What about the context in family medicine? (original) (raw)

De Stroom (meaning stream or river) started at the end of the 80s in the neighbourhood of 'Den Bosch-Oost' as an initiative of some of the inhabitants as well as care providers of the health centre 'Samen Beter'. The aim was to give women with serious psychosocial and psychiatric problems in the neighbourhood sufficient support and help. These women consult family physicians very frequently. 'De Stroom' offers tailored care programmes, that are developed jointly by professionals and volunteers. The contact with other women, the mutual trust, enables women to decide to participate in parts of the programme, such as self-help groups, creative and educative groups, or relaxation groups. The use of 'experience-based-knowledge' of volunteers, with the support of professionals, has been labelled as 'duo-care'. Evaluation documented a steady increase in the self-confidence of the women, participating in the programme. It was concluded that the programme avoided institutionalisation in psychiatry. Moreover, the frequency of visits to the family physician decreased, but the main result was that the women learned to discover their capabilities. They went through a process of 'empowerment'. 8