Programme 1st Healthwise Lustrum Conference - Man Made Blue Zones: Healthy Ageing Together
Centre of Expertise Healthwise, part of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Groningen, celebrated her fifth birthday with the 1st Healthwise Lustrum Conference. We organised this conference in close cooperation with Healthy Aging Network Northern Netherlands (HANNN), Rabobank, Municipality of Groningen, Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health and SOM Research Institute.
Man Made Blue Zones
The program was dedicated to the so-called Man Made Blue Zones. Blue Zones are defined areas in various places in the world, where people live longer and healthier. Demographer Michel Poulain, keynote speaker at our conference, discovered these Blue Zones. He explained how it is possible that people in Blue Zones stay healthy well into old age and shared what we can learn from them when it comes to changing and improving the lifestyle of individuals.
Success factors for healthy ageing
Scientific research has shown that there are five success factors in the Blue Zones: physical activity, healthy diets, social engagement, life purpose and healthy living environment. During our conference, scientists shared the latest findings on how these factors contribute to healthy ageing. In addition, policymakers talked about how they translate this into policy, and entrepreneurs shared their practical experiences.
Step-by-step plan for a Man Made Blue Zone
Is the development of a Man Made Blue Zone feasible? During the conference, keynote speaker Prof. Dr. Koert van Ittersum presented a step-by-step plan for the realisation of a Man Made Blue Zone, which he developed especially for this conference.
> View the PowerPoint-presentaties of the speakers
> View the photos of the lustrum conference
> View the video of the lustrum conference
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9:00 |
Registration, coffee & tea |
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9:30 |
Welcome (host Anne Peetoom) |
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9:45 |
Keynote 1: Man Made Blue Zone? Demographer Michel Poulain has done extensive research in the Blue Zones. He will share his experiences and insights during his presentation. |
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10:30 |
Reflection: How did the situation in Northern Netherlands arise? Jan Dirk Gardenier will discuss how the Northern Netherlands has developed itself, from a socio-economic and socio-cultural perspective. What is the Northern Netherlands, who lives there? How are they doing? And how did this situation arise? Gardener sees health mainly as an (unintended) effect of people's lives and their social and physical environment. |
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11:00 |
Break |
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11:15 |
Short reflections
a. Physical activity People have the right to live in a rich landscape of opportunities for physically active behavior given their individual capabilities and preferences. To accomplish this, a multidisciplinary approach, technological innovations and big data are needed. Koen Lemmink will discuss his view on a holistic approach on physical activity that is needed to counter the physical inactivity epidemic.
b. Healthy diets Gerjan Navis offers a multidisciplinary view on lifestyle and healthy diets. By combining the strengths of public health (prevention) and curative care (measuring), we can create tailor-made lifestyle improvements.
c. Social engagement
WeHelpen started from the realisation that our welfare state is being designed in a fundamentally different way. The website wehelpen.nl focuses on reciprocity: everyone can be of value to someone else and can help someone else in advice or deed. More than 135 organizations are affiliated with the WeHelpen cooperative. Together they make wehelpen.nl available to society and share ownership, knowledge and costs.
d. Life purpose
The gas extraction and earthquakes have been a big issue in the province of Groningen, especially in the North-East. Katherine Stroebe offers a social-psychological perspective on the consequences it has for the people living in this area, in which she will also discuss the individual and community level resilience.
e. Healthy living environment
Living conditions have a huge impact on public health. Air quality and air pollution, housing, the indoor climate of office buildings, transport; a large part of our living conditions is literally designed by man. Cor Wagenaar will explain how architecture and urban planning have always played a major role in promoting public health. |
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12:30 |
Lunch |
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13:30 |
Workshops: Man Made Blue Zone! | Public policy angle: bringing science and practice together
Session 1: Physical activity
In this workshop various examples of landscapes with rich physical activities are presented and discussed with the audience. For example, office environments where employees have the opportunity to work in different standing, sitting and lying positions. Or medical centers where physical exercise and physical activity are integrated into the patient's treatments. Rob Withagen will talk about creating rich playgrounds (e.g., the stepping stones at the Martinikerkhof in Groningen).
Session 2: Healthy die ts
How do we eat, what should we eat, and where do we eat what? In this workshop we will talk about the importance of a healthy diet, discuss the role of context with respect to dietary behavior, and will guide you through the history, current use and innovative possibilities of spatial analysis. Spatial analysis is a useful tool to examine the role of “place” as a contextual factor for empirical support of public health interventions. Insight in region specific needs may potentially better inform (local) policy makers on targeting populations most in need for interventions. Such region specific interventions may potentially aid the effectiveness of and compliance to dietary recommendation as dietary change may be more readily achieved when recommended foods are compatible with existing patterns of food consumption.
Session 3: Social engagement
How can you strengthen social engagement and prevent informal caregivers to become overloaded? Katy van Hasselt discusses the way in which the UMCG uses the tool WeHelpen.nl to reach these goals. UMCG stimulates and guides patients and informal carers in setting up a social assistance network.
Session 4: Life purpose
This session brings together science and policy in the context of the gas extraction and earthquakes in the North-East of the province of Groningen. What are important developments for both science and policy in relation to the gas extraction? What can scientists and policy makers learn from one another? What sort of policy is needed to guarantee a healthy and resilient future for the region?
Session 5a: Healthy living environment (health inequalities)
The workshop "Sunny Selwerd: healthy aging and neighbourhood improvement in the city of Groningen" is about a new form of neighbourhood development in the Groningen district Selwerd, in which improving the health and well-being of the inhabitants is the starting point for the social and physical development of the neighbourhood. In this workshop, the Healthy City Strategy of the municipality will be explained, and we show which initiatives have been developed in recent years. In addition, we will present a first set of indicators which will be used to monitor the effects of this integral approach to increase the well-being of the residents. A PhD student affiliated with the Centre of Expertise Healthwise (UG) will study the healthy aging neighbourhood approach, for which a subsidy was granted by ZonMw.
Session 5b: Healthy living environment (the built environment)
Architecture and urban planning have always played a major role in promoting public health. How can our living environment add immediate value when it comes to quality of life? How can care buildings contribute to better affordability and accessibility of healthcare? |
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14:30 |
Break |
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14:45 |
Keynote 2 - Man Made Blue Zone: A Marketing Angle
Creating an area in which all people grow old happily and healthy, or a Man Made Blue Zone, speaks to the imagination. However, the specific steps that must be taken to realise such an area are often unclear. Prof. dr. Dr Koert van Ittersum will therefore share a step-by-step plan for the realisation of Man Made Blue Zones. > Read more |
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15:30 |
Reflection: Local reflection on what can be done
How can we implement the roadmap to Man Made Blue Zones locally? Mattias Gijsbertsen will focus on region-specific challenges and factors for policymakers in improving lifestyles. |
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16:00 |
Plenary discussion: Man Made Blue Zone - Effective?
How can we measure Man Made Blue Zones? Is the realisation of a Man Made Blue Zone even feasible? How effective is it in improving lifestyles and how can we measure this? |
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16:45 |
Closing |
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17:00
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Drinks
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This conference was organised in collaboration with Healthy Ageing Network Northern Netherlands (HANNN), Rabobank, Gemeente Groningen, SOM, and the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health .
This conference was accredited with 6 points by ABAN (Accreditatie Bureau Algemene Nascholing), 6 points by Verpleegkundig Specialisten Register and 6 points by Kwaliteitsregister V&V.
| Last modified: | 13 February 2024 11.13 a.m. |