In citizen science, citizens and researchers join forces to make a societal positive impact. Part of the University of Twente’s mission is to strengthen society by providing sustainable solutions to current problems. Last year, the Citizen Science Hub Twente made a call for citizens and researchers to submit their research ideas for the start of a new programme “Civic and Citizen Science”. This programme aims to strengthen citizen participation in scientific research. Five projects were selected and received a grant to work on the project for the next two years. Citizen Science Hub Twente sat down with the researchers and citizens of each project to give an update on how it is proceeding.
This project that may be relevant to a considerate percentage of the population. It touches on loneliness and social isolation, which are becoming a more commonly understood public health concern.
Meet our researcher, Jodi Sturge. She is an assistant professor in interaction design. Jodi’s research has focused on how positive health and social health can improve the wellbeing of elderly people. For this project, she is researching how to prevent social isolation through design. Designers have many tools and methods to explore how products and services can improve people’s lives. By using concept mapping and relying on tacit knowledge, she will explore solutions to social isolation with a focus on positive health.
Meet Jeroen, who dedicates his time and work to combatting loneliness in the area with foundation ‘Samen1Twente, Samen1Enschede’ and ‘IkKanWelzijn’. In September of 2023, he joined researcher Jodi in the project: ‘Positive Health Solutions for Loneliness of Elderly People in Twente’. They both bring a different perspective to the project. Jodi is more focused on the design engineering through the lense of positive health, and Jeroen is focused on the citizens and destigmatizing the conversation on social isolation.
Positive Health
Positive Health is a concept developed by Dutch researcher M. Huber which focuses on resilience of people and how they adapt to whatever life brings. This insight can create better health solutions and policy.
People are more than their illness or condition. Yet, this is usually what we focus on. All the attention goes to their symptoms and health problems, and how to solve those. Positive Health chooses a different perspective. The emphasis is not on illness, but on the people themselves, on their resilience and on what it is that makes their lives meaningful (Positive Health - What Is It? - Institute For Positive Health, 2021).
“It is important to look at this project as ‘glass half full’ as opposed to ‘glass half empty’, and to use tacit knowledge. We want to put a positive spin on this project and focus on social inclusion as opposed to social isolation.” Explains Jodi.
The Project
Together with students from the UT and TU Delft, the group will explore what is known about social isolation in Twente to create design solutions. This group will create an inventory and knowledge with a group of citizens. These citizens will be engaged in the design process over the next year. Everyone is welcome to join this project. Soon you can sign up via MEEDOEN.
Want to help in another way?
Jeroen shares how easy it is to make a difference. “Just have the conversation on loneliness. Why should it be such a taboo if so many people feel it? If you have a click with someone, go have coffee together. Take a walk. Watch a movie. Talk. These small things can have such positive impacts on you and on them. If someone who’s feeling lonely gets invited to the theater, they’ll be thinking about it all week. But the problem is not solved after one trip to the theater or one cup of coffee. Make sure it’s a reoccurring thing."
Jeroen shared a touching example: "For a different project in Weerselo, we had a group of young students from a carnival association that were open to doing something for a healthcare institution. They did something as simple as sitting with elderly people with their laptops, phones and tablets and just had conversations. They would ask the elderly if they had grandchildren and in the blink of an eye, they found their social media platforms. “Would you look at that, Annie! That’s my grandson! He’s skiing. He’s doing this and that!” Every few weeks, these visits were planned, and the elderly people were so excited for them to come again. They watched videos, played games, and had conversations together. The best part was, that the association got paid for each hour they were at the healthcare institution. So, it was good for both parties. After the project was done, half of the students still came back to visit the elderly every few weeks. That’s the best part. A lot of people see it as an obligation or a chore. But if it makes you feel good too, which it most definitely will, you’ll do it out of the kindness in your heart. That’s definitely worth an hour of your time as well.”
It doesn’t have to take much to make a difference in someone’s life, whether that’s someone else’s or your own. Whether it’s a cup of coffee with someone once a week, a conversation at the end of the day, or just a smile. But each small gesture has the power to take a feeling of loneliness away from someone. Why don’t you start right now?
