School of Public Health
Department for Population Medicine and Health Services Research
ÖGD-FORTE
ÖGD-FORTE - Research, Training and Evidence Network for Public Health
The Public Health Service (German: Öffentlicher Gesundheitsdienst, ÖGD) is the indispensable third pillar for population health, in addition to outpatient and inpatient care, and makes an important contribution to promoting and ensuring population health and wellbeing. The background against which the Public Health Service operates is changing over time. Global migration and multicultural societies, increasing social and health inequalities, globalized infection chains, and the local implications of climate change are just a few challenges that interfere with the scope and goals of public health activities.
Given these complex health challenges, new networks and methods are needed to support the Public Health Service in promoting and ensuring population health. To this end, the consortium ÖGD-FORTE therefore aims to construct and establish new structures and processes that enable the sustainable application of relevant research methods and the use of existing competencies and knowledge. These structures and processes can then help to address research questions in a practical manner and to support the use of scientific findings in the Public Health Service.
Project partner and objectives
- Network partners and project funding
The Department of Population Medicine and Health Services Research of Bielefeld University acts as lead for the collaborative project. It supports the establishment of regional clusters under the co-leadership of the local health authority partners (German: Gesundheitsamt; Hamburg-Altona, Bielefeld and Pforzheim/Enzkreis). The local health authority of Hamburg-Altona acts as deputy cluster lead and ensures a strong bridge between public health research and practice. The Robert Koch Institute, as Germany’s national public health institute, is involved through two of its units: Unit 28 "Social Determinants of Health" and the Focal Point for the Public Health Service, located in Unit 38. The Department of General Practice and Primary Care (German: Institut und Poliklinik für Allgemeinmedizin, IPA) at the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (German: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, UKE) is involved in developing and building research competencies in the Public Health Service. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Health from May 2021 to April 2024.
The following members of the Department of Population Medicine and Health Services Research at Bielefeld University are involved in the project:
Prof. Dr. Kayvan Bozorgmehr (Project leader)
Stella Duwendag (Research associate)
Dr. Michal Hudák (Research associate)
Dr. Kerstin Schmidt (Research associate)
Amir Mohsenpour (Research associate)
Prof. Dr. Dr. Reinhard Bornemann (University Hospital Bielefeld, supporting role)
Theresa Herzig (Research assistant)
Anne Krämer (Research assistant)- Aims of the project
Through the systematic development of structures and network building, the consortium pursues the enhancement of methodological and human resource capacity in the Public Health Service and in population health science, with the ultimate aim of answering questions of high relevance for public health practice, population health and policy. Thus, the project contributes to a high-performing and contemporary public health service, promotes the practice- and transfer-orientation of public health research, and develops a sustainable approach to building scientific competencies and promoting early-career researchers in the Public Health Service. This is accompanied by collaborative work on relevant research questions from public health practice. The content-related work serves as a "vehicle" for the development of structures and processes, promotes result orientation and enables piloting and further development of new structures and processes. The collaboration of the ÖGD-FORTE consortium takes place via three Work Packages (WPs).
Work packages (WP)
- WP 1: Research Network
The research network is a network of local health authorities with an interest in research. The local health authorities are actively involved in the conception, planning and implementation of practice-oriented research projects in exchange with the academic research institutions. The research network acts as a multiplier to enable cross-regional, multi-center research. At the same time, the co-production of knowledge creates more opportunities for the transfer of research findings into practice. The national research network is set up under the leadership of the Department of Population Medicine and Health Services Research at Bielefeld University in four clusters, which are led by the local health authority partners (Hamburg-Altona, Pforzheim/Enzkreis, Bielefeld).
- WP 2: Training network
To foster human resources and to build up methodological research capacities in the research network in a sustainable way, measures for the development and expansion of research skills will be implemented. The research network consists of the consortium partners and the local health authorities who join the network in the course of the project. The measures can prospectively flow into a training network and are to be understood as complementary or synergistic to the activities in the field of education and training of the Academies of Public Health (German: Akademien für Öffentliche Gesundheit) as well as the State Medical Chambers/Associations. The conception and implementation of these measures will be carried out under the direction of the Focal Point for the Public Health Service at RKI in close cooperation with the local health authority of Hamburg-Altona, Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, and Bielefeld University.
- WP 3: Evidence and Transfer Network
The Evidence and Transfer Network aims to generate timely evidence on population-based determinants, risks, interventions, or measures to inform policy decisions and the level of local, state, and federal Public Health Services. For this purpose, it combines measures for "on demand" generation of current policy- and practice-oriented evidence with appropriate dissemination methods and pathways to support the corresponding transfer to public health practice at different levels (districts, states, federal government). The structure of the "Rapid Review Response Unit (RRRUn) for Population Health Action and Evidence-Informed Policy" of the Department of Population Medicine and Health Services Research serves as a basis. Under the leadership of the RKI (Unit 28) and in close coordination with the local health authority partners as well as with the Focal Point for the Public Health Services at Unit 38 of RKI, a concept for collaborative topic generation for evidence syntheses and transfer into practice is developed.