Abstract
Background: This paper presents early findings from a co-design project led by the HSE National Health Service Improvement in Ireland and the School of Population Health at RCSI.
Ireland’s healthcare policy framework Sláintecare places population health at the centre of health planning and delivery, aimed at addressing health inequalities and reorienting the health system towards prevention and population health needs. Despite this growing emphasis, there is currently no nationally or internationally agreed definition or set of core principles for population health. This project therefore aims to create a collectively agreed, cross-sectoral definition and core principles driving population health for Ireland. These outputs are oriented to improving population health across the Irish population and bringing a cohesive and consistent approach to population health planning and improvement in the context of the new Health Regions and the drive for integrated service and care delivery in Ireland. The overall aim is to support the emergence of an ecosystemic approach to health, wellbeing and care in Ireland and internationally.
Approach: The project is grounded in its first phase with a scoping review of international definitions and a comparative analysis of population health principles in action. Building on the review stage the co-design collaboration is progressed through a series of in-person and online workshops that bring together patients, local government, community advocates, public health practitioners, and other cross-sectoral partners in an emergent conversation; building understanding, recognition and ownership of a definition and principles of population health that make sense in many local contexts. Project outputs, outcomes and learning are captured in a series of co-designed deliverables including process reports, technical and evaluative reports and two academic papers. Robust governance and implementation arrangements are in place to ensure meaningful engagement, ownership and dissemination of findings assuring outputs are accessible and user-centred.
Results: Given the timing of ICIC25 results from the literature review of population health definitions, principles in action and the comparative analysis of population health framing for action in different health systems will be presented; additionally we will present the results of our stakeholder mapping and initial findings from collaborative workshops. These findings will constitute a substantive body of evidence-based community engagement with core concepts currently driving system reform.
Implications: This project will generate a working definition and guiding principles for a standardised population health approach in Ireland. As such, project outputs will frame and guide the ongoing design of population health interventions and integrated care delivery as the new health regions embed. This paper speaks to several Integrated Care Pillars including 'population health and local context' (no 2), and 'people as partners in care' (No 3). The project has a system wide scope and is aimed at building local leadership, competence and new alliances (Pillars 4 & 6). Findings speak to the ICIC25 conference themes of 'inclusive health' and 'collaborative approaches to integrated care' by socialising a core concept driving current health system reform (population health) in a specific health system undergoing significant change.