The INHERIT Model: A Tool to Jointly Improve Health, Environmental Sustainability and Health Equity through Behavior and Lifestyle Change
by
Nina Van der Vliet 1,2,*, Brigit Staatsen 1, Hanneke Kruize 1, George Morris 3, Caroline Costongs 4, Ruth Bell 5, Sibila Marques 6, Timothy Taylor 3, Sonia Quiroga 7
, Pablo Martinez Juarez 7, Vojtech Máca 8, Milan Ščasný 8, Iva Zvěřinová 8, Fimka Tozija 9, Dragan Gjorgjev 9, Geir Arild Espnes 10 and Jantine Schuit 2
Nina Van der Vliet 1,2,*, Brigit Staatsen 1, Hanneke Kruize 1, George Morris 3, Caroline Costongs 4, Ruth Bell 5, Sibila Marques 6, Timothy Taylor 3, Sonia Quiroga 7, Pablo Martinez Juarez 7, Vojtech Máca 8, Milan Ščasný 8, Iva Zvěřinová 8, Fimka Tozija 9, Dragan Gjorgjev 9, Geir Arild Espnes 10 and Jantine Schuit 2
1
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Sustainability, Environment and Health, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
2
Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Tilburg, 5000 Tilburg, The Netherlands
3
European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Truro TR1 3HD, UK
4
EuroHealthNet, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
5
Institute of Health Equity, UCL, London WC1E 7HB, UK
6
Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal
7
Department of Economics, Universidad de Alcalá, 28801 Alcalá, Spain
8
Charles University, Environment Centre (CUNI), 162 00 Prague, Czech Republic
9
The Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Macedonia (IJZRM), 1000 Skopje, Macedonia
10
NTNU Center for Health Promotion Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7030 Trondheim, Norway
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(7), 1435; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071435
Received: 9 May 2018 / Revised: 15 June 2018 / Accepted: 24 June 2018 / Published: 7 July 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A More Sustainable and Healthier Future for All: What Works?)
The need for analysis and action across the interrelated domains of human behaviors and lifestyles, environmental sustainability, health and inequality is increasingly apparent. Currently, these areas are often not considered in conjunction when developing policies or interventions, introducing the potential for suboptimal or conflicting outcomes. The INHERIT model has been developed within the EU-funded project INHERIT as a tool to guide thinking and intersectoral action towards changing the behaviors and lifestyles that play such an important role in today’s multidisciplinary challenges. The model integrates ecological public health and behavioral change models, emphasizing inequalities and those parts of the causal process that are influenced by human behaviors and lifestyles. The model was developed through web-based and live discussions with experts and policy stakeholders. To test the model’s usability, the model was applied to aspects of food consumption. This paper shows that the INHERIT model can serve as a tool to identify opportunities for change in important −food-related behaviors and lifestyles and to examine how they impact on health, health inequalities, and the environment in Europe and beyond. The INHERIT model helps clarify these interrelated domains, creating new opportunities to improve environmental health and health inequality, while taking our planetary boundaries into consideration.
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Keywords:
integrated models; environmental health; behavior; behavioral change; equality; sustainability; food
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MDPI and ACS Style
Van der Vliet, N.; Staatsen, B.; Kruize, H.; Morris, G.; Costongs, C.; Bell, R.; Marques, S.; Taylor, T.; Quiroga, S.; Martinez Juarez, P.; Máca, V.; Ščasný, M.; Zvěřinová, I.; Tozija, F.; Gjorgjev, D.; Espnes, G.A.; Schuit, J. The INHERIT Model: A Tool to Jointly Improve Health, Environmental Sustainability and Health Equity through Behavior and Lifestyle Change. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1435.
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