Samenvatting

This research was initiated due to a rising pressure on the Dutch healthcare system. A multitude of developments such as the growing number of people with chronic diseases, the growing aging population and the gap between the need for care and the ability to provide for it, has created a need to re-construct the healthcare system with the goal to keep healthcare affordable and accessible for everyone living in the Netherlands. The Foundation Goedleven wants to contribute to this goal and invented the Gezondheidswaaier, an instrument to assess one’s health, based on the concept of positive health, and consequently improve their health through interventions on the following three levels: information, E-health, and face-to-face. To increase the success of people using the Gezondheidswaaier, Goedleven wants to integrate the needs and wishes of its users into the design. Goedleven is a cooperation between many different organisations which have their own networks and connections with other public and private companies and municipalities. The instrument is therefore easiest to implement with organisations that are already involved in the process or participate in the network of these organisations. Since the workplace operates as a social network, it is an ideal place to promote a healthy lifestyle and create a supportive environment for the employee to self-manage health (Global Wellness Institute, 2016). Since it is too comprehensive to focus on all three groups within one research, this research therefore focusses on employees. The research question was: “What are the wishes of employees working or living in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen regarding the implementation of the Gezondheidswaaier as an instrument to work towards health?” The research was executed at Bodyline healthcenter, one of the partners of Goedleven in the project of the Gezondheidswaaier. The research involved a ten-week pilot with eleven members of Bodyline healthcenter, that contained a self-assessment, setting and reaching goals and giving weekly feedback about the progress. These activities simulated the idea behind the Gezondheidswaaier; getting people to independently work towards better health. The project was concluded with a second self-assessment and semi-structured interviews to collect the needs and wishes regarding the implementation of the Gezondheidswaaier. The results of the interviews showed that the self-assessment part gave a clear reflection of one’s own health and awareness of one’s own situation. Furthermore, the dimensions used to assess health were experienced as complete, but also overlapping and interconnected. The levels used for choosing interventions to improve health were experienced as hierarchal. The dimensions and levels should therefore be less static, more integrative and flexible to different circumstances. The instrument was valuable, yet personal support was a big prerequisite for the users, preferably in person instead of online, and from a reliable source. The instrument alone appeared insufficient to support the user on the element of increasing motivation and diminishing impediments to work towards health. Lastly, the role of the employer and the level of privacy regarding the implementation of the Gezondheidswaaier was not clear, while sincere engagement of the employer was important to the employee. It was concluded that changes in design of the instrument can be made, from static to flexible and integrative, to better tailor to the needs and wishes of the user. Furthermore, the findings of this research portray the important factor of personal support, that is either necessary in the form of an online coach when using the instrument online, or using the instrument in combination with an intervention programme that includes face-to-face support from a professional coach.