Health department and Aarhus Municipality establish development center
The Department of Public Health has entered into a new research collaboration with Aarhus Municipality. The collaboration, which is realised through Udviklingscenter for Sundhedskompetence (Development Center for Health Literacy), provides the department's researchers with access to concrete cases and insights into health practices within the municipality.
Facts about Udviklingscenter for Sundhedskompetence
- The collaboration on the new development center for health literary will initially run for two years.
- In September 2026, the partners will evaluate the collaboration and decide on its continuation and potential further cooperation.
- Aarhus Municipality is investing two million Danish kroner in the project.
- The Department of Public Health has received a research grant of half a million Danish kroner for the new research collaboration and primarily contributes research hours.
- The daily operation of the development center is managed by a programme manager from the municipality and a research manager from the department.
Health and illness are unevenly distributed in Denmark, and health inequality among Danes is reflected in the fact that some groups of citizens can expect shorter lifespans and more illnesses than the average. To address this, Aarhus Municipality and the Department of Public Health are now establishing a new development center for health literary — a center that will examine the various challenges that citizens and their relatives encounter when interacting with the healthcare system.
Professor and acting head of the Department of Public Health Helle Terkildsen Maindal is one of the initiators of the project.
"We aim to explore, together with Aarhus Municipality, the impact of using health literacy as an approach. This means that, based on our research and knowledge of methods and approaches, we will equip the municipality’s health professionals to assist citizens in navigating the healthcare system. Simultaneously, we gain access to concrete cases that are highly relevant to our research," says Helle Terkildsen Maindal, elaborating further:
"This might involve Aarhus Municipality adapting its health services so that citizens experience easy access, understand what the services entail, and can act upon them — regardless of their educational background, social network, digital skills, and so on. This is a crucial element in systematically addressing the growing health inequality."
Ensuring that all citizens benefit from the healthcare system
The goal of the new development center is to increase citizens' ability to benefit from the municipality's services and make it easier for more people to understand and navigate the existing offerings. This could involve practical measures, ranging from guidance and reminders for medical appointments to improved information materials and skill development of health professionals.
“Aarhus Municipality offers a range of free health programs on healthier habits, improved well-being, smoking cessation, and much more to all citizens of Aarhus. The same goes for many associations and recreational activities in the city. So, when the municipality wants to collaborate with us on health literacy, it's not due to a lack of services. It's more about ensuring that these services reach more people and that there is more equity in who benefits from them,” says Helle Terkildsen Maindal.
Contact
Acting Head of Department Helle Terkildsen Maindal
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Phone: +45 25 46 23 20
Email: htm@ph.au.dk