Chronic conditions now account for a significant share of the burden of disease in Europe and for most chronic conditions. Four main risk factors have been identified: smoking, unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle and alcohol consumption. These risk factors are to a great extent dependent on people's behaviour, which in turn is influenced by a number of factors. Public health campaigns at the national level have been a key instrument in dealing with these risk factors and a wealth of studies have analysed their impact and conditions for success. Much less is known about how to set up public health campaigns across borders (e.g. involving several EU Member States) and as these become more relevant in the future, it is important to increase the knowledge base on them.
Focusing on the four main risk factors of smoking, unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle and alcohol consumption, the study developed and validated a set of Key Design Principles (KDPs) to underpin future cross-border communication campaigns.
The team at the European Centre designed and coordinated four expert focus groups, with international participants comprising academics, practitioners and policy experts, in view of validating and refining the Key Design Principles (as they emerged from a systematic literature review and a case study analysis).
Systematic literature review of cross-border public health campaigns and their outcomes
Design of Key Design Principles
Validation workshops for each main risk factor
