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A healthy lifestyle underlies adequate cardiovascular risk management. However, current initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle are only sparsely connected and often do not involve the patient's environment. To solve this, cardiologists, neurologists, general practitioners, scientists, entrepreneurs, and patients have united in the BENEFIT project. The research  Our mission is to make healthy living fun. Rather than telling people how to behave, we make healthy lifestyle choices appealing: the carrot is mightier than the stick. BENEFIT is an advanced loyalty program that rewards cardiovascular patients for the time and energy spent on healthy lifestyle activities. BENEFIT loyalty points can be earned for a range of health behaviors, such as exercising daily, abstaining from smoking, attending prevention programs, and showing up for health appointments. The BENEFIT program has different levels, ranging from a simple to use card-and-beacon system to an advanced digital platform that allows access to evidence-based lifestyle maintenance interventions, personal coaching, and smart technology. By rewarding everyday lifestyle and adherence behaviors, the program integrates care and non-care settings and facilitates embedding the new lifestyle in everyday life. Our goal is to create a national ecosystem in which evidence-based interventions to promote a healthy lifestyle are embedded in a system that rewards people for taking actions that contribute to such a healthy lifestyle. The central element of this ecosystem is a sophisticated loyalty program that encourages people to live healthy lifestyles for the long term. No more finger-pointing: the very act of rewarding a healthy lifestyle is stimulating! The ecosystem that we provide connects public and private parties, integrates existing care and lifestyle programs, has future-proof financing, and is constantly fed by scientific insights. BENEFIT for all! The origin The BENEFIT program is a public-private ecosystem in a national consortium, aiming to support patients with cardiovascular disease in their own home setting for a long-term healthy lifestyle. The Heart Foundation aims for more people to make healthy choices, so that they feel vital and run less risk of developing (again) cardiovascular diseases, which was one of the themes of the research agenda. Therefore, the Dutch Heart Foundation and ZonMw have collaborated to fund this program.

Individuals with atrial fibrillation are at increased risk of an ischemic stroke. Active detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) and optimal referral and treatment of patients could prevent an estimated 1500 ischemic strokes annually. Effective collaboration between primary and secondary care professionals is essential for achieving this goal of stroke prevention attributed to AF. This is the primary objective of the implementation consortium known as CUSTOM-AF. The origin  The CUSTOM-AF was founded in June 2020 and restarted in 2022. CUSTOM-AF implementation consortium aims to share successful practice examples with regional networks and develop guidelines for organizing active detection and integrated care within a network. Additionally, consortium partners seek innovative methods for general practitioners to detect and manage AF without necessitating hospital referrals. With this consortium, the Dutch Heart Foundation, NVVC Connect, Harteraad, and the Dutch CardioVascular Alliance, all work together towards optimal care for patients with AF. The Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG) serves as a key advisor to the consortium. Earlier detection and better treatment of atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia in adults, is an important part of the cardiovascular disease research agenda that the Dutch Heart Foundatoin set in 2014, which funds the CUSTOM-AF consortium. The Research The scope of the consortium has been expanded to include two disorders: heart failure and AF. The consortium has undertaken significant initiatives over the past two years (2020-2022) to advance its objectives: Guideline Development: The consortium developed the "Screening and Treatment Optimization for AF" guideline, designed to facilitate early detection of AF within regional healthcare systems. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: A comprehensive analysis conducted to assess various screening scenarios for AF, evaluating the economic feasibility of different approaches. Thematic Collaboration: In early 2022, a thematic collaboration titled "Juiste Hartzorg op de Juiste Plek" was established in partnership with the Heart Foundation and ZonMw. This collaboration secured funding for 22 regions to support transmural collaboration on AF and HF, with a focus on early detection and treatment optimization. Moving forward from September 2022, NVVC Connect will intensify support for the regions by emphasizing continuous improvement through the PDCA cycle, facilitating knowledge sharing, and implementing innovative approaches. These efforts are aimed at strengthening collaboration and improving outcomes in AF and HF care across the participating regions.