Sund for Livet
(Healthy for Life)
The target group for the Sund for Livet (Healthy for Life) project primarily consists of Somali women who are poorly integrated, have only a weak link (or no link at all) to the labour market, and spent only a short time in school. A common trait of all these women is that they have little income. Moreover, many of them are either divorcées or widows. As they often have many children and an extremely limited network, it is usual for these women spend a lot of time home alone, with no contact with the outside world.
The issues listed above have such an impact on these women that they simply do not have the energy to devote to a healthy lifestyle, which significantly increases the risk of their developing lifestyle illnesses. Furthermore, huge language barriers mean that these women have a tendency not to contact the healthcare services until an illness has actually developed, rather than at a point where it could have been prevented.
The purpose of the intervention is to improve the health and well-being of these women, and to provide them with the knowledge and motivation to change their way of life so as to minimise the risk of developing lifestyle illnesses. The intention is to achieve these aims through:
- Establishing social networks, given that the project design is largely centred around groups. For example, it involves exercise, shared meal preparation, shared theme evenings and parties.
- Individual counselling. In this context, the women can receive assistance from a social worker who can help with the various social and financial challenges they face. In addition, the social worker is tasked with encouraging the individual women to improve their situation and take responsibility for their lives. For example, the social worker can help them begin job training or start a course of Danish lessons.
- Individual dietary advice in the home, shopping trips and individual health checks.
- Improving the women’s Danish skills, given that all communication (including between the women themselves) is in Danish.
What’s next?
The project was completed in 2015 under the auspices of the ROCKWOOL Foundation. The project has undergone a process evaluation. See the results and find our knowledge below.
