Mobilising Novel Finance Models for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Invest4Health addresses a key societal challenge: how to secure sustainable financing for health promotion and disease prevention in a context of growing health needs and increasing pressure on public budgets. The project focuses on developing and testing innovative financing models that treat prevention as a long-term investment rather than a short-term cost. Central to this approach is the concept of Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI), which connects public authorities, private investors, service providers, and communities in new partnership models that enable shared risk, aligned incentives, and measurable outcomes.
Through real-world testbeds across several European regions, Invest4Health designed and piloted financing approaches that demonstrate how investments in prevention can generate improved health outcomes alongside broader social and economic returns. These models provide practical evidence of how prevention-focused initiatives can be structured, financed, and scaled in diverse contexts.
Digital collaborative platforms
Within the project, SINTEF researched how digital collaborative platforms can enable these financing models to function in practice. These platforms were designed as modular, data-driven infrastructures supporting collaboration, co-governance, and decision-making across stakeholders. SINTEF defined the technical architecture, developed prototypes, and established guidelines for secure data sharing, stakeholder interaction, and integration with existing systems. The platforms support key functions such as monitoring interventions, aggregating outcomes, enabling citizen feedback, and providing decision support for operators and investors.
By combining novel financing models with digital collaborative platforms, Invest4Health demonstrates how cross-sector collaboration, citizen engagement, and data-driven governance can strengthen health promotion and prevention systems across Europe.
