Kind & Gezin

Kind en Gezin is committed to the welfare of families. But what about paying attention to your own employees? “On our intranet there is a page with information about the importance of exercise, healthy eating and other welfare aspects,” says Annemie Boone. “But sharing that information without linking it to concrete actions is not enough. Because only if employees are motivated, they will do something with that information. That’s why we regularly stimulate them with an awareness-raising campaign.”

In 2019, Kind en Gezin decided to set up such a campaign for employees over 50 years of age. “A lot of people over 50 work at Kind en Gezin,” Annemie explains. “Because the health risks and the risk of absenteeism and lost days are greater for them than for younger colleagues, it made sense to focus this campaign on that particular age group.”

Kind en Gezin contacted Mensura for a Lifestyle Screening. Mensura’s Health advisor Nancy Doyen was in charge of this project. “To start with, we sent a non-binding invitation to all the over-50 employees of Kind en Gezin,” explains Nancy. “Those not motivated to work on their lifestyle, shouldn’t be obliged to do so. Once we knew how many employees wanted to participate, we recorded the dates and locations together with Kind en Gezin. Afterwards the participants received an email with all the practical information and a medical questionnaire to be completed in advance.”
 

“The Lifestyle Screening starts with a discussion of the medical questionnaire,” Nancy continues. “In it we ask about health problems, medication use and family history for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, among other things. This is followed by the physical tests. We measure BMI, blood pressure and pulse and with a finger-prick we determine the cholesterol level and the risk of diabetes. Finally, we discuss the results together and give personal lifestyle advice.”

Annemie is 59 years old. So she also received the invitation for the Lifestyle Screening in her mailbox. “I pay a lot of attention to my lifestyle and I absolutely wanted to participate to see how I’m doing,” says Annemie. “Usually I am stressed during a medical examination, but during the Lifestyle Screening I felt completely at ease. The conversation was structured, yet very open and convivial.”

Although Annemie is actively involved with her lifestyle, she still received some personal advice. “Because of my sedentary profession, I don’t get enough exercise. I was advised to walk for 30 minutes daily and to exercise intensively for 20 minutes three times a week. Because I like to cycle and swim, the Mensura expert advised me to focus on that. After all, you’re much more likely to keep up an effort if you like to do it.”
 

A total of 135 of the 527 invited employees participated in the Lifestyle Screening. After the survey the participants received an individual report. Kind en Gezin received a general report, in the form of a presentation with conclusions and concrete recommendations. “Since then, we’ve changed two things,” Annemie says. “In our office on the Hallepoortlaan there is now a fruit basket on each floor and we have revived our ‘Beweging’ (movement) workgroup.”

“All the employees were satisfied with the survey and I can only confirm that feeling,” Annemie concludes. “The collaboration went extremely smoothly and as an organisation you can immediately get to work with the concrete results. We also decided fairly quickly to repeat the screening in 2020. This enables employees to monitor their situation and those turning fifty are also given the opportunity to take part.”