Core thematic areas

Within the European Centre's Health and Care Research Team, we design, coordinate and implement projects in the fields of:

• long-term care for older people,
• health services and system analysis, and
• public health.

Core expertise

Our unit is composed of researchers and policy analysts from several backgrounds (e.g. economics, health economics, health and social policy, political science) with experience in a wide range of social scientific methods. Our core skills at the unit are comprised of:

• Research: we have specific expertise in comparative and applied research on topics such as inequalities in use of care, health and long-term care workforce, informal care and integrated care, cross-border health care, public health (e.g. alcohol and illicit drug consumption), user choice and competition and ICT. The research team has also expertise on qualitative and quantitative research methods as well as mixed methods methodology, including interviews, focus groups, case-studies, literature reviews, cross-sectional and panel data analysis and instrumental variables.
• Policy analysis and consultation: planning, monitoring and evaluation of policies and initiatives in the areas of public health, health and long-term care at different levels (e.g. local and regional levels of government). We have specific expertise in user and policy-maker involvement in research, networking of different stakeholders and social policy dialogues.

Our clients

Many of our projects are grounded in international cooperation and networks with partners from within the EU and beyond. Our funding partners include, among others, the European Commission, the World Bank, United Nations institutions, EUROFOUND, the European Social Network (ESN), NGOs, and various regional governments (e.g. Municipality of Vienna, Region of Alto Adige) and national ministries (e.g. Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, and the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs).

We aim to build bridges between stakeholders, sectors, countries, policies, and disciplines in the fields of health and long-term care and are currently developing cooperation with EU acceding countries of Eastern Europe and countries of the Eastern Partnership as part of the larger Bridge Building strategy of the European Centre.