Identifikation von Strategien und Ansätzen zur Förderung von Verstetigung und Nachhaltigkeit von Interventionen der Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention in der Lebenswelt Kommune

Community-based interventions in health promotion and prevention are an investment in maintaining the health and social participation of citizens. However, despite scientifically proven effectiveness, many interventions do not succeed in continuing the offers and achieving sustainable effects.

Based on a systematic literature review using the scoping review method, this article addresses the question of which strategies in the scientific literature can be identified to promote the continuation and sustainability of interventions in health promotion and prevention and which recommendations for action can be derived from this.

The first result of the literature review is that there are neither uniform nor clear definitions of the terms “continuation” (German: Verstetigung) and “sustainability” (Nachhaltigkeit) in the German language context. As a conceptual basis for the further analyses, definitions of the terms were therefore developed: “Continuation” is understood as the process towards sustainable effects of an intervention. “Sustainability” is defined as lasting effects of an intervention. In order to be able to evaluate the process of continuation, proxy variables that can be used to measure the extent of “continuation” as part of a process evaluation were developed. For the measurement of sustainable impacts, on the other hand, an impact evaluation as a long-term follow-up measurement is more appropriate.

Four strategies for promoting continuation and sustainability were identified: (1) Ensuring the fit between intervention and context, (2) capacity development through networking and cooperation, (3) early planning of continuation including a financing concept, and (4) analysis of the municipal framework in which an intervention is embedded. Finally, the strategies were provided with recommendations for action and put into a chronological sequence that reflects the process of continuation of an intervention.