The Long Game: learning to act strategically in healthcare

Being a good dietitian requires more than professional knowledge. In a changing healthcare sector, it is also important to recognize interests, collaborate effectively and have an influence on decision-making. The Relational Care research group developed The Long Game to help dietetics students build these strategic skills while still in training.

Background

The professional position of dietitians is under pressure. Dietetics students, who will later find themselves in this professional position, see this reflected in internship shortages, high workloads, and limited recognition of dietitians' expertise. Strong professional expertise does not automatically lead to influence or a strong position within healthcare. In a changing healthcare sector, skills such as advocacy, collaboration and strategic communication are increasingly important. As a relatively small professional group, dietitians need to be able to position themselves effectively. The Long Game responds to this need by teaching students how to make their expertise visible and strengthen their professional position.

Goal

The Long Game teaches students to recognize interests and power dynamics in healthcare, exert influence and position themselves professionally. In doing so, they develop the confidence to act strategically and within ethical boundaries.

A new way of thinking about how the dietitian profession is shaped: active, motivating, and directly applicable, by combining a game environment with clear learning objectives.

Yvonne van Zaalen – professor Research Group Relational Care

Method

The Long Game is a curriculum-wide, low-tech serious game in the form of a paper-based negotiation and role-play exercise. Using realistic scenarios, first- and second-year students practice recognizing and handling interests, power dynamics, decision-making, and framing. In year 4, they reflect on their development and learn to apply these insights to strategically position their professional role as a dietitian within complex healthcare contexts.

Results

The project will deliver a flexible and transferable format that enables students in different years of study to practice strategic thinking and action. The results include:

• a flexible game format with role and intervention cards that can be used with different scenarios and cases across the curriculum;
• a ready-to-play serious game with cases from dietetics and nutrition, tested as a pilot in the existing curriculum;
• a guide for teachers in years 1 to 4 and reflection tools for students;
• assessment and evaluation tools for all years of study;
• findings from the pilot and a roadmap for embedding the game in the curriculum;
• a toolkit that enables other allied health programs to use the format.

Impact

The Long Game helps future dietitians make their expertise visible and confidently influence complex healthcare situations. Students learn not only what high-quality nutritional care involves, but also how to advocate for it in professional practice.

This contributes to a stronger professional position for dietitians and a future-ready profession. The approach also offers opportunities for other allied health programs to prepare students for a healthcare sector in which collaboration, balancing different interests and strategic action are becoming increasingly important.

Duration

This project runs from September 7, 2026, through February 28, 2028.

Funding

Comenius Teaching Fellows Grant, NKO

Collaboration

The project collaborates with healthcare professionals, the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) and health insurers.

Team

Matthijs Fleurke, Research Group Relational Care.

More information

More information about The Long Game will be shared during the project.

Contact

Matthijs Fleurke
[email protected]