De Welbevinder: finding the right path to wellbeing and healthy living
What if someone is not feeling well, but does not know exactly where their question belongs? Is it stress, loneliness, lifestyle, financial worries, fatigue, or something else? And what if support already exists nearby, but residents and professionals do not know how to find it?
In the Netherlands, there is a wide range of support available in healthcare, wellbeing and healthy living. But because there is so much on offer, it can also be difficult to navigate. De Welbevinder helps people and professionals find their way more quickly to relevant support in their local area.
For the Convergence Health & Technology Flagship ALIVE, De Welbevinder is a valuable example from practice. It connects to one of the Flagship’s central questions: how can support for wellbeing and healthy living be better aligned with what someone needs, where they live, and what is available locally?
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Not a new front door, but a smart connector
De Welbevinder is a broad regional initiative by Zorggroep Het Huisartsenteam and the municipalities of Etten-Leur and Zundert, in collaboration with partners including Surplus and the Department of General Practice at Erasmus MC.
The tool is designed as a starting point for questions about wellbeing and healthy living. Through www.dewelbevinder.nl residents can have a conversation with a smart digital guide. By asking targeted questions, De Welbevinder helps clarify what may be going on and what kind of support could be helpful. De Welbevinder does not provide medical advice. Instead, it guides users towards existing local services, activities and support options.
For people who prefer to speak to someone in person, personal contact remains important. That is why De Welbevinder combines digital support with local professionals and existing structures in the region: digital where possible, personal where needed.
From uncertainty to the right support
Many questions that come up in general practice, municipal services or wellbeing organisations do not fit neatly into one category. They often involve a mix of health and wellbeing, lifestyle and daily functioning, or practical worries and mental strain.
De Welbevinder helps explore these questions and points users towards support that fits their situation. For residents, this can mean finding help, activities, information or self-help options more quickly. For professionals, it can provide a clearer overview of what is available locally and help them guide residents more effectively.
De Welbevinder shows that improving support for wellbeing and healthy living is not only about developing new services. It is also about better connecting what already exists, so that people and professionals can find the right support more easily.
Learning and developing in Etten-Leur and Zundert
De Welbevinder is currently being used in the municipalities of Etten-Leur and Zundert. In these communities, the tool is being brought to the attention of residents and professionals through local communication, meetings and materials in places where questions often arise, such as general practices, libraries and municipal locations.
The first signs of use are encouraging. Recent project updates show that visitors spend an average of 7 minutes and 24 seconds on the website. This suggests that people are not only clicking on the tool, but are also actively using it to explore their question further.
De Welbevinder continues to be developed based on use and feedback. For example, 38 self-help modules have now been added, covering topics such as healthier living, loneliness and relaxation. When a module matches a user’s question, it can be shown alongside relevant local support.
Evaluation is also part of the approach. Important questions include: how do residents find and experience the tool? Does the suggested support match their needs? How do professionals use De Welbevinder in their work? And what is needed to further improve the approach, or to apply it in other regions?
This learning process is essential. The project generates knowledge not only about the tool itself, but also about its implementation: acceptance, accessibility, trust, local collaboration and the role of digital support in prevention and wellbeing.
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What De Welbevinder can contribute
If De Welbevinder connects well with everyday practice, it can help improve access to support around wellbeing and healthy living. Residents can find relevant help, activities or information more quickly. Professionals gain a better overview of the local support landscape. And questions may reach the right place sooner: sometimes the general practitioner, but sometimes also wellbeing services, local activities or self-help.
Interest also appears to extend beyond Etten-Leur and Zundert. Several municipalities and communities have expressed interest in an implementation blueprint: a practical guide for applying the approach in other settings. In this way, De Welbevinder can be valuable locally, while also offering lessons for other places that want to better connect digital and personal support around wellbeing and healthy living.
Why this fits within ALIVE and Convergence
ALIVE focuses on better and more personalised lifestyle interventions across the life course. This is not only about which intervention works, but also for whom, in which context and under what conditions.
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The relevance for ALIVE lies especially in the combination of personalisation, accessibility and implementation in a local practice setting. From Erasmus MC and the ALIVE context, the focus is on knowledge around lifestyle, primary care, implementation and evaluation. De Welbevinder therefore offers a practical example of how digital and hybrid support around wellbeing and healthy living is used, trusted and embedded in a region.
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This reflects the broader strength of Convergence: bringing together scientific knowledge, technology, healthcare practice and societal partners around concrete challenges. Not only to develop new tools, but also to learn how these tools can create value in real-world practice.
Researchers involved
Researchers involved include Dr Dieuwke Schiphof and Dr Marienke van Middelkoop, Ellen van den Haute, PhD candidate within ALIVE, and Judith Meulman, junior researcher at Erasmus MC.
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More information and updates
More information about De Welbevinder is available at www.dewelbevinder.nl.
Updates on developments, meetings and news can be followed via LinkedIn-page De Welbevinder or via the newsletter.