Scaling up successful health innovations: five projects receive funding from the Healthy Society Program

The Healthy Society Program selected five scaling projects for a special acceleration grant. With these awards, successful health initiatives are given the opportunity to be rolled out more broadly across the South Holland region.

The Healthy Society Program, a collaboration between Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities, Medical Delta, and the Province of South Holland, is awarding funding to five project consortia. These consortia consist of a strong mix of academic partners (universities and universities of applied sciences) and societal partners such as municipalities, healthcare institutions, and companies.

The five funded scaling projects focus on improving health within people’s own living and working environments. They range from group consultations about health in neighborhoods, healthier workplace lunches, and remote video care, to early support for young people in youth mental healthcare and improving blood pressure through a proven approach.

The importance of scaling

Good health initiatives often remain limited to a single neighborhood or hospital. The goal of this acceleration funding is to break that pattern. By scaling proven methods, technologies (such as Virtual Reality), or social approaches, more residents can benefit from innovations without each municipality having to “reinvent the wheel.” The selected consortia will use the funding to adapt their interventions for broader target groups and/or implement them in new regions.

Scaling is essential to relieve the growing pressure on healthcare systems and to reduce health inequalities. When a project proves effective in practice, scaling ensures that its impact grows from a local to a regional (and ultimately national) level.

“We want to make proven successful innovations available to as many people as possible at an accelerated pace,” said prof. dr. Marieke Adriaanse, strategic representative of the Healthy Society Program. “Sharing successful innovations accelerates the transition toward a healthier society.”

Funded projects

After careful consideration, the Healthy Society Program selected the following five projects for funding. Over the next two years, these projects will work on scaling proven health interventions in South Holland.

• From success to continuation: structural deployment of key community figures for broader reach
  Scaling up group consultations - where residents work together with healthcare professionals on their health - to more neighborhoods in The Hague, by training local residents as facilitators and improving monitoring of results.
  In collaboration with Health Campus The Hague, Gezondheid voor Iedereen, community center Stichting de Mussen, REOS, GGD Haaglanden, Hadoks, and the Municipality of The Hague

• Scaling StartKracht: recovery-oriented use of waiting times in youth mental healthcare
  StartKracht supports young people waiting for youth mental healthcare services. Instead of passively waiting, they receive early conversations that help them actively address their situation.
  In collaboration with GGZ Delfland and Leiden University

• Vertical scaling of the Blood Pressure Challenge to the Combined Lifestyle Intervention (GLI), with long-term evidence
  The Blood Pressure Challenge has proven effective in the short term, but scaling it nationally through the formal healthcare system requires evidence of long-term effectiveness. This project will generate that evidence.
  In collaboration with Health Coach Program BV, Leiden University of Applied Sciences, and Erasmus MC

• A new lunch culture
  Making workplace lunches healthier—not by telling employees what to eat, but by improving the canteen environment itself, with more vegetables and a pleasant atmosphere. Special attention is given to physically demanding sectors such as ports and logistics.
  In collaboration with Greenport West-Holland, GroentenFruit Huis, the Province of South Holland, and The Hague University of Applied Sciences

• Support, guidance and care at a distance: digital video care
  Healthcare provider Pieter van Foreest will expand video care—remote care via screen—to two new areas: day care for people with memory or physical problems, and at-home rehabilitation after hospital discharge. This allows clients to receive care more often in their own familiar environment.
  In collaboration with Pieter van Foreest, CareScreen BV, and Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.
  
  

Bridging science, policy, and practice

Earlier this year, project leaders from knowledge institutions, companies, and societal partners presented 34 innovative project ideas during a pitch event, all aimed at creating a healthy living environment and vital communities. From these submissions, ten projects were selected for further development. The steering committee of the Healthy Society Program held several in-depth meetings to assess the proposals, as the overall quality was very high. Each idea offered a relevant solution to the complex challenges facing the region. This careful evaluation resulted in the selection of impactful initiatives that can genuinely contribute to a healthier and more vital South Holland.

With these grants, the Healthy Society Program aims to strengthen collaboration by building bridges between science, policy, and practice. It also seeks to increase societal impact by translating scientific insights more quickly into tangible improvements for residents. Finally, the program aims to ensure sustainability, embedding innovations structurally within the regional infrastructure of South Holland.

About the Healthy Society Program

The Healthy Society Program is a transdisciplinary initiative—developed in collaboration with the Province of South Holland, Medical Delta, and the LDE Universities—that is committed to building a resilient society in which all citizens can be as mentally, physically, and socially healthy as possible. The program’s goal is to improve health and well-being across all segments of the population and to reduce health inequalities. It does so by bringing together scientific research, education, and practice-oriented innovation, with a focus on living environments, personalized care, and prevention.

Also see the Healthy Society Program website (in Dutch)