Barranquilla (Colombia) wants to become a blue zone with Positive Health

Barranquilla and its public health network have taken the first steps towards becoming a blue zone through MiRed IPS, with the implementation of a comprehensive Dutch model of care.

It is called Positive Health, based on six pillars to focus more on the preventive health of the patient. Within this new model, aspects of the person such as bodily functions, mental health, quality of life, daily functioning, their participation and the meaning of life are examined.

Karolien van den Brekel gave a successful lecture to 80 participants including the mayor of Barranquilla – a city of one million inhabitants. The colleagues of MiRed, owner of 30 health centres for 600,000 inhabitants, want to start working with Positive Health.

Rómulo Rodado, manager of MiRed IPS, said that Barranquilla has been a “pioneer” in network models and in community and preventive work with the Health Walkers. Therefore, he expressed the city’s intention to also become a pioneer in a “change in the vision of health”.

“Today’s health, while meeting expectations, is much focused on disease management. Ironically, we call it the health system, but in reality we manage diseases. The proposal of this initiative is to focus more on health than on disease,” he said.

The entity’s more than 2,400 staff will be trained to deal with this new model in the coming months. Initially, he said, the door was opened for joint work to take shape later.