Developing a policy game intervention to enhance collaboration in public health policymaking in three European countries

Abstract

BackgroundOne of the key elements to enhance the uptake of evidence in public health policies is stimulating cross-sector collaboration. An intervention stimulating collaboration is a policy game. The aim of this study was to describe the design and methods of the development process of the policy game ‘In2Action’ within a real-life setting of public health policymaking networks in the Netherlands, Denmark and Romania.MethodsThe development of the policy game intervention consisted of three phases, pre intervention, designing the game intervention and tailoring the intervention.ResultsIn2Action was developed as a role-play game of one day, with main focus to develop in collaboration a cross-sector implementation plan based on the approved strategic local public health policy.ConclusionsThis study introduced an innovative intervention for public health policymaking. It described the design and development of the generic frame of the In2Action game focusing on enhancing collaboration in local public health policymaking networks. By keeping the game generic, it became suitable for each of the three country cases with only minor changes. The generic frame of the game is expected to be generalizable for other European countries to stimulate interaction and collaboration in the policy process.

Systematic review of health promotion policies or regulations with CCAT theory

“…11,12 Five articles discuss school health policy, prevention and regulation of internet game disorder, public policy evaluation and literature review of video game addiction policy responses, policymaking interventions and policy strategies for substance abuse in adolescents. [13][14][15][16][17] One article on the analysis of the Juvenile Contraception Law, 18 one article on the literature review on the prevention of mental health disorders. 19 One article systematically reviewed health promotion interventions.…”

“…7 An innovative intervention design has been developed in three European countries for public health policymaking, focusing on collaboration within policymaking networks. 16 Lillefjell and Mass research, 2022 examines multi-sector involvement and collaboration in implementing health promotion principles at the local level. 11 The level of participation and support of Hepatitis C policy-making in Iran was investigated, the conclusion of the study indicated that involvement in Hepatitis C Virus related stakeholder policy-making is generally low and has implications for policymakers and decisions regarding the The analysis presented shows that the Drink Free Days (DFD) campaign is not used explicitly by the industry for public relations purposes.…”

‘Serious Games’ for unboxing Global Digital Health policymaking

“…6 In the past decade, health policy debate simulations have modelled global, 7 international/regional, 8 national 9 and local policymaking bodies. 10 These addressed pertinent ethical, cultural and environmental issues in health, such as international maternal surrogacy legislation, 7 ‘Health in All Policies’, 10 the Affordable Care Act 11 and even the health impacts of climate change, as recently published in The Lancet Planetary Health . 8 The appearance of multiplayer simulations on digital platforms, such as the ‘Online Model United Nations’ (O-MUN), 12 places these policymaking simulations within the discourse on ‘serious games’.…”

Cross-Sector Collaboration for a Healthy Living Environment—Which Strategies to Implement, Why, and in Which Context?

“…The interest in integrating public health with other policy domains has increased over the years with programs such as Health in All Policies and the Whole-of-Government approach [ 4 ]. Based on studies that examined such programs, cross-sector collaboration was found to be of major importance when integrating public health with other sectors [ 5 , 6 ]. However, cross-sector collaboration is also found to be a challenge due to stakeholders having different perspectives, norms, and values [ 4 , 7 , 8 ], especially when integrating the domains of health and the physical environment [ 9 ].…”