Action in the Delta: Reducing health disparities in Zuid-Holland

People in difficult socio-economic conditions seem almost unreachable for health interventions, say scientists in Zuid-Holland. Yet, they are the ones who need these interventions the most: they live, on average, six years shorter than others. Their living conditions also have an impact on this.

These topics will be discussed on April 8 at the conference Actie in de Delta, a collaboration between Medical Delta, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities, and ZHIA, the Zuid-Hollandse Impact Alliantie.

This article was previously published on the website of Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities.

Medical Delta professor Andrea Evers (Leiden University, TU Delft, Erasmus University), professor Machiel van Dorst (TU Delft), and Medical Delta lector Anneloes van Staa (Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Erasmus University) will also be present. They regularly speak out about how governments and other actors can contribute to reducing health disparities, including in the paper ‘Healthy Society, towards a healthy society for everyone.’

'Financial distress as the cause of a cascade of problems'

Based on practical research in Zuid-Holland cities, Anneloes van Staa advises how to reach the other side of the health gap: "You need to see what the person comes up with themselves and look beyond just the medical aspect. You need to find out: what’s going on in this person’s life? To help with that, we’ve developed a simple visual tool: the Self-management web."

"For example: a person with a kidney transplant and an excessively high weight comes to the clinic. Instead of immediately starting a conversation about weight loss, the nurse specialist presents the form. It turns out that this woman couldn't even pick up her medication at the pharmacy because she didn’t have a bike and couldn’t afford the bus. Financial distress caused, as is often the case, a cascade of problems."

Andrea Evers, professor of Healthy Society at Leiden University, advocates for a broad view of what health is and which interventions can help reduce health disparities. This is often a socio-economic issue, much more than just a medical one: "It is important to address a wide range of societal aspects of health, from debt relief and living conditions to care for vulnerable groups and insights into behavior change and prevention."

'The most important environment is your fellow human being'

Designing living environments is also important for public health. How people live and how neighborhoods are architecturally designed affects health. This is evident in the garden villages of the past, designed for factory workers, as well as the post-war neighborhoods with green spaces and room for children to play safely, all of which reflect a vision of health.

Machiel van Dorst, professor of Environmental Behavior and Design at TU Delft, says: "The most important environment is your fellow human being. Social interaction promotes mental health. The built environment can either encourage or hinder social interaction. Front gardens, for example, help: if you sit in them or weed the garden, you meet your neighbors. A row of cars in front of the houses, on the other hand, does not help."

Join the conversation with us about a healthy Zuid-Holland!

Meet Andrea Evers, Anneloes van Staa, Machiel van Dorst, and many others in the field of health and science on April 8, 2025, at the Actie in de Delta conference in the Aula of TU Delft. You are most welcome!