Unhealthy lifestyle behaviours are common among vocational students and increase their risk of non-communicable diseases later in life. Unfortunately, only a limited number of school-based healthy lifestyle interventions have been developed for vocational students. Moreover, there is no evidence that these interventions are effective. They have often been developed by professionals without involving students and therefore may not align with the target group’s perceptions and needs. We used a participatory design approach to develop an intervention to promote healthy physical activity and dietary behaviours, in co-creation with vocational students. ‘Contextmapping’ was used to assess student conscious and subconscious motivation for a healthy lifestyle (n = 27, ages 17-26 years). All sessions and interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analysed using framework analysis. Contextual characteristics that influenced student lives were their peers, family and short-term motives like earning money, being cool and looking good. In addition, they often had a passive attitude towards daily life, were unaware of their health illiteracy and being healthy was a goal for the distant future. These findings led to four design concepts that converged in a peer-led healthy lifestyle intervention that includes a social media campaign and activities to demonstrate and practice specific health behaviours among vocational students.
(‘Co’-)Designing for healthy behaviour greatly benefits from integrating insights about individual behaviour and systemic influences. This study reports our experiences in using insights about individual and systemic determinants of behaviour to inform a large co-design project. To do so, we used two design tools that encourage focusing on individual determinants (Behavioural Lenses Approach) and social / systemic aspects of behaviour (Socionas). We performed a qualitative analysis to identify 1) when and how the team applied the design tools, and 2) how the tools supported or obstructed the design process. The results show that both tools had their distinctive uses during the process. Both tools improved the co-design process by deepening the conversations and underpinnings of the prototypes. Using the Behavioural Lenses under the guidance of a behavioural expert proved most beneficial. Furthermore, the Socionas showed the most potential when interacting with stakeholders, i.c. parents and PPTs.
MULTIFILE
This paper provides insights into the operational features of community-based financing mechanisms. These include CAF groups, which are self-financed communities where people save and lend money to each other. The implementation of such self-financed communities in the Netherlands is supported by Participatory Action Research (PAR). This paper discusses the first results of this research by exploring whether and how participation of group members can improve their well-being with regard to social networks, financial household management and entrepreneurial positioning based on the capability approach of Amartya Sen, a well-known economist. For this PAR, three groups were formed, guided, observed, analysed and compared. This paper demonstrates how solidarity economy processes at the grassroots level can contribute to the general well-being of vulnerable people in the Netherlands. For the particular context of overconsumption, inequality and overindebtedness, Sen’s notion of freedom will be reconsidered and adjusted.
