# Experiences from the summer school in Netherland - Savonia AMK > The theme of the summer school was health for the future. ## Overview It was a pleasure to participate in a summer school organized by Hanze University of Applied Sciences on the theme of Future Health. The summer school is a three-week course of study in which Savonian students participated for the first week. A total of 30 students from different countries such as the United States, Canada and of course Finland participated in the summer school. The summer school was coordinated by four teachers from Hanze-UAS, Gronigen Netherland and included teachers from the United States, Canada, and Finland. For the Finnish students the summer school was part of the working and studies in international environment course. ## Health for the Future The theme of the summer school was health for the future. Major health problems are being tackled all over the world. The population is ageing globally, technology is advancing, and our understanding of the human body is increasing. This puts pressure on health systems in all countries to deliver services of high quality and excellence. At the same time raises the question: how can we ensure that we stay healthy for longer to reduce the strain on health systems? This theme was addressed by describing the social and health care systems in different countries. Finnish students gave a description of our current welfare areas and the services they provide and they description of occupational health care and rehabilitation from Finland. ## The TOPOI Model The TOPOI model was developed by Edwin Hoffman to investigate differences in communications. Hoffman referred to this difference as ”communication noise”. While communicating, we are constantly influencing one another and there is a power to change these influences if we are aware of them. We hadn’t heard about the TOPOI model before, and we found it interesting and an important thing to understand. This model is useful for example in organizations which includes many different fields and professionals to collaborate. Everyone may have different habits and ways of thinking and there is a risk of misunderstandings because of that. It is also useful in international environments to help understand each other when communicating. The TOPOI model is used to analyze communication, and it is a tool to detect possible misunderstandings and conflicts during and after conversation. The model is based on the assumption that communication is universal, and the emphasis is on interaction. Culture means the patterns of behaving and thinking, that we have learned, that we are familiar with and that we share with others in our community. ## Health Literacy Health literacy involves the knowledge, motivation, and skills to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information to make decisions about healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion (Sorensen et al 2012). Low health literacy is linked to poorer health outcomes, higher hospitalization rates, and increased use of emergency departments for primary care (Hickey et al 2018). Everyone with long term illness should have a healthcare companion walking on their side to make sure they understand and follow the instructions. They should be given understandable and reasonable guidance through conversation not just written one. Instructions should be given in their own language avoiding medical terminology. ## Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) One interesting theme highlighted during the lectures of the summer school was Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs. In 2015, the United Nations released the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to promote prosperity while protecting the planet (UN 2015). This Agenda includes 17 specific goals to guide the way towards a better and more sustainable future for all (UN 2015). Higher education institutions could increase their commitment to implement SDGs by increasing sustainability research and adding those in teaching by including sustainability-related topics in curriculums. There are also different ways to promote implementation of the SDGs: collaboration across university units, networking across universities (both national and international) and collaboration among HEIs with local communities, businesses and NGOs (Leal Filho 2023). ## Conclusion Altogether, we spent an interesting week in Netherland thanks to Erasmus+ student exchange programme and we can recommend this experience for everyone interested in internationalization and travelling. The week was a nice combination of studying and leisure time. It made us also realize that we get along quite well in foreign language, and we got encouraging feedback of our English skills from native speakers. ## Authors * Mari Pitkänen, Minna Rutanen, Minna-Mari Uusitalo (students in Master’s degree program of rehabilitation) * Marja Äijö (Principal lecturer), Savonia University of Applied Sciences ## References * Digipass 2023. TOPOI method. https://www.digi-pass.eu/ST-Culture-How-to. Referred 23.6.2024. * Hickey Kathleen T, Masterson Creber Ruth M, Reading Meghan, Sciacca Robert R, Riga Teresa C, Frulla Ashton P, Casida Jesus M. 2018. Low health literacy: Implications for managing cardiac patients in practice. Nurse Pract. 2018 Aug;43(8):49-55. doi: 10.1097/01.NPR.0000541468.54290.49. PMID: 30028773; PMCID: PMC6391993. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6391993/ * Hoffman, Edwin 2024. Inclusive communication and TOPOI-model. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379815719_Inclusive_communication_Edwin_Hoffman. Referred 23.6.2024. * Leal Filho, W, Lange Salvia, A. & Pires Eustachio, J. H. P. 2023. An overview of the engagement of higher education institutions in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol 386, 2023,135694, ISSN 0959-6526, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135694. Referred 16.6.2024 * Sorensen, Kristine, Van den Broucke, Stephan, Fullam, James, Doyle, Gerardine, Pelikan, Jurgen, Slonska, Sofia, Brandt, Helmut & (HSL-EU) Consortium Health Literacy project European 2012. Health literature and public health: A systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health 12,80. https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-12-80#citeas * The United Nations 2015. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. A/RES/70/1. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf. Referred 16.6.2024