Specialist committees and working groups

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A wide range of facilities, institutions, associations and initiatives make an important contribution to improving healthcare for people in the Oberbergischer Kreis.
The Health Office of the Oberbergischer Kreis takes on a steering and moderating role in the interplay of local stakeholders. In addition to the working groups under its own responsibility listed in the navigation links, the Health Office is also active in the following networks:

Early Support networks in 12 municipalities
Gummersbach: additionally, the Child Poverty network
Early Support Steering Group
Education Network: Early Childhood Education I: Access to parents with a focus on language; expert forum and planning group
District Sports Federation: guide to sports offerings for children and young people in the Oberbergischer Kreis
Addiction always has a history: information afternoon on addiction and other mental illnesses – effects on parents and children
Early Support House: improving participation opportunities for children with a (potential) disability – strengthening cooperation between early intervention services and daycare centres
City of Gummersbach: No Child Left Behind! For the whole of NRW (KeKiz)
Working group on the transition from daycare to school
PSAG Children and Young People
Oberberg Network – no

Working circles

You will find the relevant contact details below.

To provide political oversight of the topic of health as well as fire protection, disaster control and emergency preparedness in the Oberbergischer Kreis, the District Council (Kreistag) has established the Committee for Health and Emergency Preparedness. Public meetings are held four times a year.

In the area of health, the committee is responsible for advising on and preparing decisions relating to public health matters (health prevention, health assistance and health protection). Further information about the committee and its members is available via the Council Information System of the Oberbergischer Kreis. There you can also access all public meeting documents.

Health Conference (Section 21 ÖGDG NRW)

Changing patterns of illness and the increase in chronic diseases require new approaches, especially as financial scope becomes increasingly limited. Existing resources must be used optimally. This requires greater transparency, better coordination of services, and more effective cooperation.

Tasks and objectives

"The Health Conference provides advice on issues of healthcare at the local level with the aim of coordination and makes recommendations where necessary" — this is stated in the Act on the Public Health Service of the State of NRW. This provides an instrument that, with the involvement of local stakeholders, can develop and implement tailor-made solutions. The Oberbergischer Kreis municipal Health Conference has existed since mid-2000.

The stakeholders

The Health Conference of the Oberbergischer Kreis includes representatives of doctors, dentists and pharmacists, representatives of health, pension and accident insurance funds, hospitals, care homes and outpatient care facilities. Independent welfare associations, self-help groups, institutions for health prevention and patient protection are represented, as are representatives of local politics. The Health Conference of the Oberbergischer Kreis comprises around 30 voting members as well as numerous advisory members. The meetings of the Health Conference are open to the public.

The topics

The Health Conference of the Oberbergischer Kreis addresses current problems and developments in the municipality. In particular, it deals with problems that can be solved through cooperation between several institutions.

The organisation

The Health Conference meets at least once a year. Topics are selected and then dealt with in working groups. The results of the working groups are later presented here, and recommendations based on them are adopted. These recommendations for action are implemented by the parties involved on a voluntary basis or, where necessary, forwarded to other decision-making bodies. Management is carried out by the Health Conference's office, which is based at the Health Office.

The public health service

The Health Office of the Oberbergischer Kreis plays an important role in networking stakeholders and measures and in organising the municipal Health Conference. The Health Office participates in coordinating health services and promotes cooperation between the institutions responsible for this. This also includes managing the Health Conference and its working groups. As part of this task, for example, meetings are prepared and documented. The office is a point of contact for all interested citizens.

Municipal Health Reporting (Section 21 ÖGDG NRW)

Health reporting deals with the systematic presentation and analysis of the population's state of health, health risks and healthcare provision. The data and facts must be prepared in such a way that they can be used for health policy, health promotion and the further development of the healthcare system.

To achieve the objectives associated with health reporting, health policy concepts must be developed, health goals formulated, and strategies, programmes and measures planned. The programmes and measures must be implemented and the various activities coordinated. The measures taken are evaluated and must be taken into account when practically implementing the jointly developed recommendations. Binding cooperation structures between the healthcare system and other societal subsystems, particularly the social sector, are necessary.

The Municipal Health Conference promotes the formation of the necessary structures. Health reports are prepared on the basis of the Health Office's own findings and those discussed in the Health Conference, and are made accessible to the public.

Indicators on the population's state of health as well as on social and regional conditions are necessary in order to develop comparable results.

NRW health indicators, North Rhine-Westphalia State Centre for Health (LZG): set of indicators for the health reporting of the federal states
NRW social reports online, Ministry of Labour, Integration and Social Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Socio-spatial reporting with the KECK Atlas
RIO Spatial Information Oberberg

"The Municipal Health Conference contributes to health reporting. The health report, together with the recommendations and opinions of the Municipal Health Conference, is submitted to the council or the district council." (Section 24(3) ÖGDG NRW)

Planning needs a well-founded basis:

For planning and implementation to be effective in the long term as well, continuous analysis of the areas of healthcare provision is required. Health reporting is an important instrument for the work of the Health Conference. It provides data on the topics, describes requirements for action, makes facts transparent, and provides statements on whether goals have been achieved.

The coordination of psychiatric care and addiction treatment is to be carried out as an independent task according to § 23 ÖGDG NRW. Coordination and management can only be effectively implemented sustainably and permanently under the conditions of municipal self-administration and the principle of subsidiarity in consensus with the involved parties. In the Psychiatry Advisory Board, planning intentions and implementation processes are coordinated among the stakeholders. Members of the Psychiatry Advisory Board include representatives of the providers involved in care in the Oberbergischer Kreis, the payers, various psychiatric hospital departments, private medical practitioners, family associations, the responsible municipal offices, the PSAG, as well as municipal representatives. The Psychiatry Advisory Board is moderated by the head of the Health Department. The management of the board is carried out by the Psychiatry Coordinator.

An important instrument in the field of coordination and management of psychiatric care is the Community Psychiatric Network. The Depression Network is a subgroup of the Psychiatry Advisory Board.

The Dental Health Working Group in the Oberbergischer Kreis was founded in 1990 and has since been active in the field of group prophylaxis for the prevention of dental diseases in children and adolescents.

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