Living lab M&Gezond encourages a healthy lifestyle

Healthy lifestyle initiatives often attract people who are already active. How do you encourage people who are not active to live a healthy life? In the M&Gezond living lab, students, lecturers, researchers and professionals work together with residents from the district Bargeres in Emmen to create a healthy lifestyle. Project leader and Vitality practitioner at the Alfa-College Silvia Brouwer, Nutrition and Dietetics student Simon van Dalen and community worker Margriet Tapper are involved in M&Gezond.

THE PROJECT LEADER

Living Lab M&Gezond is a project subsidised by ZonMw with the aim of setting up a solid network to encourage residents in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the municipality of Emmen to live healthier lives,' explains project leader Silvia Brouwer. 'We started the project from the Drenthe Gezond innovation workshop, in which local networks share and develop knowledge. We focus not only on physical health, but also on mental well-being, social belonging, purpose in life and being in touch with your environment. In this way you connect sport and exercise with social work. For example, if you think about loneliness, you can let people drink a cup of tea together, but you can also go for a walk together first and then have a cup of tea.'

Fit in Zuid 

Fit in Zuid is one of the initiatives that originated from Living Lab M&Gezond, a one-to-one lifestyle programme for residents of the neighbourhood. Silvia: 'Fit in Zuid is an accessible project for people who want to do something about their health or lifestyle, but don't know quite what. Residents who find the gym too much of a challenge, can follow a ten-week program together with MBO students.

We also encouraged residents to think about their dream for the neighbourhood. These dreams led to the wish for a meeting place and an exercise park. The project has been approved and we have received an extra 25,000 euros to realise it. In the exercise park, we want to carry out activities together with students from Hanze, Drenthe College and NHL Stenden. We then want to translate the concept to other neighbourhoods in Drenthe as well.'

THE STUDENT

In order to be able to include healthy eating into the programme, s student of Nutrition & Dietetics has also joined in. Fourth-year student Simon van Dalen is in the last week of his internship at Fit in Zuid. Simon: 'Sports and Exercise students from Drenthe College guide residents through their Fit in Zuid lifestyle programme. They follow their courses and do internships at the community centre in Bargeres. They advise on exercise, alcohol, smoking, nutrition and relaxation. I supervised the students with their assignments on nutrition. For example, we bought a bicycle together with a woman for whom exercise and nutrition was a great challenge. She hadn't cycled for a very long time. Now she does her shopping by bike and she also goes out on her bike. Then you've achieved something. Not only physically, but also mentally. I look back on my internship with pleasure. I took on challenges, such as motivating and addressing the group of MBO students, and now, at the end of my internship I find that I have become much better at it. I've learnt a lot.'

THE COMMUNITY WORKER

Margriet Tapper is a community worker in Bargeres. 'Together with students, we offer tailor-made solutions to local residents who want to work on their lifestyle. We exchange knowledge and experiences so that we can benefit from them; this way students learn something and community work can be useful. We went into the neighbourhood with students to ask residents what their perception of health is. The students wrote advice for their own assignment and we included this advice in our feedback for the neighbourhood. This way we can inform our social network (neighbourhood associations, police, neighbourhood coaches) about what we signalled and what we are going to do about it.'

A number of local residents came forward during the street survey who wanted to think about initiatives in the neighbourhood for fellow residents. This resulted in a core group of residents, who, together with project leader Silvia Brouwer and a student from the Hanze, drew up a plan and obtained a subsidy. Margriet: 'Now this still has to take shape. We would like to have not only a meeting place and an exercise garden, but we would like to have a meeting place and an exercise garden that are actually used a lot. There are plenty of examples of exercise gardens that are withering away or not used at all. I really hope to avoid that. That is why we are going into the neighbourhood again with MBO students to inform residents, ask what they think and what they need in order to make use of it. If we work together to make it a lively place, people who don't normally play sports or exercise will also use it.'

More about Living Lab M&Gezond (Dutch)