SINTEL - Towards system change for reducing health inequalities

Less affluent people live on average 8 years shorter and 25 more years with illness. A complex system of different, interrelated factors leads to this inequality, for example poverty, social insecurity, chronic stress, tough working conditions, poor housing conditions and a complicated supply of public services. By changing crucial factors in this complex system, how can we contribute to reducing health inequalities? What works well and not so well in this? In SINTEL, we explore these questions -in close collaboration with experts by experience- to understand how health inequalities should be addressed through system change.
SINTEL is a partnership between four NWA research projects aimed at reducing health inequalities. SINTEL acts as a platform for sharing findings so that we can learn and improve together. From the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, two NWA projects are involved, namely ‘Impact of social policy on health’, which investigates how to achieve a healthier welfare and debt relief system, and ‘Minding the Gap’, a participatory action research on the mental health of young people growing up with little money. In both NWA projects, people with experiential knowledge play an important role. Here, we build on our experience with an advisory board of experience experts that has been attached to the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science since 2022.
Name project:
SINTEL
(Main)researchers:
Department:
Interdisciplinary Social Science
Collaboration partners:
Amsterdam UMC, LUMC, Universiteit Leiden, Universiteit Maastricht, Wageningen Universiteit, Hogeschool Utrecht, as well as many social partners, including experts by experience, Trimbos, Pharos, Movisie, RVS, academic knowledge workshops, professional associations, and various municipalities and ministries.