health and well-being.

Awareness of the cultural contexts that affect health and well-being is central to the work of WHO. With the adoption of Health 2020, the European health policy framework, more emphasis is being placed on the perceived well-being of populations in the Region. The challenge now is to take a systematic approach to demonstrating how culture affects perceptions of, access to and experiences of health and well-being. WHO/Europe is leading the project on the cultural contexts of health to push forward in-depth analyses in this important area.

To learn more about the ongoing project to enhance Health 2020 monitoring and reporting, please see the meeting reports below.