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Public municipal health policy and Human Dignit

Principal investigator:
Alistair R. Niemeijer
Period:
February 2016 - February 2019
Status:
completed
  • Care, welfare and flourishing

The research project ‘Public municipal health policy and human dignity: fostering new normative expressions’, led by Dr Alistair Niemeijer, seeks to give meaning to human dignity in the field of public health. It was a collaboration between the chairs in Care Ethics and the Humanisation of the Public Sector, and the Municipality of Utrecht, and was completed in 2019.

Description

As the role of (local) government continues to shift from one of support to one of facilitation, it is becoming increasingly important to take both the health and the dignity of citizens seriously. The municipality of Utrecht is therefore not only committed to positive health, but has also incorporated human dignity as a pillar of its health policy. At the same time, it is not yet entirely clear what human dignity entails exactly and what it means for policy-making in relation to health.

This research project explored what dignity means for people facing multiple challenges, with the aim of reducing health inequalities. The researchers applied a care-ethics perspective on dignity and combined conceptual approaches with practical experience in the field.

Researchers

(Co-)financing

The research is funded by ZonMw, a division of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. ZonMw funds health research and encourages the application of the knowledge gained to improve healthcare and health.

Results

The research report De Waardigheidscirkel (‘The Circle of Dignity’) was presented on 23 January 2019 and handed over to Victor Everhardt, Utrecht City Council’s alderman for Public Health at a symposium about the focus on vulnerable residents of Utrecht.

Download the final report and watch the animation on how to use the ‘Waardigheidscirkel’ tool on the webpage: www.uvh.nl/waardigheidscirkel.

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