WP 8 – Improving access to health and social services for those left behind

Objectives
The main objective of this Work Package (WP)  is to contribute to the goal of “leaving no one behind” in terms of access to health services and related social services in the EU. This will be done through the formulation and implementation of regional, national and local strategies, policies and programs for reducing inequalities in access to health and social services and through building MSs’ capacity to effectively advance action.
The WP8 concentrates on addressing the health needs of vulnerable groups lagging in access to health and related social services. Therefore when it refers to ”leaving no one behind” it refers, as it has been defined by the EU funded Vulnerable Project, to ensuring equitable access to those families who are in vulnerable situation (e.g.lone parents with young children), people who have a physical, mental or learning disability, or poor mental health, the inwork poor, the older people who are in vulnerable situations, people in unstable housing situations (e.g. the homeless), prisoners (or ex-prisoners in vulnerable situations), people living in rural/isolated areas in vulnerabe situations, the long-term unemployed/inactive (not in education, training or employment), survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, among others. The irregular migrant’s, asyllum seekers, and refugees are also a vulnerable group experiencing serious inequities in access to health and related social services, lagging with respect to the rest of the populations, but this is dealt by in WP7.

Specific objectives:

• identify, in the Member States participating in the WP8, the main challenges in securing access to health and related social services to vulnerable populations and to those marginalized from the effective access to certain types of services;
• generate case-studies of good practices and/or review of evidence based interventions (e.g. policies, programs, projects) for sharing with the rest of Member States;
• generate Policy Briefs on the main challenges identified;
• implement actions for the reduction of inequities in access to health and related social services;
• support the development of national and regional policies, strategies and programs for reducing HI in access to health and related social services;
• foster inclusive policy development processes with the engagement of all relevant stakeholders.

Contacts
Daniel Lopez (e-mail: lopezacunad@gmail.com)