New approach helps people to adopt a healthy lifestyle
With the support of EU funding, the project CREDITS4HEALTH (Credits-based, people-centric approach for the adoption of healthy life-styles and balanced Mediterranean diet in the frame of social participation and innovation for health promotion) created and tested an effective new way for keeping people engaged in healthy lifestyles. Researchers developed a sustainable system for people living in the Mediterranean region that enhances their level of physical activity and encourages them to adopt healthy eating habits. The model was based on a person-centric approach and a range of incentives, and tested in three EU countries (Greece, Spain and Italy), before being extended to the rest of Europe. The system is based on a 3-4-50 model, which underlines how 3 behaviours (poor diet, physical inactivity and tobacco use) contribute to the 4 chronic diseases (cancer, heart disease, strokes and type 2 diabetes) responsible for over 50 % of all deaths worldwide. This novel approach used evidence-based personalised interventions based on users’ existing behaviours and their medical, psychological and social backgrounds. An ICT platform screened users in order to identify their specific needs related to dietary and physical habits, as well as their motivations and possible barriers to achieving a healthier lifestyle. Users can set their own nutritional and physical activity goals, and are provided with evidence-based tools, suggestions and social support for reaching them. A major innovation was the introduction of a reward system based on the performance of users. Depending on the level of compliance with their self-set goals, users can earn credits enabling them to access discounts on a set of health-promoting products and services provided by the project’s industrial partners. CREDITS4HEALTH represents a new radical approach towards health and well-being in which people are actively involved in maintaining and improving their health status. This will enable them to actively contribute to the prevention of chronic diseases and thereby enhance the quality of their lives.
Keywords
Healthy lifestyle, eating habits, smoking, physical exercise, CREDITS4HEALTH, Mediterranean diet