An integrated health care standard for the management and prevention of obesity in The Netherlands

Abstract

The Partnership Overweight Netherlands (PON) is a collaboration between 18 partners, which are national organizations of health care providers, health insurance companies and patient organizations. The PON published an integrated health care standard for obesity in November 2010. The integrated health care standard for obesity involves strategies for diagnosis and early detection of high-risk individuals as well as appropriate combined lifestyle interventions for those who are overweight and obese and, when appropriate, additional medical therapies. The PON works towards a standard that transcends traditional boundaries of conventional health care systems and health care professions but, instead, focuses on competences of groups of health professionals who organize care from a patient-oriented perspective.