Photovoicing the neighbourhood: Understanding the situated meaning of intangible places for ageing-in-place.

Ageing-in-place is considered important for the health of older adults. In this paper, inspired by a constructivist approach to ageing-in-place, we unravel professionals' and older adults' constructions of ageing-in-place. Their perspectives are studied in relation to a policy that aims to develop so-called 'lifecycle-robust neighbourhoods' in the southern part of the Netherlands.

Obstacles and Enablers on the Way towards Integrated Physical Activity Policies for Childhood Obesity Prevention: An Exploration of Local Policy Officials' Views.

. Limited physical activity (PA) is a risk factor for childhood obesity. In Netherlands, as in many other countries worldwide, local policy officials bear responsibility for integrated PA policies, involving both health and nonhealth domains.

The Healthy Primary School of the Future: study protocol of a quasi-experimental study.

Background: Unhealthy lifestyles in early childhood are a major global health challenge. These lifestyles often persist from generation to generation and contribute to a vicious cycle of health-related and social problems. This design article presents a study evaluating the effects of two novel healthy school interventions.

Schools as smoke-free zones? Barriers and facilitators to the adoption of outdoor school ground smoking bans at secondary schools.

Background: Whereas smoking bans inside secondary school buildings are relatively widespread, a smoking ban for the outdoor school grounds is less common. Therefore, this study investigates why many secondary schools fail to adopt an outdoor school ground smoking ban. The aim is to elucidate the perceived barriers and facilitators of stakeholders at schools without an outdoor school ground smoking ban.

Characteristics of child health care practitioners in overweight prevention of children.

Objectives: To identify behavioral and personal characteristics of child health care (CHC) practitioners that influences the effect of early overweight prevention in children.

Methods: In total 216 questionnaires were filled out by CHC practitioners from four organizations in the Netherlands.

Results: There is a gap between awareness of the problem overweight in early childhood and actually discussing this with parents, as well as a gap between the existing recommendations and the perceived importance of early overweight prevention.

Conflicting notions of citizenship in old age: An analysis of an activation practice.

Ageing societies and increasing healthcare expenditures are inducing Western welfare states to reform their care arrangements. In a qualitative research project, we explored how citizenship in old age is constructed in a public innovative care practice situated in the southern part of the Netherlands: the shaping of 'life cycle robust neighbourhoods'. Life cycle robustness entails a further not formally defined ideal of age-friendly places, enabling older adults to live independently for longer periods of time.

Neighborhood Environment is Associated with Overweight and Obesity, Particularly in Older Residents: Results from Cross-Sectional Study in Dutch Municipality.

We explored whether overweight and obesity were associated with the physical and social environment at neighborhood level. Data from Maastricht municipality survey (The Netherlands) were used (n = 9771 adults). Multinomial regression models were computed (outcome being normal weight, overweight, or obese).

Perspectives of Fijian Policymakers on the Obesity Prevention Policy Landscape.

In Fiji and other Pacific Island countries, obesity has rapidly increased in the past decade. Therefore, several obesity prevention policies have been developed. Studies show that their development has been hampered by factors within Fiji's policy landscape such as pressure from industry.

The context dependency of the self-report version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): a cross-sectional study between two administration settings.

Background: The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a screening instrument for psychosocial problems in children and adolescents, which is applied in "individual" and "collective" settings. Assessment in the individual setting is confidential for clinical applications, such as preventive child healthcare, while assessment in the collective setting is anonymous and applied in (epidemiological) research. Due to administration differences between the settings it remains unclear whether results and conclusions actually can be used interchangeably.

Detected health and well-being problems following comprehensive geriatric assessment during a home visit among community-dwelling older people: who benefits most?

Background: Preventive home visits including comprehensive geriatric assessment for potentially frail older people are increasingly implemented in general practice. It remains unclear how to select older people who benefit most from it.

Objectives: To determine which community-dwelling older people benefit most from a comprehensive geriatric assessment by a practice nurse during a home visit in terms of detected problems.

Towards health in all policies for childhood obesity prevention.

The childhood obesity epidemic can be best tackled by means of an integrated approach, which is enabled by integrated public health policies, or Health in All Policies. Integrated policies are developed through intersectoral collaboration between local government policy makers from health and nonhealth sectors. Such intersectoral collaboration has been proved to be difficult.

'Are we there yet?' - operationalizing the concept of Integrated Public Health Policies.

Objectives: Although 'integrated' public health policies are assumed to be the ideal way to optimize public health, it remains hard to determine how far removed we are from this ideal, since clear operational criteria and defining characteristics are lacking.

Methods: A literature review identified gaps in previous operationalizations of integrated public health policies. We searched for an approach that could fill these gaps.

Training program for overweight prevention in the child's first year: compilation and results.

The current local overweight-prevention protocols are not applied as intended by Dutch child healthcare physicians and nurses. The development of a training program for these practitioners, based on the Intervention Mapping framework, with the aim of improving overweight-prevention in a child's first year, is described in this study. The needs assessment showed three program objectives to be relevant, namely improving: (i) awareness of the importance of early overweight-prevention; (ii) the competence to discuss (the risk of) overweight with parents; and (iii) working systematically according to the overweight-prevention protocol.

Academic Collaborative Centre Limburg: a platform for knowledge transfer and exchange in public health policy, research and practice?

Research findings often fail to find their way into policy and practice, which is assumed to limit the effectiveness of public health policies and programmes. We evaluated to what extent the Academic Collaborative Centre Limburg (ACCL), a Dutch boundary organization linking policy, research and practice, has improved knowledge transfer and exchange between the three domains. We used a mixed-methods approach.

Proposing a conceptual framework for integrated local public health policy, applied to childhood obesity--the behavior change ball.

Background: Childhood obesity is a 'wicked' public health problem that is best tackled by an integrated approach, which is enabled by integrated public health policies. The development and implementation of such policies have in practice proven to be difficult, however, and studying why this is the case requires a tool that may assist local policy-makers and those assisting them. A comprehensive framework that can help to identify options for improvement and to systematically develop solutions may be used to support local policy-makers.

A masterclass to teach public health professionals to conduct practice-based research to promote evidence-based practice: a case study from The Netherlands.

Introduction: Public health professionals have a pivotal position in efforts to obtain more practice-based evidence about what people need and what works in real circumstances. Close collaboration with researchers should enable public health professionals to design and conduct research in practical settings to address today's complex public health problems and increase the external validity of results. This requires expanding the research competencies of public health professionals.

Working at the nexus between public health policy, practice and research. Dynamics of knowledge sharing in The Netherlands.

Background: Joining the domains of practice, research and policy is an important aspect of boosting the quality performance required to tackle complex public health problems. "Joining domains" implies a departure from the linear and technocratic knowledge-translation approach. Integrating the practice, research and policy triangle means knowing its elements, appreciating the barriers, identifying possible cooperation strategies and studying strategy effectiveness under specified conditions.

Interventions to promote an integrated approach to public health problems: an application to childhood obesity.

Experts stress the need to bring the childhood obesity epidemic under control by means of an integrated approach. The implementation of such an approach requires the development of integrated enabling policies on public health by local governments. A prerequisite for developing such integrated public health policies is intersectoral collaboration.

Health Beliefs regarding Dietary Behavior and Physical Activity of Surinamese Immigrants of Indian Descent in The Netherlands: A Qualitative Study.

This study explored the health beliefs about eating habits and physical activity (PA) of Surinamese immigrants of Indian (Hindustani) descent to examine how health education messages to prevent obesity can be made more culturally sensitive. Indians are known for their increasing obesity incidence and are highly vulnerable for obesity-related consequences such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Therefore they might benefit from culturally sensitive health education messages that stimulate healthy eating habits and increase PA levels.