Balancing priorities and focusing efforts – ASPHER's commitment and future vision

G U ES T ED ITO R IA L Eurohealth — Vol.22 | No.4 | 2016 BALANCING PRIORITIES AND FOCUSING EFFORTS: ASPHER’S COMMITMENT AND FUTURE VISION In 2016, ASPHER reached the half-century mark. To crown an exciting year of celebrations, we are happy to present this Eurohealth special issue addressing the Association’s 50th anniversary. Founded in 1966, ASPHER works hand in hand with numerous stakeholders to safeguard and to strengthen public health education and training of public health professionals for both practice and research. ASPHER has gone far thanks to its committed community of members. Our members always come first and we take pride in drawing our strength from them, which makes ASPHER one of the most vibrant and engaging public health networks. Over recent years, we have also celebrated many of our members’ individual anniversaries. With every occasion to celebrate also comes the opportunity to look back, reflect, and think about the years to come. Some of our members focus on cultivating past developments, while others adopt more forward-looking approaches. ASPHER is here to support them and to grow together with them, in line with the Association’s 2016 – 2020 Strategy, by: › Improving the quality of academic programmes and Continuing Professional Development (CDP) for public health; › Strengthening the research capacity among all members; › Setting up a public health profession for public health services in Europe; › Developing a global dimension for education and training in public health; and › Strengthening ASPHER’s governance, management and sustainable development ASPHER’s members show a profound level of commitment, genuine interest, willingness and trust in working together to develop and strengthen public health education and training towards producing a public health workforce that is fit to operate effectively in the complex, evolving and insecure international and global health systems context. While focusing ASPHER’s strategic vision around public health workforce development and systematic methods to support it, the next ASPHER presidency will be based on the principles of continuation, collaboration, wide stakeholder involvement, and sustainability: • Continuation For 50 years, ASPHER has been successfully developing a public health agenda through different initiatives and presidential programmes. There is a rich legacy to follow and carry forward, adapting to the current needs of the members. All these efforts will be brought closer to the members through their direct involvement in the execution of some of these programmes, consultations or expert reviews. • Collaboration This entails a strong emphasis on collaboration and exchange of good practices at all levels, helping the schools to showcase their achievements, benchmark and compare curricula, and exchange students and staff. It also includes the active involvement of early career public health professionals and students in collaborative activities – with their enthusiasm and scientific savviness – supported by ASPHER, to voice their needs and to provide constructive feedback. 2 GUEST Editorial Eurohealth — Vol.22 | No.4 | 2016 3 • Wide stakeholder engagement We will aim for more coherent and interconnected initiatives, with a strong inter-professional and inter- sectoral component, involving key stakeholders to discuss, develop and propose solutions which may have a favourable impact on new public health policies and regulations, and assuring a strong position by ASPHER in relevant partnerships and collaborative efforts. • Sustainability This involves securing ASPHER’s sustainability as a modern network organisation by working together, identifying synergies and common interests, building upon the Association’s strengths and excellence, enhancing participation in key structures and initiatives, and finding new solutions, financial instruments and management practices. The model that will guide ASPHER’s efforts in supporting public health workforce development identifies three key thematic elements: (i) professionalisation; (ii) education and training, including CPD; and (iii) translation of evidence for public health practice. Professionalisation will include activities related to defining and enumerating the public health workforce, promoting academic public health competences and developing professional competency models to assure professional development, self-assessment and planning, development of a professional code of conduct and striving to develop a regulatory basis to safeguard the rights of public health professionals, the attainment of qualifications and their certification. There will be a strong emphasis on the identification of career development paths, including CPD courses that will be available through the creation of the new ASPHER Public Health Training Academy from July 2017. We will acknowledge, support and promote the translation of scientific evidence into public health practice, education, and training through cutting- edge, innovative scientific course content and through developing competences in dissemination and implementation strategies, also including communication and social entrepreneurship skills. The implementation of these themes will require the development of strong public health leadership, which should be more adaptive, content- and experience- driven, transformational and authentic, thus facilitating the growth and development of the workforce. It should be horizontal and more participatory, involving many actors and many sectors. That is why collaboration and communication with various stakeholders based on consensus, mutual interest, and the principles embedded in ASPHER’s strategic vision will hopefully enable joint action towards public health workforce development, benefiting the health and well-being of European citizens in the long run. This anniversary issue We are delighted to present to you this Eurohealth special issue which addresses some key aspects of the ASPHER strategy and future presidency priorities, illustrating them with practical examples, reflections and needs. The individual contributions are clustered around three main topics: 1) public health education and training, 2) health workforce development and planning, and 3) policy impacts and international developments. The first section of this special issue will showcase examples of good practice in education, featuring the case of the EUROPUBHEALTH programme; and will also cover issues such as the need for public health leadership courses; the translation of evidence for the benefit of practice and public health education and training; and accreditation of public health education and training. The second section will look at the European Public Health Reference Framework for individual career guidance and human capacity planning; while young professionals from a number of networks will present their views on public health leadership training and the shaping of the public health profession. Next follows an article on health workforce development and planning issues based on the collaboration between ASPHER, EUPHA and WHO, related to the EU Health Policy Platform initiative. Rounding up this section are reflections from the Portuguese experience of the ageing of the public health workforce. Section three of the issue includes articles which deal with some current policy issues, such as the consequences of Brexit for public health training and research; migrant and minority health; and finally, a forward-looking perspective reflecting on what areas ASPHER may wish to develop in the future. We hope that this special issue of Eurohealth will stimulate reflection on a variety of topics in which ASPHER plays a key role. Representing the schools and departments of public health in the European region, ASPHER is at the forefront of innovation in education and training in the face of complex health problems, trying to address them with the best possible knowledge and expertise. Akin to the lighthouse presented on this issue’s cover, we want to offer our guidance to the public health community so that, working together, we shape the future of public health. Robert Otok ASPHER Director. Katarzyna Czabanowska ASPHER President elect. Jacqueline Müller-Nordhorn ASPHER President. Cite this as: Eurohealth 2016; 22(4). CM Y CM MY CY CMY K okladka_ver6.pdf 1 02.11.2016 18:46 Quotes from past presidents and medallists Eurohealth — Vol.22 | No.4 | 2016 4 REFLECTIONS ON 50 YEARS OF ASPHER ASPHER has special meaning for its members, schools and departments of public health. It is a powerful organisation which is supporting the voice of the academic community in making the vision of harmonised education, research and practice possible in the field of public health. ASPHER activities are a permanent call for action to deal with the public health workforce through collaborative efforts. Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic The role of Schools of Public Health is increasingly meaningful due to the challenging forces of changes occurring in our society (including globalisation, technological advances, more active citizens, and new public health paradigms). ASPHER has been (and will be) crucial in using its collective strength to foster public health training and essential professionalism. Jose M Martin-Moreno In its own organisation, public health is still faced by the need of shaping and arming a public health professional with comprehensive theoretical, academic and practical competences, accountable to the population and its leaders. And by the need to develop coherent organisational structures for likewise comprehensive, evidence based strategy making and evaluation. ASPHER member schools play crucial roles in the process of meeting these needs. Anders Foldspang ASPHER gives unique potential to its members to share their experiences on public health education and training. ASPHER succeeded to foster harmonisation among various schools and programmes in public health in Europe. It is now becoming one of the leading European organisations constituted from major academic institutions to deliver debates on important and topical public health issues. Antoine Flahault ASPHER gives hope for Europe’s future. Its strategy enables new frontiers in health diplomacy and health disaster management and the transformation of institutions into a more interactive network. Inspiration comes from ASPHER’s homunculus logo, a small and humble human being, a big heart, and the mind of public health. Jeffrey Levett CM Y CM MY CY CMY K okladka_ver6.pdf 1 02.11.2016 18:46 Quotes from past presidents and medallists Eurohealth — Vol.22 | No.4 | 2016 5 50 years on ASPHER continues at the full front of public health training developments in the region; now more than ever if we are to succeed in putting health at the core of the political agenda, we need to rally behind ASPHER’s innovative initiatives to endow the profession with the new competences and leadership skills that it requires. Josep Figueras We at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are proud to have been part of ASPHER from its inception. It has provided an invaluable network for sharing experiences and ideas and, especially, as a facilitator for the wide range of collaborations we have with partner institutions across Europe. Peter Piot Since the early 1990s, ASPHER has embraced local, regional and global public health challenges. To achieve goals related to global health, ASPHER stimulates interdisciplinary, multi-professional, and multilateral collaboration of its members. Recognising the importance of leadership for global health, ASPHER is spreading its activities beyond European borders. Ulrich Laaser As a close observer of the political transition in Europe in the 1990s, I will never forget the crucial role that ASPHER played in encouraging those courageous, innovative, and entrepreneurial groups that created and built the new schools of public health in central and eastern Europe. Martin McKee