Practice education (PrO) students are facing many challenges in adopting a healthy lifestyle. Innovative health technologies could help, but only if they match the needs, wishes, and daily life of those students. Therefore, this research project will take on a participatory approach in which PrO students, parents, teachers and experts work together on the development and implementation of innovative health technology.
Learning disabilities, low (health) literacy, behavioural problems, and growing up in a low socio-economic environment increase the challenges that practice education (PrO) students (12-18 yrs, IQ: 50-80) face in adopting a healthy lifestyle. Medical devices, like health apps that combine physical data tracking technology with gamification and personalised feedback, hold great potential for health improvement in this group. Yet, knowledge on how to effectively design and apply this technology for and with low literate teenagers is currently lacking. In this project experts from the behavioural, nutritional, and technical sciences will join forces to deliver, together with partners in the field, innovative health technology tailored to the PrO context.
Living labs
Four living labs will be established, centred around four PrO schools, in which the research activities with and for PrO students, along with teachers, caretakers, designers, policy makers, and researchers, will take place.
The main research question is: How to promote, in a participatory way, sustainable healthy living in PrO students with the use of accessible, acceptable and engaging technology? This will be answered with qualitative and quantitative methods and will result in highly needed knowledge and tools that can bring a substantial societal impact (i.e., improved physical and mental health, more efficient use of healthcare resources).
Consortium
To enable co-creation of technological innovation, knowledge, social and industrial partners pull together. The core academic partners consist of a multidisciplinary research team from the Institute 4 Preventive Health (I4PH), part of the EWUU alliance (Eindhoven Technical University, Wageningen University & Research, Utrecht University and Utrecht University Medical Centre). They contribute knowledge on participatory research, behaviour, nutrition and technologies.
Societal and industrial partners bring practical experience and technical expertise. Involved include four practical schools, the Sectorraad praktijkonderwijs, Stichting Special Heroes Nederland, NOC*NSF, Kenniscentrum Sport & Bewegen, InnoSportLab Sport & Beweeg, Trimbos Institute, Voedingscentrum, Aptus, Dutch Rose Media BV, GGD Gelderland Zuid and GGD regio Utrecht.