The 21st Biennial ESHMS Conference
Hamburg, Germany
Dates: 19-21 August 2026
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Topic: Mental Health in Times of Uncertainty
Organiser: Prof Dr. Olaf von dem Knesebeck, Institute of Medical Sociology
More information will follow in the summer-autumn of 2025.
Special Interest meetings
No future special interest meetings are planned in the near future. However, several meetings have also taken place in between the conferences.
Previous BIENNAL Conferences
20th Conference
Topic: Intersectionality & Inclusion in Health
Date: 3-5 July 2024
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Main organiser: Sarah Van de Velde
Intersectionality and inclusion are paramount in the field of sociology of health & illness. They provide a critical lens through which to understand the complex and multifaceted nature of health disparities, healthcare access, and the experiences of individuals within the healthcare system. Intersectionality acknowledges that individuals possess multiple social identities, such as ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion and disability, which intersect to shape their lived experiences and health outcomes. Recognizing these intersections is crucial because they reveal the compounding effects of discrimination and privilege, helping us comprehend why certain groups may face disproportionate health challenges.
Moreover, inclusion in healthcare means not only ensuring equitable access to medical services but also recognizing and valuing the diverse perspectives and needs of patients and healthcare providers. Inclusive healthcare systems acknowledge the importance of cultural competence, patient-centered care, and representation of diverse voices in decision-making processes. By embracing intersectionality and inclusion, medical sociology sheds light on social definitions of health and illness, as well as on the social determinants of health. In addition, it offers insights into how to create healthcare systems that are not only equitable but also more effective in addressing the unique needs and challenges faced by individuals from all backgrounds. Ultimately, these concepts are indispensable in advancing both the understanding and practice of healthcare, promoting social justice, and improving health outcomes for all.
19th conference
Topic: Healthscapes. Shaping the future of the post-pandemic society
Date: 25-27 August 2022
Location: Forlì Campus of University of Bologna, Italy
Organiser: Antonio Maturo
Covid-19 was a disruptive event, leaving no part of society left untouched. A ‘global social fact,’ blurring both geographic and political boundaries—the effects of which will be felt for years to come. Hit hardest were those already in precarious social standing: the poor and the vulnerable. The notion of a syndemic has been used to describe this grim interaction of virus and embodied health inequality. The organization of care has shown all its limitations, especially where solid community health structures were absent. Many chronically ill patients and their families are still living through dire situations. The future will be dominated by risk. Covid-19 has shown our vulnerability to viruses. We will live in a more surveilled society, and we will have to acclimate ourselves to new forms of prevention. It is no coincidence that worrying forms of health populism have arisen from this shift. In this context, what can the sociology of health offer in terms of analysis, research perspectives, and operational proposals? How can research evidence be translated into viable policy, and how can the sociological imagination shape a more equitable and secure future? The scientific and programme committees are at work on the practicalities of a conference where we hope to welcome you to exercise your sociological imagination on medical sociological matters.
17th conference
Topic: Old tensions, emerging paradoxes in health: rights, knowledge, and trust
Date: 7 to 8 June 2018
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Main organisers: Beatriz Xavier & Tiago Correia
Under the theme ‘Old tensions, emerging paradoxes in health: rights, knowledge, and trust’, the congress aims to offer a forum for new insights into the tensions and paradoxes health systems are currently facing as a result of broad social and political transformations. These include climate change, migrations, economic crises, citizens’ quest for inclusiveness and freely deciding on their own lives, distrust of professional self-regulated work models and decisions, struggle for recognition and legitimacy by different professional groups, or the growing role of the market in the provision of care and funding of scientific research. Despite the progress of academic research in addressing these issues, the exposure of healthcare to the market, to politics, as well as to countervailing forces, rationalities and interests makes the renewal of this debate both timely and necessary.
16th conference
Topic: Healthy lives: technologies, policies and experiences
Date: 27 to 29 June 2016
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Main organiser: Claudine Burton-Jeangros
In European societies, the imperative of good health keeps expanding. Health literacy, developments in personalized medicine, health and illness self-monitoring through mobile information and communication technologies, shared medical decision making, rising individualization of risks in health insurances, all support the normative importance of leading healthy lives. In daily life and in encounters with healthcare institutions, individuals are expected to manage their own health through the adoption of healthy behaviours and/or endorsement of patient-centred and family focused care. Healthism, self-surveillance and individual regulation affect the experience of healthy and ill individuals, their relationships with healthcare professionals, but also public health policies and the monitoring of population health. At the same time, different social trends challenge this dominant discourse. Unfavourable conditions in childhood, socioeconomic inequalities, instability of family ties, increasing requirements in job performance, inequalities in access to health care and growing difficulties associated with ageing limit the ability to lead healthy lives. Furthermore, some individuals deliberately challenge the imperative for health and youth, by refusing medical treatments or disease screening, by adopting risky behaviours, or by criticizing healthsustaining technologies and strategies. The conference aims to address the dominant norm of leading healthy lives (technologies, policies and experiences) and to consider the different resources used to reach ‘health’. Papers addressing theoretical issues or presenting empirical research, both qualitative and quantitative, are welcomed.
15th conference
Topic: Health and Welfare Challenges in Europe: East, West, North and South
Date: 28 to 30 August 2014
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Main organiser: Sakari Karvonen
14th conference
Topic: Health inequalities over the life course
Date: 30 August to 1 September 2012
Location: Hannover, Germany
Main organiser: Siegfried Geyer
13th conference
Topic: Health and Well-Being in Radically Changing Societies
Date: 26 to 28 August 2010
Location: Ghent, Belgium
Contact: Piet Bracke
There has been a significant heightening of the importance of the issues of mental health and wellbeing in Europe and elsewhere. In all advanced economies, mental health conditions are expected in the near future to be the most important determinants of the quality of life of those directly or indirectly involved. To better understand both personal and societal consequences, the 2010 congress of the ESHMS focused on the social and cultural conditions affecting the health and subjective wellbeing of the population in general and of vulnerable minorities more specifically. The present financial and economic crisis; the opportunities and pitfalls of the transition to market economies in former communist countries; changes in the gendered division of care and employment are but some of the relevant societal transformations.
The congress provided a forum for presentation of sociologically informed research and for discussions regarding the social embeddedness of health and subjective wellbeing. from conceptualizing wellbeing or mental health, to exploring related concepts alienation. Other topics within the scope of the conference included also the organization of mental health services; deinstitutionalization and rehabilitation; the stigma of mental illness; the role of therapists in society; and the Western focus on the self as a pillar of mental health and wellbeing.
Editorial:
- Bracke, P., Giarelli, G. Health and well-being in radically changing societies: Introduction to the papers of the ESHMS XIII congress in Ghent, 26–28 August 2010. Soc Theory Health 9, 303–310 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2011.11
12th conference
Topic: Health and Wealth in East and West – Divergence and Convergence in Europe
Date: 28 to 30 August 2008
Location: Oslo, Norway
Main organisers: Terje Eikemo & Espen Dahl
This conference focused on recent social and economic changes affecting health and health care in European countries, with a specific focus on the East/West divide as well as on social disparities within the two parts of Europe.
Editorial:
Dahl, E., Giarelli, G. Health and wealth in East and West: Divergence and convergence in Europe: Introduction to the papers of the ESHMS XII Congress in Oslo, 28–30 August 2008. Soc Theory Health 8, 127–133 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2009.27
11th conference
Topic: European Health: Old and new challenges-Tackling Health Inequalities
Date: 31 August to 1 September 2006
Location: Krakow, Poland
Main organiser: The Department of Medical Sociology of the Jagiellonian University Medical College.
10th conference
Topic: European perspectives on changing health systems
Date: 2-4 September 2004
Location: Bologna, Italia
Main organiser: Guido Giarelli
9th conference
Topic: Health and Society in Europe
Date: 28-31 August 2002
Location: Groningen, The Netherlands
Main organiser: Jitty Jaarsma
8th conference
Date: 2000
Location: York, United Kingdom
7th conference
Date: 1998
Location: Rennes, France
Organiser: Catherine Déchamp-Le Roux
6th conference
Date: 1996
Location: Budapest, Hongary
Organiser: Katalin Kovacs
5th conference
Date: 1994
Location: Vienna, Austria
Organiser: Karl Krajic
4th conference
Date: 1992
Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
3rd conference
Date: September 1990
Location: Marburg, Germany
Organiser: Johannes Siegrist
2nd conference
Date: 1988
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
1st conference
Date: 3 June 1986
Location: Groningen, The Netherlands
Organiser: Wim van den Heuvel
Foundational Congress of ESHMS
Date: 28-29 August 1983
Location: Sterling, United Kingdom