At least 1,000 of its citizens wanted for the stressonderzoek

Gent

The city council invite all citizens to take part in Nervocity, a large-scale stressonderzoek, in co-operation with the research centre of imec (belgium). “With this research, we want to see what are the factors that are in the city, a lot of stress, and how they are able to refute,” says Rudy Coddens, alderman for Health policy. Participants will be able to fill out a questionnaire and submit an application to be monitored by a smartwatch.

The central research question is: “What makes the people stress in an urban environment, and how can the city and our partners are doing to help you? “

The research project will run for two years, and it’s a Friday start. “For all of its citizens be able to fill out a questionnaire on the www.nervocity.be. There is also a paper copy in the library of The Krook, and in all of the wijkbibliotheken. The goal is to have between 1,000 and 1,500 participants, where the aim is to attract the best possible reflection of the Ghent populace on the area, such as age, gender, place of residence and socio-economic status. Those who participate will receive a report as well as the chance to win a great gift voucher to the value of 20 to 300 euros,” said the city’s administration.

The research team at imec (belgium) will take place in 2020, participants to the second part of the study is to select one. “Then, to transfer the participants to a period of time, a ‘smart watch’. The watch will also monitor the stress level of the user. As soon as the elevated values are observed, check the watch, other data, such as location information. With the accompanying app, the user can also get feedback from students. All measurements are to be anonymously gathered in a stresskaart to be in Ghent, where a lot of the stress experience.”