Behavioural Insights for public health in the EU : a case study in four Member States on embedding behavioural insights into public health policy-making

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries in the EU / European Economic Area have established applied behavioural and social science, or 'Behavioural Insights' (BI), units or networks to make recommendations to decision-makers on actionable policy and communications. On the basis of key-informant interviews in four EU Member States with different administrative systems - Spain, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia - this report (1) explores good practices in establishing and maintaining effective national BI units/networks and activities; (2) identifies barriers to and facilitators of the implementation of BI research findings; and (3) explores how to support efforts to retain and institutionalise BI expertise developed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The qualitative assessment concludes that BI units in the public health area are still in the early stages of development in the countries participating in this study. Key informants in our case study feel that decision-makers' support still depends on individual people and BI is not yet fully embedded in the decision process. Efforts by BI units and larger organisations may be needed to facilitate an increased speed at which the institutionalisation of BI can be achieved. Based on the interview findings, the authors make some recommendations to support this process.