Welcome to the official page for COST Action CA22159, National, International and Transnational Histories of Healthcare, 1850-2000 (EuroHealthHist).’COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) funds research and innovation networks. COST Actions connect researchers across Europe and beyond, allowing them to share ideas and foster collaboration.
The primary objective of our research network is to facilitate the production of broad and deep comparative health history with a focus on Europe in the modern period. We seek the creation of an environment that will allow the effective incorporation of evidence and stories from all parts of Europe as essential to enriching understanding of the development of health services and systems.
This page offers an overview of our Action, including a detailed description of our network’s focus, past and future meetings, expected outcomes, and core objectives guiding our research and capacity-building activities. We invite you to explore how our network aims to enhance understanding of Europe’s diverse healthcare histories.
Histories network (CA22159)
National, International and Transnational Histories of Healthcare, 1850-2000 (EuroHealthHist) (CA22159) is a pioneering pan-European initiative designed to address the significant fragmentation within the study of healthcare history. For too long, research in this vital field has been confined within national borders, limiting our ability to understand the complex, transnational forces that have shaped contemporary health systems and policies across the continent. This Action provides a critical platform to break down these silos, fostering unprecedented collaboration among a diverse community of historians, social scientists, archivists, healthcare professionals, and policymakers.
Our central challenge is to move beyond national narratives and create an integrated, comparative understanding of Europe’s varied healthcare pasts. By connecting researchers from different countries and disciplines, we aim to develop new methodologies and analytical frameworks that can capture the intricate interplay of local, national, and international developments. The network will explore how historical experiences with disease, the development of public health systems, the evolution of patient rights, and the rise of medical technologies have created both shared challenges and distinct pathways across Europe. Understanding this history is essential for informing current policy debates on healthcare inequality, building public trust in medical institutions, and preparing for future public health crises. This COST Action will serve as the engine for generating this new, collaborative knowledge, creating a more inclusive and impactful narrative of our collective healthcare heritage.
Direct collaboration and knowledge exchange are the lifeblood of this COST Action. We have designed a dynamic programme of events to facilitate networking, intensive scholarly debate, and the development of tangible outputs. These gatherings are crucial for building a cohesive and productive research community. Our schedule includes a series of large-scale conferences, targeted workshops, and intensive training schools strategically held across Europe to maximize participation and engagement.
Our schedule of key events has so far included:
Our Kick-off Conference & Working Group Formation in Ljubljana, Slovenia in April 2024, which established the thematic focus of our Working Groups; a training school in Cork led by WG4; 13 meetings including a conference with Portuguese partners in Lisbon in December 2024; further conferences in Tartu, Estonia and Cluj, Romania; numerous workshops on research themes, especially on aspects of the patient experience; and practical events including Digital Methodologies in Healthcare History, inDresden; and events with the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector such as Transdisciplinary and collaborative research projects and Museum, hosted by the Medical History Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden.
In 2026 we will hold six hybrid workshops, including one for Early Career Researchers, two Training Schools, one in Granada on the theme Rethinking Healthcare Providers and Patients: Lived Experiences, Social Relationships and Agency in the 20th and 21st centuries organised jointly by WG2 and WG3, the other in Portugal focused on developing writing skills for our major publications; and a number of online events to support the development of publications emerging from our workshops.
Through these events, we will produce a range of significant outcomes. These include co-authored articles in high-impact journals, edited volumes, and special issues that advance a comparative European perspective. A key output will be the creation of a shared digital repository of primary sources and teaching materials. We also aim to generate policy briefs for healthcare stakeholders, develop innovative university curricula, and create public-facing content like online exhibitions. Ultimately, the most enduring outcome will be a robust, self-sustaining international network of scholars poised to shape the future of healthcare history research.
The overarching goal of the European Healthcare Histories network is to build a world-class, inclusive, and sustainable research community. To achieve this, our objectives are structured around two complementary pillars: Research Coordination and Capacity Building.
A core focus will be on fostering methodological innovation. The network will act as an incubator for developing and sharing cutting-edge research techniques suited to a pan-European context. This includes promoting the use of a broad range of source types, standardising ethical approaches to oral history, and integrating material culture into historical narratives.
We are committed to maximizing the societal impact of our research. We will translate complex academic findings into accessible formats for a broad audience. This involves producing targeted policy briefs for health organisations, creating engaging content for the public through our website and online exhibitions, and collaborating with museums and archives to bring European healthcare histories to life.
A central tenet of this Action is the empowerment of the next generation of scholars. We are dedicated to supporting Early Career Investigators (ECIs) by providing them with invaluable opportunities for professional development. Our programme of Training Schools, mentoring schemes, and fully-funded Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) is equipping ECIs with advanced skills, facilitating international networking, and providing them with the experience needed to become future leaders in the field. We are supporting the development of better outcomes in publishing at all career stages through workshops, mentoring and collaborative writing.
We are actively promoting inclusivity and geographical diversity within our network. A key objective is to ensure strong representation and active participation from researchers across Europe, with a particular focus on those from COST Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITCs). By breaking down barriers to participation, we are ensuring that our understanding of European healthcare history is truly comprehensive and balanced, reflecting the continent’s rich diversity of experiences. Through these focused efforts, we are building both new knowledge and a more equitable and collaborative scholarly community for years to come.