DEVENTER – The Combined Lifestyle Intervention (GLI) program is running at full speed. Obese residents can now participate in it in every municipality in Salland, including Deventer. More than thirty groups with a total of 553 participants are currently active.
More than a year ago, the general practitioners (HCDO), lifestyle coaches and Salland Zorgverzekeraar joined forces to set up this program well in the region. The GPs are happy that the program is there and that so many residents are actively working on their health. The program is more than just losing weight and that is also its added value.
Successful Combined Lifestyle Intervention program in Salland
It’s about eating healthy, moving, stress reduction and taking time to rest. So an integrated approach. General practitioner Martijn Romeijn of Huisartsen Hoge Hond in Deventer has already pointed out the GLI program to a number of patients. “As far as I am concerned, the new normal must be: from treatment to prevention,” he says firmly. “I actively point this out to patients who come to my consultation hours and who are eligible for the GLI programme.”
Motivation
Motivation is an important condition for achieving results. That is why Romeijn checks whether a patient is motivated. “Most of the motivated patients benefit from the program,” he says. “They are enthusiastic about the weight reduction and the improvement of all kinds of health problems. Psychological functioning is also favorably influenced in many cases. Yet there is also a group that often drops out early due to a lack of motivation, with or without the fact that they are not suitable for participation in group sessions. Think, for example, of patients with an introverted personality or with anxiety complaints. But as far as I’m concerned, we’re honoring the GLI!”
Small steps
Petra Visser, practice assistant at Huisartsen Hoge Hond, also points out the program to patients and sees that it works. “We make obesity a subject of discussion and we have a low threshold,” she explains. “We give advice and, if necessary, we refer people to the GLI. The results vary, but there are certainly participants who achieve good results. With small steps you can achieve big things. Think of it like a toilet roll: every step you tear off a sheet of toilet paper. If you keep doing this, you will see a real difference over a longer period of time: the toilet roll is getting thinner and thinner. Most people become demotivated when change does not produce results quickly, frustrated, and they fall back into old lifestyles and habits. That is unfortunate and unnecessary. Patience and small changes in eating habits, for example, can already yield a lot.”
21 Kilos lighter
And participant Jacqueline Bremer knows all about that. She started a year ago, is now 21 kilos lighter and feels like a different person. “I had high blood pressure and too much sugar in my blood,” she says. “The GP was concerned and pointed me to the GLI. I really had to cross a threshold to participate in that. I didn’t like sports, I thought. But the opposite is true. I’m having a lot of fun with it now. I have even now voluntarily chosen to participate in the boot camp every week. Enjoy moving in the open air. That always cheers me up.”
Jacqueline is extremely grateful that her GP pointed her to the GLI and has embraced the new lifestyle. “I really don’t want to go back to my old lifestyle and diet,” she says confidently. “I feel so incredibly good about myself. I don’t want to lose that anymore. I will continue to exercise and take good care of myself, because then I can also take better care of my two children.”
New friends
Lifestyle coach Meriel Hendriks now supervises three groups and was also a supervisor for Jacqueline. “I’m proud of her,” she says beaming. “She has achieved a great result. That is nice for me to see from the sidelines. The results differ enormously per participant. Some lose a lot of kilos quite quickly because, for example, they hardly moved in the past and ate a lot of processed, unhealthy food. By enjoying exercise, continuing to exercise together and discovering little by little that a regular and healthy diet doesn’t have to be so complicated and expensive, you see a nice development in a healthier weight. For others it goes a bit slower, but they also feel much fitter and more energetic after a while. And that of course improves the quality of life enormously. Some have also made new friends and are back among people. For example, there is a whole bunch of participants who now jointly follow punching bag training twice a week, drink coffee together, stimulate each other when things are equally tough or against each other. Fantastic right?!”
From care to control over your own health and lifestyle
A nice bonus is that the two-year program is fully reimbursed by the health insurers. Martin Rog, health care buyer at Salland Zorgverzekeraar, says: “The Dutch health care sector will face enormous challenges in the coming years. Due to the increase in the number of people with one or more chronic conditions, including overweight and obesity, the demand for care will grow in the coming years and become increasingly complex. It is therefore important that we try to prevent health problems together.”
The RIVM figures show that more than 50% of the inhabitants of Salland are overweight. Salland Zorgverzekeraar actively contributes to the reduction of overweight and obesity in adults and children and to the sustainable improvement of lifestyle and health. “We believe it is important that our policyholders take control of their own lives, health and care. Because prevention is better than cure”, emphasizes Rog.
“We are proud of the results achieved and the high number of participants so far. We also strive for a more integrated approach, because health is more than just the absence of disease or other physical ailments. Poverty, debts, housing problems, loneliness, unemployment, a disability, a low level of education or the quality and design of the living environment all influence how healthy you are, how healthy you feel and how effectively overweight and obesity can be combated . We at Salland Zorgverzekeraar are committed to this in collaboration with the municipalities, healthcare providers and cooperation partners in the region.”
Photo:
Participant Jacqueline Bremer during the punching bag training of the GLI program.