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The health systems of Germany and Switzerland are among the most expensive in the world. Yet they yield only average health outcomes. In some respect they fail to make efficient use of resources and potential. In both countries the separation of different care sectors from one another– a situation that goes hand in hand with integration problems in the health-care process – is regarded as a major cause of these inefficiencies. The lack of integration manifests itself as inadequate communication and coordination between the actors involved, leading to segmentation of health-care procedures and to all kinds of gaps and overlaps in treatment and care. Continuous seamless care and monitoring of patients as required for adequate management of chronic diseases is missing..

The approach to Health Promotion in the Workplace developed by the WZB as participatory organisational development is today considered a model for modern prevention following the setting approach developed by the WHO. An essential requirement for it to function is smooth cooperation between actors within and outside the organisation. Research into the possibilities for and limits to involving the statutory work accident insurance (Unfallversicherungsträger,  Berufsgenossenschaften) in this task fills an important gap. In Germany these professional association are the bodies responsible for statutory accident insurance, so they are also the chief actors for prevention and health promotion in the workplace.

Structures to strengthen quality assurance and evaluation in the primary prevention work of AIDS SERVICE organisations have been developed at the national level. The main channels were: workshops on quality assurance and evaluation methods, an internet handbook on resources for quality assurance and evaluation, support in using epidemiological data and a peer review process. Parallel to this, researchers provided local consulting to twelve organisations on the development and realisation of quality assurance and evaluation measures. A further goal is to establish a national network for participatory health research.