The Västerbotten Intervention Programme, VIP
Västerbottens hälsoundersökningar - engelskaThe content concerns VästerbottenThe Västerbotten Intervention Programme, Västerbottens hälsoundersökningar, VHU, is offered to you who are a resident in one of the county’s municipalities. You who are turning 40, 50 or 60 years old are invited to two visits. The first visit is a health examination and the second is an individual health dialogue.
Why should I participate?
The purpose of the Västerbotten Intervention Programme is to help you feel better and gradually reduce the risk of you becoming ill in the future.
By improving or maintaining your good living habits, you can reduce the risk of future cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Even small changes can make a difference.
The examination is also a path to finding people who have a high risk of cardiovascular diseases and in need of medical treatment.
Who can participate?
You may participate in the Västerbotten Intervention Programme the year you turn 40, 50 or 60. You may also participate the following year if it suits you better.
You will receive an invitation from Region Västerbotten with a booked appointment at your healthcare centre or cottage hospital.
This is how the Västerbotten Intervention Programme works
You will be invited to two visits to your healthcare centre or cottage hospital. Your first visit is a health examination. The second is a health dialogue.
Some healthcare centres and cottage hospitals offer health dialogues via video. There you can choose whether you want to have the health dialogue at the healthcare centre or from home with a computer, smart mobile phone or tablet.
Read more about video visits in Region Västerbotten (Swedish text)
Answer questions about your health and how you live
Before your health examination, you will receive a digital form with questions about your living habits and health. You will find the form in your inbox, inkorg, when you log in to 1177.se. The form is in Swedish. Answer the questions before your first visit. If you are not able to answer the questions in the form in Swedish, you can get help from an interpreter in connection with the health dialogue. The interpreter participates over the phone. Tell the healthcare staff that you are in need of an interpreter at your first visit.
Here you will get more information about how to fill in a form by logging in (Swedish text)
First visit – individual health examination
You will get an appointment in the morning at the healthcare centre or cottage hospital.
This is what is going to take place during your visit:
- You will submit a blood sample for analysis of blood lipids and blood sugar.
- You will measure blood pressure, pulse and waist measurement.
- You will measure weight and height to calculate your BMI, Body Mass Index.
The visit takes circa 30 minutes.
Before the health examination
You must not eat anything for at least nine hours before the sample is taken. It is fine to drink water in small amounts.
In the hours prior to taking the sample, you should not exert yourself physically, ride a bike or take a walk. You should preferably not smoke or use snuff.
You can take your regular medicines as usual in the morning. It applies for all medicines except medicines for diabetes.
Second visit – individual health dialogue
At the second visit, you and a nurse go through your test results and your answers to the form about your living habits and health.
You talk about what you yourself can do to feel well and how you can maintain or improve habits that are good for your health. This could, for example, involve starting with healthier eating habits, increased physical activity, less alcohol or to stop using tobacco or nicotine. The dialogue is an important part of Västerbotten's health research.
The visit takes 30–60 minutes.
You get your own star profile
The star profile can indicate either health or risk factors.
The health dialogue is about your personal health profile. Your measurement values, test results and answers in the form are presented in a so-called star profile, stjärnprofil. The points of the star represent your values of blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar, BMI and waist measurement as well as your answers in the form about what you think about your eating habits, your health, physical activity, alcohol habits and tobacco use.
If the examination should show that you need follow-up examinations or more support, you can be offered it.
What does it cost?
The first visit with health examination and sampling costs SEK 300. The fee is not included in the high-cost protection.
Read more about the high-cost protection (Swedish text)
The second visit with a health dialogue is free of charge.