Future Health - Experiencing public health care firsthand

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said: Health is not everything, but without health everything is nothing. This quote highlights the importance of health, because although health is experienced individually by each person, the highest possible level of health is considered a human right. Its preservation and safeguarding is a state and social obligation. Health therefore runs through all policy areas. Actors in health policy include the Bundestag (German Parliament), the Federal Government, and the Bundesrat (Federal Council). The Federal Ministry of Health is the lead agency within the Federal Government in the area of health policy.

The students of the Master's program "Health Sciences and Management" from the Faculty of Life Sciences at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences recently had the opportunity not only to deepen the theoretical content of their studies during a visit to Berlin, but also to gain insight into the work of health policy. The students were accompanied by the program director Prof. Robert Renner and the research assistant Heike Holtappel from the Faculty of Life Sciences.

At the Federal Ministry of Health, the students gained insight into the structures and working methods of the ministry and exchanged views on maintaining public health. How can health protection in public health be strengthened and how can statutory health insurance and long-term care insurance remain efficient? What rights do patients have? These were also topics of discussion during the visit, as were future career opportunities in the ministry.

In a subsequent visit to the German Bundestag, the students gained insights into the processes of government work. In an exchange with the member of parliament Stefan Rouenhoff, questions of public health, in particular the safeguarding of care and the challenges of the health care system, were discussed.

Currently, the healthcare system is undergoing transformation due to increasing digitalization. E-health, i.e., the use of digital technologies in healthcare, can help support and increase individual health literacy. This is also important for pharmaceutical companies. Thus, the focus of the visit to the pharmaceutical company Pfizer was on the importance of digitalization in healthcare. The students gained insights into the possibilities and opportunities that arise for Pfizer through the increasing digitalization in healthcare. In a workshop, targeted approaches were developed to use digitalization in prevention and for better patient care.