Health house

Health houses have the task of making the public health system more attractive through citizen-friendly advice and services.

The services offered by health houses often include nutritional advice, workplace health promotion and support for health self-help groups. In health centers, offices (service stations) and rooms are available for self-help groups that can be used by groups or institutions in the health sector for events. In this respect, health houses can also be understood as specialized town houses.

The first health center in Germany was founded in 1989 in the Unna district (North Rhine-Westphalia) in the cities of Unna and Lünen with the help of state funds. There are now such or similar institutions in a few other cities (e.g. Münster , Gelsenkirchen ). Such health houses are organizationally integrated into lower health authorities ( health authorities ).

The term "health house" is not protected. That is why pharmacies, medical supply stores or associations of medical practices have occasionally claimed this term for themselves.

literature

• Kastenbutt, B./Westen, H. (2004): Historical and current development of health centers in the Federal Republic of Germany in their role as advisory institutions, self-help contact points and actors in community health promotion. Publications series health research of the BMGS. Bonn.