Sprint projects

The Healthy Start Sprint projects are short term high impact projects, financed by the Healthy Starters Fund. Healthy Start invited researchers and their external partners in 2023 to submit proposals for projects that foster societal impact or educational innovation related to the six Healthy Start ambitions. These ideas varied from podcast to theatre production and from co-creation labs to VR.

PISA study

Accessibility of mental healthcare is poor, with substantial waiting lists for youth with suicidal thoughts.

Cradled in Safety

New life is fragile. While every newborn is at risk for a life-threatening bacterial infection (sepsis), some carry particular risk.

Play it, Move it, Improve it

Towards a novel approach for physical therapy at the children’s hospital: integrating Mixed Reality makes physical therapy more engaging and enjoyable.

SPARK

In this transformative project, convergence researchers, children (aged 8-12 years) and (mental) health care professionals explore three important challenges of child participation in research.

AI- based Digital Health Assistants

We will co-create an ethically legitimate LLM prototype digital health assistant that can support youth in healthy behaviors and essential skills, and provide crucial knowledge on Inclusive Human-Centric AI for youth mental health.

Music’s Mental Toolbox

This project explores music’s role towards well-being and societal engagement among young people in Rotterdam.

Smoke-Free Start

A healthy start is a smoke-free start.

Health, economic, and equity impact of early-life interventions in the Netherlands

Early-life interventions carry the largest potential for improving long-term health, opportunity, and equity.

Wearables in pediatrics

Wearables can provide ambulant measurements of vital parameters and physical activity, which can aid in promoting healthy lifestyle adaptations.

Let’s Movez together

Researchers and professionals often struggle to engage children in a fun and appealing way in intervention design and development.

Solid Start

Innovative digital care for a healthy start

Just-In-Time-Adaptive Mechanisms

To Prevent Mental Health Problems in Youth

Never Mind

A theater production on mental health and social inequality made by and for youth

Healthy Start ServiceLab

Innovating healthcare services through experience-centric codesign

Developing insights through Virtual Reality

What is happening inside my head?

Online lesson series on mental health and the brain

HERSENSPIN

HERSENonderzoek en educatie voor SPeels INzicht

Designing for impact

Strengthening partnerships along the first 1000 days to improve risk screening

Reflect, Share & Inspire

Develop your own impact narrative with our tool

Local to Global

From a transdisciplinary elective to a Healthy Start minor

Breaking Barriers

Co-creation Lab empowering Forensic Young Adults and Psychology Master’s Students towards Innovative Research

Start with Impact

Developing Stakeholder Engagement Methodology and Teaching Modules for Healthy Start Education

(Re)Searching a Healthy Start

An Educational Podcast Project