MOHT Healthy Precinct Project
Jurong Lake District
Jurong Lake District (JLD) Healthy Precinct Project is a project by MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) to conduct an in-depth site- specific research and behavioural needs assessment of 4 behaviours: Physical Activity, Healthy Eating, Socialisation and Sleep within a selected Jurong area.
JLD Healthy Precinct Project originated from the vision to implement an integrated, comprehensive, whole-of-ecosystem approach to health promotion, based on the Socio-ecological Model for health promotion. It was understood that health behaviours are not shaped just by knowledge, but also by the environment and community and cultural norms. As such, the JLD Healthy Precinct Project is one of the pilot projects that aimed to understand the socio-environmental determinants of health behaviours.
Among the various methods conducted, a prominent assessment was the “Kopi Chat” session that adapted the approach of Q-methodology, a social science research method used to systematically study people's viewpoints. Kopi Chat was presented as a mini game to make community engagement more enjoyable. Participants were asked to rank 25 quotes based on what they agreed with the most to least. Factor analysis was subsequently used to identify the most distinctive latent factors, representing common shared ways of thinking.
Cross-examination of site and programmatic mappings, needs assessments, and data analytics culminated in 20 problem statements, categorized among various archetypes and health behaviours. These problem statements serve as useful guidelines in co-creating future urban planning, architectural design and community programming for a Healthy Precinct in JLD and Greater JLD.
