Our research is based on the premise that policy-makers can and should create the conditions for health and good health care. In particular we believe that state institutions have a responsibility to provide the formal and material parameters for this to happen. We support the realisation of this task in critical and advisory capacities.
We examine the influence of state and non-state actors and networks on the state of health of the population, taking particular cases as examples. We look at the macro level of the state, the meso level of non-state collective actors and the micro level of individual actors. We use the data provided by socio- epidemiological studies and health research studies to draw attention to the implications and consequences for health of political regulation. We call this combination of health research and political science health politology.

We are currently addressing three sets of questions:

• Which conditions further and which inhibit a forward-looking, sustainable workplace health policy?
• What impact has the reform of the hospital reimbursement system and the introduction of the diagnosis related group (DRG) system had on the quality of care in the in-patient sector?
• In what way can the increased significance of primary prevention in health be regarded as the evolution of a new field of policy?

Our three avenues of research use different combinations of theories and methods. What they have in common is that they all interface with political science theories. Thus workplace health policy constitutes an example of responsive programme development by means of network governance. What interests us about the impact of the reform of the hospital reimbursement system in Germany is its link with changes in the macro-economic structure of the social security system. With our concept of evolving policy fields we would like to make a contribution to control theory.


Projects:

Changes in medical care and nursing in the DRG-System (WAMP)

Statutory accident insurance in the process of reform: Implementation and development of prevention at the place of work (Part 1)

The maturing of the policy subsystem of primary prevention

Equality of opportunities and treatment according to need in health insurance and sickness support following the health and social reform of 2003 2004