Inequalities in health – the needs of the residents of Polish cities expressed in Participatory Budget projects

Introduction:
Health inequalities should be understood as differences in health between different groups in society. They are mainly due to the socioeconomic situation, which depends on the level of education, employment status, and the amount of earnings. In addition, access to goods and services as well as them are low funding, privatization and decentralization, are important. The aim of this study was to analyze the projects in the Participatory Budget (PB) of the main Polish cities in terms of the groups of health determinants they address.

Material and methods:
The research material consisted of PB projects in provincial cities. The source of the information collected was data published by the cities on their websites. The analyses also used data on life expectancy at birth as a measure of health inequality in the urban populations studied. The amount of per capita funding for the projects studied was also examined. A document survey method was used. Projects were assigned categories of health determinant groups based on the rainbow model.

Results:
The study analyzed a total of 1493 PB projects from 16 cities, of which 1028 were included for further analysis and assigned a group of health determinants. Among the cities, one can see a definite difference in the number of projects examined. The smallest number of projects was in Wroclaw, but fewer projects related to health determinants were highlighted in Bialystok (60%) and Opole (63%). The largest number of projects received funding in Warsaw (71%), and consequently they make up the largest group of surveyed projects.

Conclusions:
Based on an analysis of PB projects in Polish provincial cities, it can be concluded that aspects related to health in the broadest sense are important to their residents. A high percentage of projects address areas that can affect the development and better functioning of residents. PB can be an enabling tool to reduce inequalities.