Minutes of the 1st meeting of the Steering Committee


Helsinki, Finland 15th June 1999, 8.00-9.45 pm.

Venue: Hotel Holiday Inn Helsinki Congress center, Corner Cabinet

Present: Antero Heloma, chairman, Provincial State Office of Southern Finland
Panos Amiridis, Union of Local Authorities of the Prefecture of Kilkis (ULAK), Greece
Inger Fälth, County Council of Västmanland, Sweden
Tuuli Paaksi, Harju County Government, Estonia
Gabriela Semrian, The City Hall of Timisoara, Romania
Tarja Äijälä, secretary, Provincial State Office of Southern Finland

1. Opening
The chairman, Dr Antero Heloma opened the meeting and welcomed all participants to the meeting.

2. Publications
It was discussed what kind of publications are needed in the SPE project. In addition to general publications which will be in English, also regional publications will be made and translated into the local languages. Ms Tuula Paaksi expressed that there would be a need in Estonia for a similar brochure as the County Council of Västmanland has done on the prevention of accidents among the elderly. A special logo for SPE project will be designed and used in all material which are published in the project. The Provincial State Office of Southern Finland will provide the logo with the assistance of professionals. The SPE project will have a home page in the Internet where there will be links to partners' organisations. It was also discussed that the project could start publishing a newsletter in English. Local newsletters can be published in other languages.

3. Data collection of accidents
The County Council of Västmanland has a special task in the SPE project of harmonising the methods for data collection on accidents in partner regions. The European Commission's EHLASS data collection system is transition now and the Swedish partner should contact EC for further information on the matter. The County Council of Västmanland will send the partners a draft of questionnaire on accidents to be used in hospitals and in primary care. If needed, the draft can be revised according to partners' comments. The final questionnaire will be in pilot use for 6 months starting 1st of November 1999. This questionnaire will be used in all hospitals and health centres, or in bigger regions in certain hospitals and health centres inside a smaller area.

4. Forming of networks
Networking has a special focus in SPE. The interregional networking of principal partners already started at the inaugural meeting of the SPE project in Helsinki. There will be also meetings of associate partners' networks in each region. In Romania a meeting will be held in July with all associate partners, hospitals and NGOs. In Greece the associate partners are already working very closely and a meeting will be arranged in July with some health centres of Herso. The Union of Local Authorities of the Prefecture of Kilkis is trying to involve the Regional Orthopaedic hospital in the project. In Estonia a meeting will take place before August with associate partners and other organisations. The chairman suggested that also the Health Promotion Office of Estonia and the University of Tartu should be involved in the project and provided Ms Tuuli Paaksi with names of key persons. In Sweden there will be a meeting with the associate partners quite soon. In Finland the meeting with the associate partners and other organisations will be held in September. Meetings of local ad hoc networks will also be held in regions.

5. Networks of training institutions
The training institutions in Harju and Timisoara will organise training of employed staff. There will also be post-graduate courses, training seminars for voluntary caretakers, and courses in health promotion and accident prevention. The formation of networks of training institutions is the responsibility of the Steering Committee. The Provincial State Office of Southern Finland will organise a meeting of training institutions 1st November in Vienna. The training institutions of Timisoara, Harju, Herso and Elimäki will send one representative to the meeting. Areas of common interest and the model of co-operation as well as allocation of tasks between the institutions will be discussed further in that meeting.

6.Timetables
The first tasks in the SPE-project will be : 1. Collection of data of accidents 2. Forming of networks 3. Training
The partners will send to the Provincial State Office of Southern Finland short (2-3 pages) report on development in the project in their regions by 15th September 1999.

7. Ending
The chairman closed the meeting. The next meeting of the Steering committee will be held together with the meeting of the training institutions on 1-2 October 1999 in Vienna. The 8th International Conference on Safe Communities will take place 4-5th Ocotber 1999 in Vienna.

Antero Heloma
chairman

Tarja Äijälä
secretary

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