The risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is closely associated with modifiable health behaviour such as smoking, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, which all follow the social gradient being more prevalent with higher level of disadvantage.
Taken together with the fact that there is an underrepresentation of certain social groups, such as persons with no formal education, in the recruitment and adherence to primary prevention or rehabilitation initiatives, this may indicate a special need to inform and motivate this subgroup towards a healthier lifestyle as well as a special approach to reach these individuals.
Purpose
The overall aim of the Ph.D. is to test the effectiveness of the intervention Check-In, in which general practitioners invite individuals with low socioeconomic position to a prescheduled preventive health check. This will be tested both due to change in unhealthy health behavior such as smoking, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity and due to early detecting of chronic diseases.
Methods
The Ph.D. project is an effect evaluation of Check-In – a project including 56 general practitioners from Copenhagen. Patients with low socioeconomic position were randomized to intervention or control. The intervention included I) an invitation to a prescheduled preventive health check, II) a health check at the general practitioner and III) a health consultation at the general practitioner with an offer of further action if necessary.
The measurement of the effect includes both questionnaire data and data from Danish national registers.
Project period
The PhD project ends in 2019.
Funding
The Danish Cancer Society.
