Healthy Society in Medical Delta: lifestyle & prevention

In the coming years, healthcare will face major challenges. To alleviate the burden on the healthcare sector, the importance of prevention and attention to a healthy lifestyle is increasing. This also amplifies the need for research in this area. For example, research into smart technologies that align with people's home environments, and research into reducing the risk of chronic diseases to minimize their economic and social impacts.

These developments come together in the scientific program 'Healthy Society in Medical Delta: Lifestyle & Prevention'. 

Aging, loneliness, and health inequalities are issues that call for a new, integrated approach. There is increasing attention to a broader approach to health, which includes well-being and factors such as living conditions, mental health issues, or stress. The scientific program 'Healthy Society in Medical Delta: Lifestyle & Prevention' aims to improve the health and well-being of all sectors of the population. The program achieves this through interdisciplinary scientific research on disease prevention and health, incorporating citizen participation and personalized and digital health solutions, with a focus on patients with cardiovascular diseases and their families. It also addresses the economic and social impact and promotes public-private partnerships with relevant regional and (inter)national stakeholders. 

The goal of the scientific program 'Healthy Society in Medical Delta: Lifestyle & Prevention' is the development, evaluation, and implementation of human-centered, personalized, and digital health solutions to optimize health and well-being and reduce health disparities. The scientific program focuses not only on behavioral changes of individuals but also on those of their families. The program takes into account the role of the broader environmental context and the economic and social impact. Within the program, various scientific disciplines from different academic institutions collaborate with social partners

Influence of environment on health

Within the scientific program 'Healthy Society in Medical Delta: Lifestyle & Prevention', projects are selected for further research. For people with cardiovascular diseases, lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, increasing physical activity, or adopting a different diet, largely determine the course of the disease. The program aims to investigate how environmental factors can promote these changes. Two projects are being launched within the program, with the following objectives

• To achieve sustainable behavior change among people with cardiovascular diseases and their family members.
• To identify ways in which environmental factors can enhance the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for people with cardiovascular diseases and their family members

In the long term, these projects aim to address several important challenges, such as:

• Contributing to more and happier years of life with a higher quality of life.
• Contributing to the reduction of health inequalities between population groups, with special attention to people with a low socioeconomic position (SEP) and ethnic minorities.
• Increasing focus on prevention, lifestyle, and home care using e-health.
• Creating unique datasets within Healthy Society Living Labs in the neighborhoods of South Holland and connecting these datasets at every level using AI technology

Collaboration

The consortium consists of researchers from Leiden University, LUMC, Health Campus The Hague, TU Delft, Erasmus University, and Erasmus MC