Launching chain approach: depression prevention among family caregivers

Informal caregivers are indispensable in the Dutch healthcare landscape. Due to a growing demand for care and a shortage of (care) personnel, an increasing demand is placed on informal caregivers. It is important to support informal caregivers as much as possible to prevent overburdening and eventually depressive symptoms. Commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Ecorys and PROOF Advisors have developed a chain approach that strengthens the cooperation of chain partners and optimizes the support for family caregivers.

Development of the chain approach
During Mental Health Week 2023, PROOF Advisors and Ecorys will launch the manual (Dutch) of this chain approach. Commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the chain approach has been developed and tested in three municipalities. The aim is to inspire (possibilities) for chain cooperation and make concrete how cooperation for depression prevention among family caregivers can be set up, for all organizations that have a role in supporting family caregivers.

Evaluation & monitoring 
For evaluation and monitoring purposes, Ecorys worked with personas and chain analyses throughout the project.

Personas are detailed descriptions of a fictional caregiver, which help bring knowledge about the target group “to life. This gives different groups, such as working family caregivers or family caregivers with an immigrant background, a name and a face. In the various pilot municipalities, the personas were received with enthusiasm. They worked as a catalyst for the conversation about the needs of family caregivers in the region and gave organizations insight into each other’s target group and working methods.
A chain analysis is a tool to visually represent the current situation around cooperating partners. The graphical representation of the chain provides insight into the composition of the chain, which cooperation already exists and where there is a need for strengthening. In addition, it is a monitoring tool for developments in the chain.

The guide gives more insight into how to work with personas and chain analyses and can be found here (Dutch).