In 2015, the annual international HPH conference will be hosted by the Norwegian HPH network for the first time. The network was founded in 1998and has valuably contributed to the international HPH network since, not least by coordinating the HPH task force on alcohol prevention and, since 2014, with an elected member of the HPH Governance Board.

Upon the suggestion of the local hosts, the Scientific Committee decided to focus the HPH conference 2015 on "Person-oriented health promotion in a rapidly changing world" - a timely topic in light of global changes. With this general theme, the conference will pay special attention to the comprehensive somato-psycho-social health needs of patients and their families, but also those of healthcare staff and community members. There will be four sub-themes:

Addressing people’s comprehensive health needs

What can be understood by "person oriented health promotion" or health promotion by people for people? How can the comprehensive health needs of people in their everyday life situations be understood, and how can healthcare support salutogenic life processes within and outside healthcare organizations? The conference will focus on the multi-dimensionality of people’s health needs by taking up the somatic, mental, and social dimensions of health of the most important HPH stakeholders – patients and visitors, health care professionals and allied staff, and community members.

Co-producing health – healthcare for people by people

Shared decision-making has become a widely accepted and practiced part of today’s healthcare routines. The co-production of health by patients and professionals in collaboration goes beyond this approach. An active participation of patients in diagnosis, treatment and care is one central prerequisite. To achieve that, healthcare staff need to acknowledge their patients as partners with distinct interests, rights and personal goals that may differ from those of the professionals. How can healthcare staff develop this mindset? Can related concepts for chronic and mental patients be transferred to other groups of patients? What tools, what research and what evidence-base are needed to support the increasing orientation of healthcare towards co-production? What roles can individuals, patient organizations, self-help groups and healthcare policy play?

Continuity of care for people by strengthening individuals and improving cooperation between healthcare services and other institutions

Today’s increasingly complex healthcare systems still pose a lot of challenges towards continuity of and integrated care. How can people be supported to get the best possible care throughout the different levels of the healthcare system, including at home and in community care settings? How can the design of healthcare pathways and the implementation of specific professional roles support them? What kind of health literacy do patients, their families and community members need to optimally use and navigate the healthcare system, and how can they best be supported to develop this literacy? What could be the role of patient representatives and patient organizations in the process?

Using new media & technologies to address people’s health needs

New technological developments hold a lot of potential for comprehensively addressing health needs, for supporting personal agency, co-production and continuity, and it is likely that big data will also lead to changes - hopefully improvements - in the field of healthcare. But there are also some risks such as lacking data privacy, information overload, inaccurate or irrelevant information. How can the potentials of new media and technologies best be used, and how can the risks be minimized?