BACKGROUND: Asset-based approaches have become popular in public health. As yet it is not known to what extent health and welfare professionals are able to identify and mobilise individual and community health assets. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand professional's perceptions of health and health assets.METHODS: In a low-SES neighbourhood, 21 health and welfare professionals were interviewed about their definition of health and their perceptions of the residents' health status, assets available in the neighbourhood's environment, and the way residents use these assets. A Nominal Group Technique (NGT) session was conducted for member check. Verbatim transcripts of the semi-structured interviews were coded and analysed using Atlas.ti.RESULTS: The professionals used a broad health concept, emphasizing the social dimension of health as most important. They discussed the poor health of residents, mentioning multiple health problems and unmet health needs. They provided many examples of behaviour that they considered unhealthy, in particular unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. Professionals considered the green physical environment, as well as health and social services, including their own services, as important health enhancing factors, whereas social and economic factors were considered as major barriers for good health. Poor housing and litter in public space were considered as barriers as well. According to the professionals, residents underutilized neighbourhood health assets. They emphasised the impact of poverty on the residents and their health. Moreover, they felt that residents were lacking individual capabilities to lead a healthy life. Although committed to the wellbeing of the residents, some professionals seemed almost discouraged by the (perceived) situation. They looked for practical solutions by developing group-based approaches and supporting residents' self-organisation.CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows, firstly, that professionals in the priority district Slotermeer rated the health of the residents as poor and their health behaviour as inadequate. They considered poverty and lack of education as important causes of this situation. Secondly, the professionals tended to talk about barriers in the neighbourhood rather than about neighbourhood health assets. As such, it seems challenging to implement asset-based approaches. However, the professionals, based on their own experiences, did perceive the development of collective approaches as a promising direction for future community health development.
In recent years, both scientists and the general population gained awareness of the deep entanglement between finances, health, and well-being. People cannot be reduced to a set of problems to be tackled independently, thinking that somehow these solutions add up to solve the problem as a whole.4 Researchers pay increasing attention to how problems are related, and many lessons have been learned over time. Policy-makers and practitioners who understand the complex relationship between financial, physical, and mental well-being find themselves in the unique position to use these insights in how they design their programs. This paper provides an overview of academic and grey literature and the lessons we can learn from these studies.
Our valuable memories (photos, videos) and papers have been transferred from our private property to "the cloud". However, there are several major objections to decentralized (in the cloud) data storage: 1. Decreasing (human) diversity and 2. Promoting anti-sustainable boundlessness. It is argued that our “being in the cloud” does not only lead to psychological and social poverty; it also threatens our planet and survival as a species.
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