Introduction: Self-management is considered a potential answer to the increasing demand for family medicine by people suffering from a chronic condition or multi-morbidity. A key element of self-management is goal setting. Goal setting is often defined as a moment of agreement between a professional and a patient. In the self-management literature, however, goal setting is regarded as a circular process. Still, it is unclear how professionals working in family medicine can put it into practice. This background paper aims to contribute to the understanding of goal setting within self-management and to identify elements that need further development for practical use. Debate: Four questions for debate emerge in this article: (1) What are self-management goals? (2) What is necessary to accomplish the process of goal setting within self-management? (3) How can professionals decide on the degree of support needed for goal setting within self-management? (4) How can patients set their goals and how can they be supported? Implications: Self-management goals can be set for different (life) domains. Using a holistic framework will help in creating an overview of patients’ goals that do not merely focus on medical issues. It is a challenge for professionals to coach their patients to think about and set their goals themselves. More insight in patients’ willingness and ability to set self-management goals is desirable. Moreover, as goal setting is a circular process, professionals need to be supported to go through this process with their patients.
Background: Although research on children's motor competence is a growing field of interest, especially among young children (4-6 years), several questions remain to be answered. Differences in children’s motor competence and their determinants, must be made transparent since early childhood is a critical period for the development of fundamental movement skills, and thereby a lifelong active lifestyle and health. Objective: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine differences in actual motor competence (AMC), perceived motor competence (PMC) and enjoyment of physical activity among young children with different weight status. Methods: AMC, PMC and enjoyment were measured among 1708 children (50.4% male, mean age: 5.34 ± 0.73 years) from 36 primary schools in The Netherlands. AMC was measured by using the Athletic Skills Track (AST-1). The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Children was used for determining PMC and enjoyment of physical activity was measured using a Visual Analogue Scale. The data were analyzed using a three-way ANOVA to examine the differences between AMC, PMC and enjoyment by sex (boys/girls), age (4, 5, 6 years) and weight status (normal, overweight, obesity). Results: Overall, AMC was ranked as ‘average motor gifted’. Average PMC and enjoyment scores were 3.31 (SE 0.01) (1-4 scale) and 4.41 (SE 0.02) (1-5 scale) respectively. No interaction effects were found between sex, age and weight status on AMC or PMC. However, there was a statistically significant two-way interaction effect for enjoyment between age and weight status (F (4,1454) =2.464, p =.043). Relative enjoyment scores for normal weight and overweight groups between high and low enjoyment were distributed 99% to 1%. However, in the obese group there was a distribution of 92% to 8% between high and low enjoyment. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that there are no significant differences in AMC and PMC between children of different sex, ages (4, 5 and 6 years), and weight status in this age group. However, children with obesity more often experience less enjoyment during physical activity than children with another weight status. Targeted intervention for increasing enjoyment during physical activity in combination with reducing obesity seems advisable even at young age.
Objective: Gaining too much or too little weight in pregnancy (according to Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines) negatively affects both mother and child, but many women find it difficult to manage their gestational weight gain (GWG). Here we describe the use of the intervention mapping protocol to design ‘Come On!’, an intervention to promote adequate GWG among healthy pregnant women. Design: We used the six steps of intervention mapping: (i) needs assessment; (ii) formulation of change objectives; (iii) selection of theory-based methods and practical strategies; (iv) development of the intervention programme; (v) development of an adoption and implementation plan; and (vi) development of an evaluation plan. A consortium of users and related professionals guided the process of development. Results: As a result of the needs assessment, two goals for the intervention were formulated: (i) helping healthy pregnant women to stay within the IOM guidelines for GWG; and (ii) getting midwives to adequately support the efforts of healthy pregnant women to gain weight within the IOM guidelines. To reach these goals, change objectives and determinants influencing the change objectives were formulated. Theories used were the Transtheoretical Model, Social Cognitive Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Practical strategies to use the theories were the foundation for the development of ‘Come On!’, a comprehensive programme that included a tailored Internet programme for pregnant women, training for midwives, an information card for midwives, and a scheduled discussion between the midwife and the pregnant woman during pregnancy. The programme was pre-tested and evaluated in an effect study.
MULTIFILE
Sea Lettuce, Ulva spp. is a versatile and edible green seaweed. Ulva spp is high in protein, carbohydrates and lipids (respectively 7%-33%; 33%-62% and 1%-3% on dry weight base [1, 2]) but variation in these components is high. Ulva has the potential to produce up to 45 tons DM/ha/year but 15 tons DM/ha/year is more realistic.[3, 4] This makes Ulva a possible valuable resource for food and other applications. Sea Lettuce is either harvested wild or cultivated in onshore land based aquaculture systems. Ulva onshore aquaculture is at present implemented only on a few locations in Europe on commercial scale because of limited knowledge about Ulva biology and its optimal cultivation systems but also because of its unfamiliarity to businesses and consumers. The objective of this project is to improve Ulva onshore aquaculture by selecting Ulva seed material, optimizing growth and biomass production by applying ecophysiological strategies for nutrient, temperature, microbiome and light management, by optimizing pond systems eg. attached versus free floating production and eventually protoype product development for feed, food and cosmetics.
The postdoc candidate, Sondos Saad, will strengthen connections between research groups Asset Management(AM), Data Science(DS) and Civil Engineering bachelor programme(CE) of HZ. The proposed research aims at deepening the knowledge about the complex multidisciplinary performance deterioration prediction of turbomachinery to optimize cleaning costs, decrease failure risk and promote the efficient use of water &energy resources. It targets the key challenges faced by industries, oil &gas refineries, utility companies in the adoption of circular maintenance. The study of AM is already part of CE curriculum, but the ambition of this postdoc is that also AM principles are applied and visible. Therefore, from the first year of the programme, the postdoc will develop an AM material science line and will facilitate applied research experiences for students, in collaboration with engineering companies, operation &maintenance contractors and governmental bodies. Consequently, a new generation of efficient sustainability sensitive civil engineers could be trained, as the labour market requires. The subject is broad and relevant for the future of our built environment being more sustainable with less CO2 footprint, with possible connections with other fields of study, such as Engineering, Economics &Chemistry. The project is also strongly contributing to the goals of the National Science Agenda(NWA), in themes of “Circulaire economie en grondstoffenefficiëntie”,”Meten en detecteren: altijd, alles en overall” &”Smart Industry”. The final products will be a framework for data-driven AM to determine and quantify key parameters of degradation in performance for predictive AM strategies, for the application as a diagnostic decision-support toolbox for optimizing cleaning &maintenance; a portfolio of applications &examples; and a new continuous learning line about AM within CE curriculum. The postdoc will be mentored and supervised by the Lector of AM research group and by the study programme coordinator(SPC). The personnel policy and job function series of HZ facilitates the development opportunity.
