About us

About Gesund-informiert.at

Welcome to Gesund-informiert.at. This is a website provided by Gesundheitsfonds Steiermark. We’re delighted to have you here.

Have you not understood what a doctor was telling you? Or have you ever been confused by contradictory health information on the Internet and not known what to believe? Yes? Don’t worry. You’re not alone! Lots of people feel like you.

What is our motivation?

Scientific studies show that health literacy is not very high in Austria and Styria. Health literacy is the ability to find, understand, evaluate and apply important information about your own health in everyday life.

Many of our decisions have an impact on our health. However, there is often a lack of knowledge about how to eat healthily, how much exercise the body needs or which part of the healthcare system to turn to with which complaints. At first glance, this seems strange. There has never been as much information about health as there is today. Anyone who wants to can find information about health on the internet at any time of the day or night.

The problem with health information

One of the causes of low health literacy is the gap between what people know and understand and the way in which information is prepared and communicated.

Many doctors often speak in complicated medical jargon. Unfortunately, alongside the legitimate health information on the internet, there is a lot of incorrect and misleading information. These are often adverts for specific products. The challenge is recognising the information that is accurate and reliable. 

Our aim

Everyone benefits from good and easy-to-understand health information! Gesund informiert makes health-related knowledge simple and understandable. Meeting the criteria of good health information. Our aim is to support you to make healthy decisions. 

This means you can keep a better eye on your health and know what to do if you become unwell. You no longer have to put up with twists and turns and long waiting times to get the help you need. This improves your health, but above all your quality of life too.

Our authors

The content of the “Gesund informiert” campaign is the result of a collaborative process. The texts are compiled by the editorial team, made up of employees from the Gesundheitsfonds Steiermark’s Department of Health Promotion & Public Health.

The texts are prepared by the Gesundheitsfonds Steiermark’s Public Health team in close cooperation with experts from the health sector (see sources in the health topics).

Anja Mandl

studied health management at FH JOANNEUM, is a member of the core team of the Austrian Health Literacy Platform as well as various working groups for strategy development and planning of measures to strengthen health literacy.

Bianca Heppner

comes from a medical-technical profession, worked in health care for 15 years and studied public health at the Medical University in Graz. She works as a lecturer for various stakeholders on the topic of public health or health promotion and prevention.

Financing

Gesund informiert is financed by public funds from the Gesundheitsfonds Steiermark. There is more information about the Gesundheitsfonds Steiermark’s financing in the legal basis. Gesund informiert does not accept any sponsoring or advertising offers. 

What we offer you 

We offer health information you can rely on. In a language that is easy to understand. All information is quality assured. We want to provide you with information so can form your own opinion.

You can find more information about our working methods, quality criteria and objectives in our methodology paper. 

Our topics are for anyone interested in health or looking for reliable information on specific illnesses. We provide explanations about how our healthcare system works and what services are available to you. As we come from Styria, we can also inform you about any special offers available in Styria.

We collect knowledge from reliable sources and then summarise and simplify it. You will find answers to your questions here. There are often links to additional, reliable information and references to services and health service providers in Styria. The Gesund informiert podcast supplements the website.

Our target groups

Our content is for anyone looking for reliable health information. However, we particularly want to support older people, people suffering from chronic illnesses and people with a migration background or from socially disadvantaged backgrounds to make good decisions for their health.

Health professionals and people who want to help improve the health literacy of others will also find practical information and help here.

Our examples will show you exactly how gesund-informiert.at can help you:

Walter

is 60 years old and generally feels healthy. He has been experiencing pain in his stomach for some time now and doesn’t know the cause. He wants to search the internet to find out what the pain might be. gesund-informiert.at provides him with tips about what to look out for when searching the internet for information.

Katharina

is 42 years old and the mother of two children. She often worries when her children feel unwell. Should she take her child to hospital or wait and see how it goes? gesund-informiert.at provides Katharina with information about the healthcare system and the right contact points for her and her children.

Ali

is 25 years old. Because his father died young, he wants to advise his family on how to live as healthily as possible. Although he speaks German well, he finds it difficult to read complicated texts. gesund-informiert.at provides Ali with easy-to-understand, clear information about how to live a healthy life.

Ingrid

is 52 years old and has type 2 diabetes for which she is receiving treatment. She often doesn't understand what her doctor is saying and doesn't know what she should be doing at home. She would like to ask questions, but gets scared. gesund-informiert.at shows Ingrid how to prepare well for her visit to the doctor and what questions she should ask the doctor.

Michaela

, 35, is a surgery assistant in a GP practice. Patients often ask her what other services are available for their ailments. gesund-informiert.at allows Michaela to search for services in the Styrian healthcare system so that she can provide patients with reliable information.

Daniel

, 51, is a teacher and wants to promote health literacy among his pupils. gesund-informiert.at provides Daniel with best practice examples and information material that he can use at school.

Structure of the health topics

All health topics have the same content structure. This allows you to access our information easily and to quickly find the information you need. You can always skip parts, while still gaining knowledge. 

• The most important information at a glance: A brief summary of all essential information. 
• Frequently asked questions: Help you find your way quickly to the answers you need.
• What can I do myself?: Practical tips for everyday use that you can apply yourself.
• Quiz: Test your health knowledge!
• Differences between men and women: Sometimes the body reacts differently.
• Video: Complicated content clearly explained.
• Advantages & disadvantages: Weigh up the pros and cons before you make a decision for your health.
• Myths: What’s true and what’s not? We straighten out common misinformation.
• Facts, figures & data: From Austria and especially from Styria.
• Advice and help: Here you will find professional support and addresses.
• An example: Understand the content through the stories of our target group personas. 
• Further information: For anyone who wants to know more.
• Sources: Where we researched our information.

How to find the content on our website

You can find our content via the menu. Particularly important and current content is linked on the homepage. You can use the search window to search easily for topics that interest you.

You can search alphabetically for health topics in Health topics from A-Z. On many pages, we will also recommend other topics that may also be of interest to you.

What we cannot do

Gesund-informiert.at does not offer individual consultations. The website content is intended to provide support. However, it CANNOT replace a consultation with a doctor. 

We must expressly warn you against diagnosing or treating yourself or others on the basis of the content on this website. The symptoms of different illnesses can appear very similar, which is why you should always have your symptoms checked by a healthcare professional. More information