Semmelweis Caring University Model Program: A Holistic Approach to Promoting Healthy Ageing through a Longitudinal Cohort Study, Preventive Services and Workplace Health Promotion

Hungary is facing an alarming public health situation due to the unhealthy ageing of its population, calling for innovative and effective approaches to promote healthy ageing. This presentation showcases the Semmelweis Caring University Model Program, a unique and holistic program developed by the leading health sciences university in Hungary to address this societal challenge. The program serves as a model for the ongoing primary care reform, which incorporates preventive services, the first study to address determinants of unhealthy ageing in Hungary, and includes a workplace-based health promotion program that could be implemented nationally. The Semmelweis Caring University Model Program aims to promote the health and wellbeing of its 8500 employees and provides potential answers to the unfavorable public health situation in Hungary. The Semmelweis Study, a longitudinal occupational cohort of university employees, investigates the complex relationships between lifestyle, environmental, and occupational risk factors and the development and progression of chronic age-associated diseases. Data is collected through computer-assisted questionnaires, physical health examination, physiological measurements, biomarker assessment and data linkage to national registers. The results of the Semmelweis Study inform the development of the Centre of Preventive Services (CPS), which provides health risk assessment, screening, and counseling services to employees, with medical specialists in preventive medicine and primary care, public health professionals, dieticians, physiotherapists, and psychologists. The CPS units also serve as practical training sites for medical and health sciences students. The Semmelweis Workplace Health Promotion Program is a personalized public health model program that utilizes infrastructure and human resources of Semmelweis University to encourage healthy behaviors and environments in the workplace, with a potential for nationwide implementation.