Conference abstract
Policy to shape healthy lifestyles among youth in Ukraine: organizational aspects
Iryna Liashchuk, Tetiana Semygina
BACKGROUND. Poor state of young people’s health in
Ukraine questions the adequacy of current national policy aimed at
shaping youth healthy lifestyles (PYHL). Recent reorganization of state
institutions, in particular the abolition of the Ministry of Family,
Youth and Sport Affairs, along with a number of other relevant
institutions, creates the need to redistribute the authority between the
participants of PYHL in Ukraine. The objective of this study was to
identify main problem areas in the organization of PYHL and find ways
for its optimization, taking into consideration the experience of
European countries.
METHODS. 1) Analysis of legal acts, national reports
and other official documents related to PYHL was carried out for such
countries as Sweden, Norway, Lithuania and Ukraine. 2) Semi-structured
interviews regarding the current state of PYHL and potential ways for
its improvement were conducted with Ukrainian specialists working in the
field of PYHL.
RESULTS. PYHL in European countries is well-regulated
and intersectoral. The existence of national strategies and plans for
shaping youth healthy lifestyles, which are based on the relevant
evidence, simplifies the process of effectiveness evaluation. Ministries
of health and social affairs are the key participants of PYHL, while
departments of public health are important advisory institutions.
Municipalities (Sweden, Norway) and municipal bureaus of public health
(Lithuania) are the direct implementers of PYHL that in its turn is
focused on local health needs. PYHL in Ukraine is fragmentary and
unsystematic. The key player of PYHL is the Ministry of Education,
Science, Youth, and Sport Affairs, but there is no united system that
would consolidate the efforts on different levels. Uneven resource
allocation among regions and ignoring the local needs hinders the
effective implementation of PYHL. Lack of common understanding of the
YHL concept, poor coordination mechanisms, failure to use evidence-based
approach, and use of the residual principle for financing the sector are
the main issues that need to be addressed.
CONCLUSIONS. Development of the YHL strategy based on
research results, determining the national advisory institution that
would coordinate actions of various PYHL participants and extending
self-regulatory opportunities for local policy actors can improve the
PYHL in Ukraine.
Abstracts (pdf) in English and Ukrainian
