HeaLIQs4Cities 2019: Healthy Living Room on-the-go reaches out to citizens

The project Healthy Lifestyle Innovation Quarters for Cities and Citizens (HeaLIQs4cities), funded by EIT Health, invites citizens into the Healthy Living Room, an open, approachable setting where they can learn about healthy living by engaging in lifestyle assessments, testing innovative products and getting involved in community programmes. While in 2018 the open spaces were set up at public events, such as “fun runs”, for 2019 the Healthy Living Room takes to the road, in a bus. This year HeaLIQs4cities will promote healthy lifestyles in the neighborhoods of Groningen (The Netherlands) and Coimbra (Portugal), and in Andalucia (Spain), regions considered as Reference Sites for Active and Healthy Ageing by the European Commission.

The prevalence of age-related, non-communicable chronic diseases is the leading cause of morbidity and death in many European regions and worldwide. Innovative strategies focused on early identification of risk factors combined with transversal education for healthy lifestyle habits and behaviours, might be effective in improving the quality of life, healthy living and active ageing. Lifestyle Innovation Quarters (LIQs) raise awareness, improve health literacy and empower citizens to lead healthier lives. Citizens can be provided with a general assessment of lifestyle factors and receive healthy lifestyle recommendations in the field of nutrition, physical activity and exercise, social cohesion and mental health. The mobile Healthy Living Room (HLR) will actively involve the local communities and policy makers, and thus long-term impacts in health literacy and community health measures are also expected.

From 4 to 22 September 2019, the mobile HLR will visit the Terras de Sicó region, in the districts of Coimbra and Leiria (Portugal). On 27 September 2019, it will stop at the Plaza Mayor, in Sevilla, to be part of the European Researchers Night. From the October until 21 November 2019, the mobile HLR will make a tour through the Northern Netherlands, visiting both several neighbourhoods in the Municipality of Groningen, the city of Emmen (in the province of Drenthe) and smaller villages in the municipalities of Smallingerland (province of Fryslân), Loppersum, Stadskanaal and Winschoten (province of Groningen).

HeaLIQs4Cities is coordinated by EIT Health Partners – the Pedro Nunes Institute (IPN) (Coimbra), in collaboration with the University of Coimbra (UC) and the University Medical Center of Groningen (UMCG), and counts upon the active participation of citizens, academia, healthcare enterprises and local government from the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. The data gathered from this European project is expected to empower the shift of the paradigm in healthcare from curative to preventive, and to improve healthcare services and reduce healthcare costs.