Recommendations for headache service organisation and delivery in Europe

TLDR

Headache disorders are a major public‑health priority, requiring effective solutions, and the organisation of headache services across Europe—given varying structures and resource gaps—is a key focus. The recommendations aim to meet the high need for headache care by proposing a three‑level model spread across primary and secondary sectors, and to be adaptable to differing national health‑service structures. The recommendations were developed through wide consultation and are organised into five sections—needs assessment, model description, adaptation, standards, and educational implications. The recommendations stem from collaboration between the European Headache Federation and Lifting The Burden, the Global Campaign against Headache.

Abstract

Headache disorders are a major public-health priority, and there is pressing need for effective solutions to them. Better health care for headache—and ready access to it—are central to these solutions; therefore, the organisation of headache-related services within the health systems of Europe becomes an important focus. These recommendations are the result of collaboration between the European Headache Federation and Lifting The Burden: the Global Campaign against Headache. The process of development included wide consultation. To meet the very high level of need for headache care both effectively and efficiently, the recommendations formulate a basic three-level model of health-care organisation rationally spread across primary and secondary health-care sectors, taking account of the different skills and expertise in these sectors. They recognise that health services are differently structured in countries throughout Europe, and not always adequately resourced. Therefore, they aim to be adaptable to suit these differences. They are set out in five sections: needs assessment, description of the model, adaptation, standards and educational implications.