Health-EU newsletter 230 - Focus

The Health Policy Platform provides a place to meet, communicate and create synergies!

Carina Dantas, Innovation Director at Cáritas Coimbra, explains why her organisation is an active member of the EU Health Policy Platform and hosted one of the platform's previous cycle of thematic networks, Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments (SHAFE), which has now been transformed into a stakeholder network. Cáritas Coimbra is a social non-profit organisation that supports people and communities in five districts of the Central Region of Portugal. It has nearly 90 centres (with 151 different services), 1000 workers and 150 volunteers and supports around 26,500 people a year through social health, educational and other types of activities.

How has Cáritas Coimbra made use of the EU Health Policy Platform?

We've been a member for a few years, first taking part as a group coordinator for the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. As platform members, we receive the bi-weekly platform newsletter, which is where I saw the call for thematic networks. We proposed SHAFE, and it received the largest number of platform member votes and is in line with the European Commission's priorities, so we were selected.

For Caritas, it was really interesting to join the platform as a regional organisation. Through the platform, we have taken on other roles at both national and international level. We are also hosting the platform’s first national Thematic Network– the Portuguese Network on SHAFE - which will be highly empowered through the Health Policy Platform.

Many local and regional groups are not so connected to international stakeholders, and the platform provides a place for them to meet and to create synergies.

What does it mean to host a thematic network on the platform?

It's a one-stop shop. The platform is a secure data storage facility, an event planner and a publicity agent all rolled into one. We can publish documents through the platform, host events and store, access and disseminate information. We can network with others and see what other stakeholders, even in other fields, are doing. The SHAFE network has more than 100 members, and we can use the platform to communicate with one another.

You've hosted two webinars through the platform. Were they successful?

Yes, we hosted webinars in June and in October 2018. In the webinars we had around 50 people present but since they are recorded and streamed by the Commission, they can be seen by a much larger audience. The webinar in June was already seen by nearly 300 people. The webinars give people the opportunity to put faces to names, for our organisation but also for the Commission and other participants. And it is really useful for clear dialogue, as emails – we all know – can sometimes be misinterpreted!

Do you think your participation on the platform helps achieve your goal of improving the lives of people as they age?

Of course, we want to be a driver of positive change in our communities. We don't want to make just pretty policy documents – we want them to have practical application. But making cities and towns more age-friendly isn't just a question of goodwill or a matter of knowing good practices. We know what to do and why it should be done, but political and financial decisions must be taken to make it possible.

Are policy makers also part of the Health Policy Platform?

Yes, that's the beauty of it. We're a network, and we communicate.

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