It seems logical to support every youngster with a mild intellectual disability as close to their home as possible. However, in reality, this is a huge challenge, requiring organizations to adopt a different way of thinking, doing and collaborating. I assisted ‘s Heeren Loo in this transformative journey through bottom-up storytelling and vision building. The outcomes have been presented to the board and will serve as a catalyst for the strategic goals of 2023-2028.

By adopting a holistic perspective on the care needs of youngsters and their families, and viewing their stories in their entirety, we strived to shift the mindset of healthcare professionals and the organization. We presented three innovation directions to transition from a model of caring for clients to one that supports them as people.
As project lead I was responsible for managing the process, content and stakeholders. Together with a co-worker I executed multiple research activities collaborating with youngsters, their families and staff. These resulted, among other things, in five experience stories and a conversation tool for public use.


