200,000 people sitting on the sidelines in Limburg

The study, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), compares the Beekdaelen concept with the approach taken by the municipality of Landgraaf. Here, a company called the Mens Ontwikkel Bedrijf organises return-to-work support for social assistance recipients. People go through a process of conversations and gaining experience in workplaces set up for this purpose. “The Landgraaf approach also provides intensive support. The main difference with Beekdaelen is that the local business community in Landgraaf doesn’t carry the burden of responsibility. In Beekdaelen, by contrast, the participating companies are responsible from the beginning. Rather than having to present their CVs, people are asked the question, ‘How can we help you participate in society?’ So, ‘If you like working in the garden and being outside, let’s make a professional gardener out of you!’” Clubs and voluntary associations are now also being involved in the Beekdaelen cooperative, as participation isn’t just about work.

Self-esteem

In the study, researchers of the Occupational Epidemiology unit are working closely together with their colleagues from Work and Organisational Psychology. “As occupational epidemiologists, we study whether and why people return to work and the role their health plays in this. Psychologists look at other factors, such as what it means for people to regain their self-esteem and the role of labour force participation in this.” Regardless of the results of the study, several municipalities in Limburg are already showing interest in the Beekdaelen concept. “This fits nicely with what we want to achieve with 4Limburg. The idea is to roll out the concept to seven medium-sized municipalities and have it evaluated by researchers until 2025”, says IJmert Kant. He hopes that ZonMw, the Province of Limburg and municipalities will also be willing to support this new study financially. “We would like to add not just more municipalities, but also another target group: vulnerable young people. Finally, we want to study the effect of involving the voluntary sector in our cooperative approach.”

Text: Karin Burhenne
Translation: Emdash

Initiators

The 4Limburg programme is an initiative of 5 professors of 4 faculties within Maastricht university:

• Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences:
  Prof.dr. IJmert Kant, Professor of Epidemiology, specialising in Occupational Epidemiology
  Prof.dr.ir. Maria Jansen, Em. Professor of Population-focused Health Policy
• Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience:
  Prof.dr. Fred Zijlstra, Professor of Work and Organisation Psychology
• School of Business and Economics/ROA:
  Prof.dr. Andries de Grip, Professor of Human-capital formation and the Labour Market
• Faculty of Law:
  Prof.dr. Saskia Klosse, Professor of (European) labour and social secturity Law

The 4Limburg program has a steering committee consisting of the initiators , chaired by Prof.dr. IJmert Kant.

Scientific staff

• Prof.dr. IJmert Kant
• Dr.Nicole Jansen
• Dr.Ludovic van Amelsvoort
• Drs Ariane Colémont
• Dr. Jacqueline Jennen

Support staff

• Tanja de Bruijn
• Jos Slangen
• Petra Brouns.

Within specific projects there was also a close collaboration with Dr. Inge Houkes (social medicine), Dr. Ruben Drost (Health Services Reseach) and Drs. Marike Mulder (Mulder Arbeid en Gezondheid).