Outcome monitoring of the Austrian health targets

Abstract Background The ten Austrian Health Targets, developed in a Health-in-All-Policies process and adopted in 2012 with a time horizon until 2032, are monitored by a series of indicators. The (interim) results are reported regularly. Methods Indicators were discussed intensively with experts and defined in advance. The outcome monitoring enables to observe developments over time, to analyse differences by gender, education and region, and comparisons with other EU-countries. For each indicator an overall qualitative assessment is done. This makes monitoring very comprehensive. The challenge is to communicate the monitoring results in an easily understandable way. Therefore, besides reports and presentations further in depth-discussions about communication formats with decision makers were required. Results The outcome monitoring shows that there is potential for development in all areas: Between 2006 and 2014 only 25 % of the outcome-indicators developed positively. As far as equal opportunities are concerned, the most improvements were seen in gender differences, significantly less for educational differences and hardly any positive developments in regional differences. In an EU comparison, Austria performs well concerning 15 out of 35 indicators (43 %). However, for some indicators - contrary to the EU trend - no improvements can be observed. Conclusions The results confirm the relevance of the ten health targets and identify whole-of-society areas for action. The monitoring provides steering impulses and information enabling decision-making for politics, administration, the health target plenary, and the intersectoral working groups. Key messages The monitoring contributes to strategic steering, helps optimising strategy and action plans and enhancing the overall process. Stakeholder involvement is important for development of a format to communicate the results in the best comprehensible way.