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Launch events In a festive and cheerful atmosphere, six cities across Europe - Manchester, United Kingdom; Murcia, Spain; Odense & Kolding, Denmark; Prague, Czech Republic, and Varna, Bulgaria - on 19th November 2015 celebrated simultaneously the official launch of this new EU-funded project targeting pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, by organising informative events to present the goals and main messages of "Together". |
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Good work needs an audience – 'Together' at Europe’s health conferences Information about the project, its activities, methodology and outcomes has been shared at various national and international conferences to inspire others to replicate the project methodology and activities, and contribute to the health of pregnant and breastfeeding women across Europe. During the 17th International Congress of Dietetics 2016 in Granada, Spain, a 'Together' project poster was displayed, potentially seen by more than 1,000 participants from 50 countries. The project was also presented at the Healthy Cities meeting in Menorca in September, to representatives of about 30 Spanish cities to motivate members of this network to adopt the 'Together' messages and copy the project. A 'Together' poster explaining the use of Facebook in health care aroused the interest of nurses from 20 different countries in Billund, Denmark on the conference “Bridging the Gap in Public Health Nursing”. The local coordinator shared her experiences working with the project at a conference on "Breastfeeding and Nutritional Counselling" of the Czech branch of 'La Leche League'. More is still to come as local 'Together' project managers work towards promoting the results of the project. |
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'Together' women support each other in private Facebook groups – Odense leads the way Based on the findings of the literature review, 'Together' has set up Facebook groups to also reach women who do not have the time to attend activities. Facebook groups allow them to talk about shared interests and support each other in a private online environment. This 'privacy' is especially important for women from vulnerable groups, for whom reading and writing in the local language may be challenging. Young or isolated mothers (living in the suburbs) also benefit from this access to information and help from other women. 83 members are now in the Odense group which continues to grow as members invite their friends. Its experiences have now been extended to the other cities. So far the group has been used to promote the project and its activities as well as to gain additional information about women’s habits, e.g. cravings during pregnancy. Results of such surveys are transformed into articles like this one. The groups are managed by experienced Community Facilitators, often from Local Promoting Groups. Their plans are to publish a topic for discussion once a week. Competitions, event photos and reminders of 'Together' activities will also feature in the Facebook groups. |
Innovative projects promoting health development can receive EU funding from the health programme , as a means of implementing the EU health strategy .
Since 2005, the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency manages calls for proposals for projects and organises grants, conferences and relations with the beneficiaries of health programme funding.
The European Commission also receives additional funding from the European Parliament for pilot projectsto improve future policy action in the area of nutrition and physical activity and to identify good practices that can be used to replicate these projects in other European cities or regions.