Interdisciplinary, future-oriented and unique in Hesse

The Public Health Centre Fulda (PHZF), established by Fulda University of Applied Sciences in January 2017, is the only research and teaching institution in the field of public health in Hesse. The focus is on the health of populations and population groups, which is influenced by social, political and economic factors, among others.

Public health is the science and practice of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting physical and mental health, taking into account equitable distribution and efficient use of existing resources. Public health aims to maintain the health of the population and particularly vulnerable groups.

Public health is necessarily interdisciplinary and includes, for example, fields of knowledge of medicine, nursing sciences, therapeutic sciences, nutritional sciences, health promotion, health economics and health sociology. Public Health Nutrition, as a special field of Public Health, focuses on population-related preventive and health-promoting approaches to solve nutrition-related problems.

Public Health deals in particular with questions about (in consensus with the DGPH):

  • the frequency and spatial and social distribution of diseases in the population (socially determined inequality of health opportunities)
  • the investigation of factors influencing health and disease, especially social and environmental factors, and the possibilities of influencing these factors through decisions in all policy areas (Health in all Policies)
  • the systematic planning, implementation and evaluation of political and life-world interventions to promote the health-related quality of life of the population,
  • the need for preventive, curative, rehabilitative, nursing, obstetric and palliative care in the population
  • the effectiveness and cost-benefit ratio of measures in health promotion and disease prevention as well as health care and nursing care measured by patient-relevant outcomes
  • the design, management and financing of health care systems that provide high quality care and affordable access to care that is needs-based and non-discriminatory,
  • the adequate participation of the population in the design of the health care system and in health-related decisions in all policy fields
  • the education and training of health professions, their cooperation structures and the interfaces in health-related care
  • the creation of evidence-based and decision-relevant expertise as a basis for health-related measures

As the central scientific institution of the 'Hochschule Fulda', the 'PHZF' promotes interdisciplinary, inter-departmental and inter-university as well as international research activities. The aim is to support these activities relevant to public health in research, qualification, further education, counselling and transfer and to strengthen and further develop the research profiles and subject-specific resources.