Oral presentation: Betzabel Cajiao Garcia

More than 65% of the population of Curaçao is overweight or obese, and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) continues to rise. The Caribbean Prevention Center is therefore introducing an organized screening program to prevent more residents of Curaçao from developing NCDs. The program aims to individually assess six pillars of lifestyle: diet, physical activity, sleep, stress, alcohol, and smoking- and provide targeted interventions.

Eligible participants for the screening are men and women between 25 and 75 years. The intervention is open for screening participants with low to high risk of developing NCDs based on guidelines according to the Dutch combined lifestyle intervention. Weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure, heart rate, glucose, and cholesterol are measured to establish the risk profile of the participant. The physical measurements are accompanied by a questionnaire to evaluate the six pillars of lifestyle medicine. Next, the results are discussed with a lifestyle physician. During this intake visitation, the lifestyle physician and the participant jointly select up to two pillars for targeted intervention.

After the baseline measurement, the participant is followed for 12 months with follow-up visits every four months. During the follow-up, the physical measurements are repeated along with self-reported questions about the pillars chosen to intervene on. The program is considered successful if participants achieve their goals set from the start.

The current implementation study will evaluate the impact and optimization of the organized lifestyle screening and intervention program in Curaçao.