Vision of Prevention Department and design of new organisational form

Möbius guided the Prevention department of the Flemish Agency for Care and Health in defining a new vision and an organisational form that better enables the objectives to be achieved.

Prevention department Flemish Agency for Care and Health

Strategic challenge

The Prevention department of the Flemish Agency for Care and Health has about 75 employees, namely administrative support staff and three teams:

The General Prevention team promotes policy (preparation and implementation) for general health promotion and the prevention of (mainly) non-communicable (chronic) diseases;
The Infectious Disease Control and Vaccination team looks after the vaccination policy, the distribution of vaccines and the promotion of vaccination in Flanders and the mandatory notifications of infectious diseases, in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases;
The Environmental Health team strives to promote and protect public health against harmful effects from the environment and environmental factors.

The department operates in a changing healthcare landscape and society. Scientific and technological possibilities are constantly increasing, while the budget remains limited. The department also faces major challenges in terms of content. After the health gains achieved in the 20th century mainly through infection prevention, the focus is now shifting to chronic non-communicable diseases. It is becoming increasingly evident that health is not only a matter of qualitative and accessible health care, but that many other policy areas also have an impact on public health. Collaboration with other policy areas and various partners from the care sector and other sectors is therefore necessary for an effective preventive health policy.

In this context, Möbius guided the Prevention department as part of a vision-making process in developing a supported vision in order to provide answers to the current and future challenges arising from the strongly evolving context in which the department operates and the scientific and technological evolutions (starting from the vision, mission and values of the Flemish Agency for Care and Health).

The vision had to include the following elements:

The strategy for a recommended future prevention policy with a focus on 10 years. This strategy could then be translated into recommendations for the department to support multi-year policy planning (which can then be submitted to the political level for validation and translated into government statements, policy notes and policy letters);
Recommendations on possible strategic partners for the design and implementation of the politically validated future prevention policy;
Elements for a possible future optimisation of the organisational culture and structure of the department, in order to realise the formulated vision and strategy.

Eline and Kim were our guides on 'Expedition Prevention'. It became a journey over mountains and through valleys, along surprising corners and beautiful views. Sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly we approached our target. The experience, ingenuity and care of our two guides ensured that no one was left behind. A wonderful participative course that resulted in the intended result: a strongly supported vision with accompanying strategic objectives and a model for a new supporting organisational structure.

Iris De Schutter Head of department Prevention of the Flemish Agency for Care and Health

Approach

In the vision-forming process, the Prevention department aimed for broad support for the outcomes:

In the first place, the employees of the department had to be involved as much as possible in the development of the vision and strategy (and subsequently a suitable structure and functioning of the department to realise this), via a participatory process – co-creation level – with thorough reflection on all necessary elements;
In addition, when drafting the vision, the input and expectations of the most important (external) stakeholders had to be taken into account where possible.

We proposed the following approach:

We started with a brief document analysis. We also conducted interviews with / questioned various stakeholder groups, both internal employees and other/external involved parties and stakeholders such as the Environment Department, the Education Department, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities, but also health insurance funds and university experts, to map expectations and also to examine how best to cooperate with other policy areas. This is extremely important in the context of the pursuit of 'Health in All Policies'.

Throughout the entire process, we also organised many workshops with the employees, both workshops per team and cross-team workshops with a delegation from the various teams, as well as a world café with all employees. Also, after establishing the vision and strategic objectives, an event was organised to bring the strategy to life throughout the department. Among other things, employees were introduced to how to tell a story and invited to think about success stories that support the strategic objectives and then share them with all colleagues.

To inform and involve all employees of the department during the entire process, we used the interaction and communication platform Howspace where documents were shared, chats were organised to ask for feedback, polls were held to prioritise and measure support , etc.

Videos were also shared, which were recorded especially in the context of this process:

During the process, we made use of film material, images, music, etc. wherever possible to ensure sufficient attractiveness and to let the material come to life. We also provided various inspiration moments during the process (in this way, knowledge was also transferred to the employees), for example:

Results

In addition to a vision and strategic objectives, the process also provided an overview of the strategic partners and a clear evaluation / direction regarding the collaboration now and in the future.

Furthermore, in close consultation with the employees of the department, work was done on the foundations of a new structure and operating principles for the department, so that the department can gradually become more 'fluid' and can make more use of (principles of) self-management in order to be able to respond in a flexible way to the multitude of complex themes and changes in the context in which it operates. Together we drew up a new structure and defined some important operating principles for the department.

The process produced a vision for the department, strategic objectives and operating principles that are widely supported in the department. This was shown by the results of a survey we organised on the Howspace platform to determine the extent to which the employees support the formulated vision and objectives and the formulated operating principles: