Background
In recent decades, sociopolitical developments such as the reinforcement of civil rights, the expansion of consumer protection and diversity consideration have strongly influenced health care and health-related research. Thus, aspects such as participation, gender sensitivity, patient-relevant outcomes, complex interventions, and the transfer of research results into practice play an increasingly important role. How are these trends reflected in the current research landscape? How can researchers be supported in the face of these challenges? This is where the GeLang BeLLa research project comes in. Within the “Healthy – for a lifetime” (GeLang) initiative by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), more than 30 research networks and 20 individual projects are funded. In this respect, GeLang addresses the specific health concerns of different population groups: children and young persons, women and men, employed and elderly people.
Further information on the initiative “Healthy for a lifetime” is available here and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s announcements, available only in German.
Goals
The accompanying research aims to contribute to the success of the entire funding initiative with a multi-level approach:
One the one hand, the research processes and content within the funding initiative will be mapped: For this purpose, relevant cross-sectional concepts – across projects and topics will be identified. It will be investigated how these concepts are operationalised in different study designs and depending on the target group. On the other hand, by providing networking and information services based on actual needs, the GeLang research projects are being supported. Besides, harmonisation and consensus processes are planned to derive target group-oriented good practice guidelines and strengthen German health research. The accompanying research project’s findings will be prepared for science, practice and the public in a way that is appropriate to their specific needs. This will be done by involving relevant stakeholders (e.g., patients, health insurance providers).
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (funding code 01GL1905A)
Duration: August 2019 – July 2023