New hub for the best evidence about promoting good health will help inform new policy

The website, from the University of Exeter and World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, shows valuable information about global health. It is designed to be used by policymakers, academics and experts to inform good decision-making.

Many factors that affect health are driven by more than biology. Antimicrobial resistance, mental health and health literacy are all driven by social, behavioural and cultural factors. The new web-based Knowledge Hub on Behavioural and Cultural Insights (BCI) aims to shed light on the myriad influences behind health behaviours.

People using the website can search by country and type of information – reports, video, podcasts and more. There are case studies of good practice from across Europe.

Dr Felicity Thomas, who is leading the project on behalf of the University of Exeter, said: “We hope this hub will play an influential role in informing policy. It will be a useful portal for research and good practice. Attention to behavioural and cultural insights can have a positive impact, and we aim to show how this approach can help improve health and wellbeing across Europe.

“We hope researchers and others can use the website to showcase their research and build an important knowledge hub. Promoting good health needs more than medical research, it is essential to understand communities and social habits which affect health.”

The first phase of the ‘Behavioural and Cultural Insights Knowledge Hub’, has been developed by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Culture and Health at the University of Exeter in collaboration with the Behavioural and Cultural Insights Flagship at WHO/EURO.

At the time of launch, the BCI Hub contains material produced by researchers at Exeter, as well as teams at WHO. Over time, it will expand to include more high-quality research, case examples, and policy documents from academia, governments, and policymakers from across the WHO European Region.

The site features a multitude of options for searching for, exploring, and stumbling across interesting and innovative research. Over time, as the content featured on the site grows, there will be more opportunities to explore how BCI has been used in focus areas, countries, or resource types that particularly appeal.

With the website launched and the first batch of documents uploaded, please reach out to the site management team at info@bci-hub.org with any reports, videos, podcasts or more that you think deserve a space on the site. The hub provides an opportunity to show how Behavioural and Cultural Insights can be used across a range of areas to improve health and wellbeing, and we need your help to grow the site even bigger.

To find out more about the BCI-Hub visit www.bci-hub.org