Exploring the political in public health: Perspectives from practitioners and academics about the political determinants of health

Swiss partners

• ZHAW: Karin Nordström, Verena Biehl, Alice Inauen Lehner

 MENA partners

• Abu Dhabi University: Marguerite Sendall

• United Arab Emirates University: Dr. Iffat Elbarazi

Presentation of the project

Political determinants of health - such as power dynamics, governance, legislation and policymaking - shape access to healthcare, education, housing and environmental conditions and significantly impact health equity and outcomes. Despite their importance, the political determinants of health remain underexplored in public health practice and higher
education, limiting the capacity of professionals to address systemic health challenges. In Switzerland (CH), our recent project (Cap4HP, 2024-2025) on capacity building in public health and health promotion brought together academics and decision-makers to establish a shared and systematic understanding of capacity building in health promotion in CH. The results show a heterogeneous and diversified educational context and reveal an urgent need for coherent national policies concerning capacity building in this field and highlight the pressing need for ongoing research on political determinants of health.

Building on this foundation, a new international collaboration is being established with Dr Marguerite Sendall, a global expert on political determinants of health. This collaborative project includes the Institute of Public Health at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences and the College of Health Sciences at Abu Dhabi University and aims to develop a competitive research proposal exploring how public health professionals and academics in different countries understand political determinants of health.

This collaborative project will include a kickoff meeting for the project team, sharing and discussing case studies from CH, UAE and Australia using a conceptual framework for political determinants of health, a research visit in CH and an intercultural workshop with academics and practitioners from all three countries, and proposal development and submission.

Through this collaborative project, a research proposal will be developed on political determinants of health as a central domain in public health. This research project will generate evidence-based recommendations for practice, higher education, and policy in public health. It will contribute to scholarly discourse, inform curriculum development, and support advocacy for health equity. Ultimately, this research will establish a foundation for a sustainable research agenda and position CH and the UAE as leaders in advancing the research agenda about the political determinants of health.