SOPHIE

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL POLICIES ON HEALTH INEQUALITIES AND THEIR SOCIAL DETERMINANTS AND FOSTERING CHANGE

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

The need to deal with health inequalities is now on the agenda of key supranational institutions, such as the European Commission (EC). To tackle the so-called “causes of the causes of health inequity”, the focus should be put on structural policies, policies that – especially in the current times of financial and employment crisis – influence patterns of social stratification, living and working conditions, and thus people's health. The SOPHIE project aims to generate new evidence on the impact and effectiveness of structural policies in reducing health inequalities, and to develop innovative methodologies for the evaluation of these policies in Europe. We will study major policy areas, including macro-economy, welfare state, labour market and employment relations, built environment, housing, as well as gender-oriented and immigration-related policies. Examples of these policies at the European, national and local levels will be examined, in addition to their impacts on health inequalities by social class, gender and migrant status. The project will develop theoretical frameworks as well as quantitative and qualitative methods for evaluating the effectiveness of such policies in different contexts. Novel methods that are useful for evaluating the impact of complex social interventions will be employed, including realist reviews, explanatory case studies and concept mapping. Particular attention will be given to increasing the involvement of affected stakeholders (civil society and deprived population groups) in the identification, design and evaluation of policies to tackle health inequalities. Affected communities and stakeholders will work with responsible policymakers in activities of dissemination of results, knowledge transfer and translation of findings into policy recommendations. Through SOPHIE, the EC will gain knowledge on the impact on health and health inequalities of social and economic policies which may be implemented or recommended to Member States

Introduzione (Teaser)

EU-funded researchers are generating new evidence on the impact and effectiveness of structural policies in reducing health inequalities. Their work is helping them to advance innovative methodologies for the evaluation of these policies in Europe.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The project http://www.sophie-project.eu/index.htm (SOPHIE) (Evaluating the impact of structural policies on health inequalities and their social determinants and fostering change) has the ultimate goal of providing the means for improved health. The team is building a knowledge base on how different policies impact health inequalities and their determinants.

To date, SOPHIE has analysed the impact of policies across diverse domains. These cover macroeconomics, the labour market, the built and social environment, housing, social protection, gender equity and immigrant integration. Several dimensions of health equity impacts are considered, placing emphasis on socioeconomic position and gender, age, ethnicity and, when applicable, migrant status.

Using systematic reviews, realist synthesis and evaluation, cross-country panel analysis, concept mapping and quasi-experimental studies, SOPHIE has developed conceptual frameworks of how policies can impact health equity. The team has also applied and tested quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods for policy evaluation. These developments enable an assessment of whether programmes and policies have an effect, as well as why and how.

Interactive interim project meetings have been structured around the presentations of working papers, and offered opportunities for internal peer-review and fruitful discussions across disciplines.

Project efforts contribute to increased participation of relevant stakeholders in the design and evaluation of policies that can reduce health inequalities. Academic experts, civil society organisations (CSOs), affected residents and stakeholders are being called on to assess the impact of policies. At the same time, the project is gaining a better understanding of how to engage stakeholders in the research process and dissemination of results.

Study findings have been published in numerous scientific journals and a strong dissemination strategy is reaching target populations and a diverse group of stakeholders. One example is the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIvJSQHdCes (SOPHIE project video).

project work has already generated in-depth knowledge on the impacts that social and economic policies have on health and health inequalities. This will prove useful for the European Commission, the scientific community, CSOs and other stakeholders. Vulnerable populations will thus benefit from enhanced quality of life.