About the Public Health Monitor Utrecht

What is the Public Health Monitor?

The Public Health Monitor Utrecht (Volksgezondheidsmonitor Utrecht, VMU) provides insights into the health of Utrecht residents and factors that influence health. This monitor is carried out by the Public Health Department of the municipality of Utrecht. We collect figures and knowledge about the health of Utrecht residents in a variety of ways. We share and interpret these figures and knowledge together with professionals in the city. In this way we create a broad picture of health. Our monitoring focuses on all components of the Utrecht Health Model. Topics covered include quality of life, lifestyle, social environment and care. New results are continuously shared on the Public Health Monitor Utrecht website. Once every four years we compile all the information and present an integrated picture of the public health in the Utrecht Health Profile (UGP). We also publish one or more special editions focusing on a theme or target group every year. We never publish data that can be traced back to individuals. And we follow the guidelines of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The municipality of Utrecht has a legal duty to monitor health

The Public Health Monitor Utrecht is a statutory task. The Public Health Act stipulates that municipalities must conduct their policy on the basis of epidemiological knowledge about public health in the municipality concerned. In Utrecht, this task is performed by researchers and epidemiologists from the municipality of Utrecht. They work together with the GGD region of Utrecht.

The Public Health Monitor Utrecht: for professionals, policy officers, knowledge institutions, politicians and residents

The Public Health Monitor Utrecht helps professionals, policy makers, knowledge institutions, politicians and residents to enhance their own insights and make well-considered choices. Positive developments concerning health in Utrecht are made visible. Additionally, developments that require attention or differences between population groups in Utrecht are addressed. These insights are needed to make the right choices for a healthy, growing city. We provide information on questions such as "Which themes should we focus on?", "Which target groups need something extra or different?" The Public Health Monitor Utrecht and the Utrecht Health Profile together form a major source for the municipal health policy. The Public Health Monitor Utrecht is not an evaluation of policy in practice (which requires a different type of research). However, insights can be used as part of accounting or evaluation..

How do we monitor health?

The Public Health Department collects data on health from various sources. We conduct surveys and interviews among residents, use information from data registration systems and existing research, and pick up signals from professionals in the field. We also talk to residents and professionals to share and interpret the results.

Surveys by the Public Health Department, sometimes in collaboration with the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and Municipal Health Services (GGD-en):

The Youth Monitor Utrecht (Jeugdmonitor Utrecht, JMU) is conducted every two years among children in grades 7 and 8 in Utrecht's primary schools (i.e., 10-12 years). The last survey was in the fall of 2021. Approximately 2600 children from 42 primary schools completed this questionnaire at that time. This survey is unique in the Netherlands.
The Health Monitor Youth (Gezondheidsmonitor Jeugd, GMJ) is conducted every two years among youngsters in grades 2 and 4 at Utrecht secondary schools (i.e., 13-15 years). This research is conducted in national collaboration. The last survey was in the fall of 2021. We reached about 3,300 Utrecht youth from 11 secondary schools at that time.
The Health Monitor Young Adults (Gezondheidsmonitor jongvolwassenen) was conducted for the first time in the spring of 2021, in collaboration with the GGD region Utrecht. Young adults (i.e., 18-25 years) were approached through social media and their own networks. We reached about 1900 young adults in Utrecht. The second measurement, in national cooperation, was in the spring of 2022.
The Health Monitor (Gezondheidsmonitor, GM) is conducted every two years among adults and the elderly. We do this in national cooperation once every four years. A sample of the Utrecht population is approached by mail. The last survey was in the fall of 2020. At that time, 8387 Utrecht adults participated.

Other surveys in Utrecht:

The residents survey (Inwonersenquête) is conducted by the municipality of Utrecht every two years. About 30,000 Utrecht residents receive an invitation to complete this, which examines a wide range of topics.
The residents panel is a large online panel consisting of Utrecht residents who want to contribute their ideas to the municipality. Anyone living in Utrecht can become a member of the residents panel. Members of the panel receive a questionnaire four to six times a year on a variety of topics.
Meetellen in Utrecht is a research panel for and by Utrecht residents in a socially vulnerable position. These are, for example, people with psychiatric problems, an addiction or people who are or have been homeless. Together with the municipality of Utrecht, Meetellen conducts research through surveys and conversations.

Registration data

Much health information is recorded digitally. We use data from national registers, such as mortality rates and data on health care use from health insurers. The municipality of Utrecht also has its own registers that contain useful information, such as registrations of Youth Health Care, Youth Support and WMO (Wet Maatschappelijke Ondersteuning/Social Support Act) facilities, and air quality measurements.

Qualitative data

Signs from practice: We consult with various (health care) professionals inside and outside the municipality of Utrecht, because they can provide us with valuable additional information about the health of (groups of) Utrecht residents.
Interpretive conversations: based on health figures, we engage with residents and (healthcare) professionals. We share our knowledge with them and, subsequently, test the findings. Do they recognize the figures? Do they have explanations for what the figures show? And what do the figures mean to them? We also ask if there are other developments and experiences. This allows us to identify developments that are not (yet) reflected in the figures. Interpretive conversations help us to interpret the figures properly.
Qualitative research: sometimes questions remain that cannot be answered based on the above sources. Then we can use qualitative research. In qualitative research, we conduct interviews or focus group discussions with residents or professionals. This allows us to delve further into a theme or target group. We have done this, for example, for research into the experiences of Utrecht youth and adults in times of corona.

With whom do we collaborate?

We cooperate with other municipal departments, social partners and knowledge institutions. Cooperation means, for example, sharing signals, knowledge and/or data. In this way we make the best possible use of each other's expertise and available health data and gain even greater insight into the health of Utrecht residents and factors that influence it.
The Public Health Department is member of several long-term research collaborations. Examples include Dynamics of Youth (strategic theme of Utrecht University), the working group around Public Health Research of GGD-GHOR Nederland (the Association of Regional Public Health Services and Regional Medical Emergency Preparedness and Planning offices in the Netherlands), and the Academic Workplace on Public Mental Health of the four big cities (G4 USER).

Examples of incidental collaboration in research:

In a broad consortium of experience experts, professionals and researchers in the Utrecht region, both the impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable target groups and possible directions for solutions are researched (Geck op U).
Together with TNO, we are working on research into the Van Wiechen study as an early detection tool for possible delays in the development of young children.
In a broad consortium, the relationship between poverty and the mental health among young people is being investigated.