Published on 14.12.2022 under General, Equality of Opportunity, Health, Inclusion
Municipal structural development in Thuringia is continued
Since October 2020, we have been providing process support for six supported municipalities from the "Municipal Structure Development" funding program in Thuringia on behalf of the GKV Alliance for Health. We support the municipalities we support in developing and implementing a sustainable overall municipal strategy for the development and expansion of health-promoting structures. In addition to financial support, they receive process support from the matrix consultants from the team "Health & Inclusion".
As part of this funding, we have already achieved a lot together, such as:
- In the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district, the coordinator successfully founded the "Prevention and Health Promotion" network with around 50 active members and established links with and between local actors. The "Day of Health" took place on the occasion of the Thuringian Health Week. Together with partners of the network, the health department organized a colorful day of action with 16 different offers. Here the health promoters got into conversation with the population.
- In Erfurt, too, the needs have changed due to the pandemic and the local actors have to adapt their actions to the living environments and needs of the people. The youth, education and health departments jointly invited experts from the health sector to talks, with the topic of "mental health" emerging as a focal point. The team then jointly developed and implemented an innovative, open space event format for a specialist day. 180 actors brought their current topics on site and discussed and agreed on action steps.
- In Gera, focus group discussions were held with older people on the subject of loneliness to identify specific local needs. These are currently being evaluated.
- Schmalkalden-Meiningen dovetailed the existing KOMBINE project for promoting physical activity with the forthcoming sports development plan and, for the second time, offered the successful physical activity competition "Hiking with others" for families, kindergartens, schools and individuals.
- The district of Saale-Orla relies on networking and exchange when setting up health-promoting structures and has joined the municipal partner process "Health for All".
- The health department of the district of Eichsfeld promoted the topic of health reporting and in December invited, among other things, to the lecture "Cannabis legalization and screen time... How are young people shaped by "abundance"?".
The municipalities were able to extend their funding by two years. In the further years of funding, the focus will be on the systematic integration of people in difficult life situations (so-called "vulnerable groups"), so that the offers reach the people who have not been reached by previous measures. If, for example, single parents, the unemployed, the lonely, families and seniors with low incomes are involved in the planning processes, this increases the acceptance and thus also the impact of the offers on their health. Other topics that we tackle together range from the establishment of self-help groups and the systematic promotion of local networks to the realization of an inner-city hiking trail for people with disabilities.
We look forward to further cooperation with the on-site coordinators and with the actors, among others, from the program office of the GKV Alliance for Health in Thuringia and the State Association for Health Promotion Thuringia eV - AGETHUR. Together we will come a big step closer to the goal of equal health opportunities.
