Primary prevention in hospitals in 20 high-income countries in Europe – A case of not “Making Every Contact Count”?

Rechel, Bernd; Durvy, Béatrice; Augusto, Gonçalo Figueiredo; Aujoulat, Isabelle; Behmane, Daiga; Bensadon, Anne-Carole; Burke, Sara; D'Agostino, Melissa; Davidovics, Krisztina; Dayan, Mark; De Belvis, Antonio Giulio; de Jong, Judith; Dubas-Jakóbczyk, Katarzyna; Fronteira, Inês; Gabriel, Elena; Greco, Giuseppe; Groenewegen, Peter; Jervelund, Signe Smith; Kantaris, Marios; Kroneman, Madelon; Farkas-Lainscak, Jerneja; Maurice, Benjamin; Conghail, Luisne Mac; Murauskiene, Liubove; Poldrugovac, Mircha; Rákosy, Zsuzsa; Scintee, Silvia Gabriela; Sowada, Christoph; Turblin, Frédéric; Vankova, Desislava; Velkey, Zita; Vladescu, Cristian; Vocanec, Dorja; Vrangbæk, Karsten; Wünscher, Johannes; Ylitörmänen, Tuija

Primary prevention in hospitals in 20 high-income countries in Europe – A case of not “Making Every Contact Count”?

Bernd Rechel, Béatrice Durvy, Gonçalo Figueiredo Augusto, Isabelle Aujoulat, Daiga Behmane, Anne-Carole Bensadon, Sara Burke, Melissa D'Agostino, Krisztina Davidovics, Mark Dayan, Antonio Giulio De Belvis, Judith de Jong, Katarzyna Dubas-Jakóbczyk, Inês Fronteira, Elena Gabriel, Giuseppe Greco, Peter Groenewegen, Signe Smith Jervelund, Marios Kantaris, Madelon Kroneman, Jerneja Farkas-Lainscak, Benjamin Maurice, Luisne Mac Conghail, Liubove Murauskiene, Mircha Poldrugovac, Zsuzsa Rákosy, Silvia Gabriela Scintee, Christoph Sowada, Frédéric Turblin, Desislava Vankova, Zita Velkey, Cristian Vladescu, Dorja Vocanec, Karsten Vrangbæk, Johannes Wünscher and Tuija Ylitörmänen

Health Policy, 2025, vol. 151, issue C

Abstract: This article provides a snapshot of primary prevention activities in hospitals in 20 European high-income countries, based on inputs from experts of the Observatory's Health Systems and Policies Monitor (HSPM) network using a structured questionnaire. We found that in the vast majority of countries (15), there are no systematic national policies on primary prevention in hospitals. Five countries (Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom) reported systematic primary prevention activities in hospitals, although in one of them (Cyprus) this was due to the fact that small hospitals in rural areas or less populated districts host providers of primary care. In two of the five countries with systematic national policies on primary prevention, there are no incentives (financial or otherwise) to provide these interventions. The remaining three countries (Finland, Romania and the United Kingdom) report the existence of incentives, but only two of them (Romania and the United Kingdom) provide financial incentives in the form of additional funding. Only two of the 20 countries (Ireland and the United Kingdom) make explicit use of the Making Every Contact Count (MECC) approach. Overall, it can be concluded that there is little focus on primary prevention in hospitals in Europe, which may be seen as a missed opportunity.

Keywords: Prevention; Making Every Contact Count; MECC; Health-promoting hospitals; Hospitals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:151:y:2025:i:c:s0168851024002094

DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2024.105199

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