Set Targets

Set ambitious but realistic targets to improve care cascades for key CV risk factors.

The next two steps (Set targets and Co-design the population health roadmap) can be implemented in a 1–2-day workshop with the Steering Committee and Operational Committee.

Setting ambitious yet realistic targets for CV risk factor detection, treatment and control is of vital importance for multiple reasons. It can motivate stakeholders to think outside the box, it creates alignment across stakeholders, and it can lead to transformative results. The Davos Declaration on Urban Health calls for 90% of the city’s population with a risk factor being diagnosed, 80% of the diagnosed population to be treated adequately, and 70% of the diagnosed population to be controlled1 . Make sure to adjust the targets based on the current situation and the city’s expert assessment to ensure the targets are both ambitious and realistic. Targets should be set by the Steering Committee.

Targets for outputs and activities (see CARDIO4Cities Logical Framework) should be set once the population health roadmap has been developed, e.g., number of reform policies introduced or adoption rates of streamlined treatment protocols. At that point, it may also be useful to pressure test whether the outcome targets are indeed realistic and adjust if needed (see step 4).

Setting targets in a workshop rather than a series of individual discussions provides an opportunity for key stakeholders to provide input and discuss underlying assumptions. It also creates buy-in for collaboration to develop the population health roadmap. Combining target setting and co-design of the population health roadmap (see step 4) into a one-to-two-day workshop creates a natural flow of discussion from reviewing the initially collected data insights, to setting targets, to identifying interventions that lead towards achieving the targets, to defining the roadmap.