Health programs struggling with complexity: A case study of the Dutch 'PreCare' project

This article aims to understand the effects of rationalized health programs (the basic components of which are efficiency, calculability, predictability and control) on local practices. We discuss how a successful U.S. intervention in preventive youth health care (the Nurse Family Partnership) has been translated and adapted within a Dutch setting. The Dutch version of the program is called 'PreCare'. The empirical analysis highlights the effects of rationalized health programs on local practices, in terms of the amount of work required, how local practices are disciplined, how these programs... Mehr ...