Care and Public Health Research Institute

Suntan as beauty ideal hinders sun protection for children

Parents in the Netherlands don’t protect their children sufficiently from the sun. An overly positive view of suntanned skin seems to be partly to blame. Karlijn Thoonen: ‘We really have to get away from the idea that a suntan is “attractive and healthy”.

Nursing homes still reluctant to relax restrictions despite high vaccination rate

Despite a vaccination coverage of around 80 per cent, most nursing homes in the Netherlands have not yet significantly relaxed their visiting restrictions, according to recent research by Maastricht University (UM) and Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc) in Nijmegen.

Co-creation Impact Compass: Working together for more impact

The Co-creation Impact Compass supports healthcare researchers to select helpful and valid co-creation tools for the right purpose and at the right moment. 

“We need to actively involve people in vulnerable population groups in research on healthy living”

What do people in vulnerable segments of the population need in order to live healthy lives? This is the question Gera Nagelhout’s research focuses on. The new CAPHRI professor likes to involve her target group in her research. “If you only come up with things for people rather than with them, you will fail to reach them.”

“We need to actively involve people in vulnerable population groups in research on healthy living”

What do people in vulnerable segments of the population need in order to live healthy lives? This is the question Gera Nagelhout’s research focuses on. The new CAPHRI professor likes to involve her target group in her research. “If you only come up with things for people rather than with them, you will fail to reach them.”

Healthy Primary School of the Future - online talkshow

Children become healthier when they have healthy lunches at school, exercise in different ways and learn about healthy behaviour while at school. This is the result of the Kennis As project Healthy Primary School of the Future. For four years, Maastricht University scientists compared more than 2200 children at four project schools with those at four regular schools. The successful project has become the focus of a special talkshow, which you can watch here.

'Broader societal perspective needed to combat pandemic consequences'

In order to help politicians and policymakers make better decisions in future pandemics, health scientists’ advice must take into account the effects that pandemic-related measures have outside of the healthcare sector much more. Health economists from Maastricht University and the English city of Birmingham therefore call for a broader societal perspective in studies evaluating the economic impact of corona measures.

Edmond Hustinx Prize 2020 goes to Laure Wynants

Laure Wynants together with a team of forty researchers from the Netherlands and abroad, started a living review to review and appraise all published papers on COVID-19 prediction models. She was awarded the Edmond Hustinx Prize 2020.

“People finding each other is crucial for innovation”

Tim Welting and Paul Willems were both appointed professors in 2020. Quietly, as they have not yet been able to celebrate their inaugurations. After all, you can’t throw a party during a pandemic. But what you can do is give an online interview. Here, they talk about their work, their plans, and what drives them.

Tackling loneliness will also cut healthcare costs

Maastricht researchers argue that urgent measures are needed to tackle loneliness in society. Aside from their mental welfare needs, people who suffer from severe or very severe loneliness incur 40 to 50 percent higher healthcare costs up to a year later compared to people who don’t feel lonely. The difference is greatest among young people aged between 19 and 40.

Research and innovation in elderly care now spans the whole of Limburg

The successful partnership the Living Lab in Ageing & Long-Term Care, initiated by Maastricht University, is being expanded. Having been joined by care organisations De Zorggroep, Proteion and Stichting Land van Horne in north and central Limburg, the partnership now covers the entire province.

Technology as a weapon against antibiotic resistance

Become a leader in the field of public health and care research!

Are you a post-doc researcher, with more than 5 years’ research experience, and do you have the ambition to improve your knowledge and skills to become a leading researcher in the field of public health and care research? The Public Health and Care Research leadership programme is designed to support you. 

Meet our new Funding Advisor: Vivian Braeken

Mark Spigt new chair RL Optimising Patient Care

As of 1 January 2021, Mark Spigt is chair of the Research Line Optimising Patient Care (OPC).

Intensive and palliative COVID-19 care by GPs relieved hospitals

Dutch GPs provided intensive and palliative care outside the hospital to a large number of older and vulnerable COVID-19 patients. This way, they inadvertently contributed to preventing hospitals from becoming overloaded.

Crowdfunding campaign for better corona recovery

Prof. Jeanine Verbunt wants to develop a digital ‘corona aftercare instrument’ to help GPs diagnose these issues and prescribe the right course of treatment. To achieve this, a crowd funding campaign has been started.

Care Network Elsloo is praised for interprofessional collaboration and receives John Horder Team Award 2020

The team of "Zorgnetwerk Elsloo" has been awarded the John Horder Team Award 2020. This award is presented annually to "a team working within the community that can demonstrate outstanding principles of collaborative working".

Large-scale research into the impact of corona on regional hospitals

A study that examines how hospitals have tackled the corona crisis and what the impact has been on the well-being of the staff has been strated recently. All 23,000 employees of five Limburg hospitals were asked to participate in the study. 

Kootstra Talent Fellowship for Alena Kamenshchikova

Alena Kamenshchikova (RL Health Inequities and Societal Participation) was awarded a Kootstra Talent Fellowship. During the next months she will study the challenges of cross-border infectious disease control.

CAPHRI Midterm Evaluation 2017-2019

On Tuesday 1 December 2020, CAPHRI will host an assessment committee that will be reviewing the performance of CAPHRI and our six Research Lines during the period 2017-2019. The primary aim of the midterm review is to reveal and confirm the quality and the relevance of the research to society and to improve these where necessary.

Consortium receives €11 million grant in the fight against antibiotic resistance

As part of the National Science Agenda, NWO is providing a grant of 9.8 million euros to the DARTBAC project: Dutch Antimicrobial Resistance Technology development and Biofilm Assessment Consortium. An international interdisciplinary consortium led by MUMC+/CAPHRI researcher dr. Chris Arts will spend the next 6 years researching new technological solutions to the explosively growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Best PhD Research award for Dorijn Hertroijs

Dorijn Hertroijs won the Karolinska Medical Management Centre & EHMA Research Award for the best PhD research in the past two years.

Onderzoek naar huisartsenzorg tijdens de COVID-19 pandemie van start

Nivel and the University Medical Center Groningen, in collaboration with the Departments of Family Medicine of MUMC+ (RL Optimising Patient Care) and Radboud UMC Nijmegen, started a study (funded by ZonMw) into “Changes in organisation and use of care in GP practices and GP out-of-hours centres: lessons from the covid- 19 pandemic ”

Evaluation allied health rehabilitation care COVID-19 patients

A national research consortium will evaluate allied health rehabilitation care for COVID-19 patients in close collaboration with the professional field. The consortium consists of researchers from various knowledge centers throughout the Netherlands, including the Department of Physiotherapy and Epidemiology of CAPHRI's research line Functioning, Participation and Rehabilitation. 

A healthy school lunch and more exercise in primary school helps tackling obesity

RIVM, Maastricht University / CAPHRI, Wageningen University & Research and VU University Amsterdam studied the support, feasibility, affordability and impact of healthy school lunches and more physical exercise at all Dutch primary schools. The results are promising.

Hilde Verbeek appointed member of Council for Medical Sciences

Since 1 November Hilde Verbeek joins the Council for Medical Sciences of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). 

Can your neighbourhood make you sick?

Low individual socioeconomic status (SES) is known to be associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Hans Bosma and colleagues found out that living in a low property value neighbourhood in Maastricht is associated with higher rates of T2DM, independently of individual SES.

Cum laude for Floor van den Brand

On 21 October Floor van den Brand obtained her PhD with the Cum Laude predicate. She studied the effects of financial incentives for smoking cessation

Groot onderzoek naar antistoffen coronavirus

De GGD Zuid Limburg, GGD Limburg-Noord, Provincie Limburg en Maastricht UMC+ starten vanaf vrijdag 23 oktober een onderzoek naar antistoffen en de verspreiding van het coronavirus in Limburg. De resultaten van het onderzoek geven straks belangrijke informatie voor inwoners, beleidsmakers én wetenschappers over het virus en de verspreiding in Limburg.

Nursing homes will go all out to prevent visiting bans during the second coronavirus wave

Dutch nursing homes say they want to avoid closing their doors to visitors during the second coronavirus wave if there is an infection among residents. At the same time, they say they can’t guarantee there will be no more visiting bans.

Recognizing palliative care needs in patients with advanced heart failure

The tool I-HARP (Identifying Heart Failure Patients with Palliative Care Needs) has been launched recently This tool facilitates caregivers in the timely identification of palliative care needs in patients with advanced heart failure and their loved ones. 

Improving personalized treatment in oncology

The Dutch Cancer Society (KWF) awarded a grant (€950.000) to the research project ‘Improving personalized treatment in oncology. Towards shared decisions based on integrated information regarding treatment options, health status and patient preferences’.

Futureproof Practice Family Medicine located in the South of Limburg

PlusPraktijken: a futureproof and sustainable practice in family medicine.

Marianne Nieuwenhuijze benoemd tot hoogleraar Midwifery/Fysiologische Verloskunde

Marianne Nieuwenhuijze is benoemd tot bijzonder hoogleraar Midwifery/Fysiologische Verloskunde bij Universiteit Maastricht. 

Timo Clemens new Vice-Chairman VHC

Dr. Timo Clemens is appointed vice-chairman of CAPHRI’s research line Creating Value-Based Health Care (VHC).

Also fewer HPV infections in unvaccinated women

Petra Woestenberg obtained her PhD (Cum Laude) with her dissertation called: "Measuring the effects of HPV16/18 vaccination on HPV positivity and anogenital warts". Petra investigated the effects of the HPV vaccination programme in the Netherlands. Her research concluded that HPV vaccination is very effective in protecting against HPV infection.

“Why not move Carnival to summer?”

Christian Hoebe, professor of Social Medicine and head of Infectious Disease Control at the GGD Zuid-Limburg, discusses his passion for social medicine, his childhood in Alkmaar and, of course, the fight against COVID-19.

Research shows urgent need to teach healthy habits in primary school

Children’s health improves if they have a healthy lunch at school, get varied exercise and are taught in class about healthy behaviour. These are the findings of the ‘Healthy Primary School of the Future’ project, the final results of which will be announced during a symposium in Venlo on Tuesday, September 22.

Jan Hamers nominated for 2020 Huibregtsen Prize

Prof. Jan Hamers, professor of Care for the Elderly is one of the six nominees for the 2020 Huibregtsen Prize, which is awarded to recent research that is both scientifically innovative and socially relevant. 

ERC Starting Grant for Olga Zvonareva and Francesca Rapino

Show the importance of public health, especially now!

With an inspiring campaign in Maastricht, Public Health students of Maastricht University have contributed to the launch of the global initiative 'This is Public Health' (TIPH). Their goal? To showcase what public health is and why it is so vitally important for promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of our communities.

ERC Starting Grant for Olga Zvonareva

Olga Zvonareva has received an ERC Starting Grant, which is an European research grant for young academics at the career stage at which they are starting their own independent research team or programme. 

Patients with severe COPD benefit from a daily dose of morphine

The daily use of low-dose morphine tablets by patients with a severe form of the lung disease COPD has a positive effect on quality of life, and has no negative side effects. These are the findings of a recent study by Cindy van den Berg-Verberkt and Dr Daisy Janssen of the Ciro knowledge centre and Maastricht University (UM).

Million euro grant for euregional corona research

Maastricht University, GGD South-Limburg and the health services in neighbouring Belgium and Germany were granted an Interreg subsidy of 955,000 euros for a large Euregional COVID-19 study. (Article in Dutch)

Large-scale study on the impact of relocation on nursing home residents

Prestigious grant for study on relocation of nursing home residents

Hilde Verbeek, Jan Hamers (RL Ageing and Long-Term Care) and their team were awarded a grant of € 1.730.000 by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS). They will study how relocations in nursing home care be improved for residents and their loved ones, while contributing to their quality of life and quality of care.