[Health care and regional disparities]

Abstract

Municipalities in Germany have to advance health care structures to be resistant to demographic transitions and to the changing health care needs of the regional population in upcoming years. Therefore, it is important to note that needs vary from region to region and that care structures have to be differentiated according to this. Indeed regionality and community care have been increasingly referred to in current debate on improving care structures. But the discussed approaches remain relatively unclear and, moreover, fail to overcome care fragmentation and legal or sectoral perspectives. This paper points out the current lack of systematic knowledge about regional health disparities as well as knowledge about models of health care that are appropriate especially for disadvantaged communities and also rural regions. Moreover, knowledge of steering mechanisms that enforce the development of regional care systems are not developed yet.