ANNUAL REPORT 2014UTRECHT UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

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An annual report is an excellent opportunity to show one’s unique qualities. With this report we want to showcase our Research Centre Innovation of Healthcare in order to clarify for our stake holders our contribution to the improvement of health. And then I think, good wine does not need bush. We know the quality of our Research Centre that managed to reach great results again. It did so because of the high quality and often unique expertise, applied to diverse “customers” in health care, research and education, with the

help of a network that is very special in the Netherlands.The harvest of the past year is extra rich, as our professors and researchers have made important progress in the conceptualization of the construct of autonomy. The Research Centre did so in response to the suggestion of the external review committee Ter Horst, who encouraged us to become leading on this topic in the Netherlands. We owe this to our position, noblesse oblige, as per the committee. As Research Centre we accepted this challenge.

Independence in daily living and autonomy is a trending topic. Decision makers expect much of this in order to organize a sustainable health care system. Opinion leaders have a heated debate as to what it means and how we can give it a place in research and education. The Research Centre made its first steps in conceptualizing autonomy and sees the significance mainly in the resilience for independent living, with each other’s help, no matter what life has in store for you. A meaningful concept that will most likely find its way into the educational profiles. A concept that also says something about the collaboration and mutual support within our Faculty. What is more enjoyable than to support each other in order to bring out the best in each other?

With this, we are leading the way in the Netherlands,I hope you find this report enjoyable and informative,

Harm Drost, Faculty director

FOREWORD

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CONTENT

1 Foreword 03

2 The 2014 facts 05

3 Autonomy as a common theme 06

4 Appointments 08 • Ellen Gerrits professor Clinical Language, Speech and Hearing Sciences 08

5 Doctoral degrees 11 • Henri Kiers obtains doctorate on causes low back pain 11 • PREDOCS: prevention of complications after heart surgery 14

6 New Research 16 • Focus on aphasia 16 • Basic Care Revisited: examination of basic care 18

7 Finished projects 20 • Living room improves well-being among elderly 20

8 Awards and grants 22 • Three NWO doctoral scholarships for researchers 22 • Nomination App for best care innovation 24

9 Farewell 27 • Professor Luc Vanhees bids farewell 27

10 International 30 • Visit by British group: focus on eHealth 30 • European grant for intervention in children 32 with linguistic development disorder • Dry eyes at congress contact lens specialists 35 • Utrecht Summer School: 18 nationalities 36 • Congress: enriched environments for aging adults 38

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2THE 2014 FACTS

• 5 RESEARCH GROUPS • 6 PROFESSORS • 76 MEMBERS OF THE RESEARCH GROUPS • 28 DOCTORAL STUDENTS• 56 SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS• 52 PUBLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS • 130 PRESENTATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALS • 89 SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS AT CONGRESSES • 298 BACHELOR AND MASTER STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN RESEARCH

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The external review committee Ter Horst rated the Research Centre Innovation of Health care as excellent, but also gave the advice to focus on autonomy. This is why dr. Maarten Hageman was appointed as project leader autonomy in June 2014. Currently there is a solid framework for further collaboration between the research groups and a solid image to the outside world.

In the coming years autonomy will be a very important theme in the Western world, says Maarten Hageman in June. “The essence of this concept does not lie in concealed expenditure cutting, but rather in a positive notion: health care provision should start with the person, the whole person, with his limitations and possibilities. Care should meet individuals’ needs, while taking into account individuals abilities to take care of oneself. This demands a multidisciplinary approach. Until now, (home) care has been very fragmented, which is being accepted less and less by patients and professionals. Society demands personalized care. To be able to deliver personalized care collaboration is needed. Increasingly, health care specialists will have to offer a product as part of a team. That will not happen automatically; you need to understand the language used in other disciplines than your own. Only then can you mutually reinforce each other by way of your own expertise and collaboratively offer a product that supports the individual patients in their (rest) abilities.

With this notion Hageman started to work this summer. He conducted intensive discussions with the professors of the Research Centre about the definition of the concept Autonomy, but also about how their collaboration on this subject could take shape. And soon the hard work paid off for everyone. There is consensus on the definition of Autonomy, which is:“Autonomy is the capacity of an individual to conduct life independently, with or without support, in order to function and optimally participate in society in accordance with his needs and possibilities”

AUTONOMY AS COMMON THEME

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Based on this definition a working document was written which contains the following mission of the Research Centre:By performing high quality practice based research we develop knowledge and tools for professionals to increase autonomy. We ask ourselves which factors play a role in autonomy and how we can influence these. That is how we contribute to innovation of health care with autonomy as a key concept. We explore themes that pertain to prevention, cure and care. We work from our own expertise. Health for us is more than merely the absence of disease or infirmity; it is people’s ability to adapt and self-manage in response to the physical, emotional and social challenges of life. We focus on activities of daily life, not just the general activities, but also the instrumental (including the digital) activities. In our research we focus on the level of the individual and on communities. We also do include the social environment of the individual.

From this definition and the working document advice was given to upper management to offer direction, space and support to autonomy as a key concept within the Research Centre. We strive to progress the Faculty towards a national knowledge centre for autonomy.

There is a world of societal possibilities and developments around the theme of autonomy. By joining forces on this very important theme, an organic multidisciplinary collaboration will ensue, with the Research Centre as focal point.

“WE CONTRIBUTE TO INNOVATION OF HEALTH CARE WITH AUTONOMY AS KEY CONCEPT”

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The chair of the research group Speech Therapy; participation through communication, has been appointed professor Clinical Language, Speech and Hearing Sciences at the Humanities faculty of Utrecht University. The chair is endowed by the Dutch Association for Logopedics and Phoniatrics and Utrecht University.

Her research programme focuses on the improvement of language and communication of children with speech and language disorders through innovation of speech and language therapy. “It is important more research is done into the efficacy and effectiveness of speech therapy treatment” says Gerrits. “As speech therapist you want to choose the best treatment available. However, in many cases it is unknown what the best treatment is. What is the best treatment to expand vocabulary, does a meta-cognitive approach improve language comprehension, what are the predictors of outcome in language therapy? My work as a professor Clinical Language, Speech and Hearing Sciences is the development of a research programme focusing on language development disorders in children and the carrying out of this programme together with speech therapists. This, because of the importance of the knowledge transfer to daily clinical practice. Education is also an important part of the position. Students in the University’s master Clinical Language, Speech and Hearing Sciences are educated to become academics who contribute to the development, dissemination and implementation of scientific knowledge in the area of voice, speech, language, hearing and swallowing disorders. The research group Speech therapy; participation through communication of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences is closely associated with the Chair. The research programme has the same focus. An important advantage is that theory and practice come together, says Gerrits. Scientists who are involved in theory development on language acquisition often have never treated a child with a language development disorder. And professionals who work in clinical practice who treat these children do not always use credible scientific research to back up their interventions. By involving speech therapists in the research by the Chair synergy will develop between scientific knowledge and experience with treatment of children with language development disorders. Gerrits hopes that in 5 years a number of speech therapists will be doing their doctorate work or have finished it. And that knowledge developed on the efficacy of speech and language therapy has reached the speech therapists.

/ APPOINTMENTS

ELLEN GERRITS PROFESSOR

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HENRI KIERS OBTAINS HIS DOCTORATE ON CAUSES OF LOW BACK PAIN

/ DOCTORAL RESEARCH

Why do some people develop chronic back pain? One of the factors that plays a role is proprioception. Henri Kiers sought to find out how it works. On November 21st he received his doctorate at the Catholic University Leuven.

“Low back pain is the problem with the largest impact on personal life in western societies” says Henri Kiers, researcher in the research group Lifestyle and Health and director of the Institute of Human Movement studies of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. “There are lots of different therapies, but there is very little knowledge on the causes of low back pain. The only thing we know for sure is that exercise and physical activity help, but we also know it helps but a little.”

This is why it is important to understand why some people develop chronic low back pain. Kiers: “One of the factors that may possibly play a role is proprioception. Proprioception is the sense of posture and physical activity with which we make a picture of our body in our brain. People with low back pain seem to know less well where their back is and this may lead to local overexertion or wrong use of the back.”

During his doctoral work Kiers measured whether people with low back pain weigh their proprioceptive signals from muscles differently from those without

“THE ONLY THING WE KNOW FOR SURE IS THAT EXERCISE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY HELP BACK PAIN - A LITTLE”

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low back pain. He measured this using muscle vibration in 215 police officers from Utrecht. In addition, these subjects were subjected to a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test to determine how fit they were overall.

“Notable is that people with low back pain weigh the signals from their back as less important in making a picture of their body” says Kiers. “Proprioception from the back is used less than by people without back pain. That was also true for proprioceptive signals from the ankles. People with low back pain used those less as well. In addition, this effect of low back pain was not caused by less physical activity or physical fitness of these people with low back pain.

Fitness did influence the degree to which people use proprioception to maintain their posture, but the effect of low back pain on proprioception is unrelated to fitness.

There was another interesting finding according to Kiers. When people stand on an unstable surface, like a foam pad or balance board, they use the proprioceptive signals from their ankles less. This is striking, because most training programmes for ankle instability and proprioception use balance boards and other unstable surfaces. We will have to rethink these programmes.The importance of the research lies in a number of recommendations for clinical practice to optimize current interventions for low back pain. In addition the findings help solve a small part of the chronic low back pain puzzle.

Kiers defended his dissertation titled “Proprioception; associations with low back pain and physical activity” on Friday November 21st in Leuven. His promotor was professor dr. Luc Vanhees.

“PROPRIOCEPTION - WE WILL HAVE TO RETHINK THESE PROGRAMMES”

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WE SHOULD RECONSIDER CURRENT PROGRAMMES FOR PROPRIOCEPTION” “PEOPLE WITH LOW BACK PAIN USE PROPRIOCEPTIVE SIGNALS FROM THEIR BACK AND ANKLES LESS

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/ DOCTORAL RESEARCH

With a simple programme nurses can prevent complications after heart surgery in elderly patients. More than one third of patients has care-related complications, such as delirium, depression, pressure ulcers or an infection. These often lead to longer hospital stay and lower quality of life after the hospital admission. Unnecessary, is the conclusion of Roelof Ettema’s doctoral research. He received his doctoral degree on March 13th.

More and more elderly leave the hospital in worse condition than upon entering. Ettema sought to find out why. He followed 14.190 older open heart surgery patients in three hospitals: the Isala hospital in Zwolle, the St Antonius hospital in Nieuwegein and the University Medical Centre in Utrecht. In 1,761 patients he found that 36% of the heart surgery patients developed care- related complications.His research started with looking closely at what happens to patients during surgery and their stay on Intensive Care to determine why some people develop complications. Ettema used data from 11.395 patients. Thereafter, in prognostic research in 1.761 patients, predictors for complications were derived, from which 4 weeks before surgery it could be predicted if an open heart surgery patient was at risk for a care-related complication. In a series of follow-up investigations in 1,034 patient and 255 nurses and cardiac surgeons he looked for effective preventative interventions.

With that knowledge Ettema developed the PREDOCS programme. This consists of a series of measurement tools that nurses can use to determine risk for care-related complications four weeks before surgery. In addition, the programme includes a number of interventions in preparation for hospital admission. This is how PREDOCS helps reduce the number of care-related complications. Ettema received his doctoral degree on March 13th at the University Utrecht. His first promotor was prof dr. Marieke Schuurmans, who is also chair of the Chronic Disease research group at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. In 2015 Ettema started a large multi-centre trial of the PREDOCS programme. In addition Ettema coordinates preparatory work for similar programmes for preoperative screening of stomach-liver-intestine surgical patients, oncologic surgical and orthopaedic surgical patients.

PREDOCS: PREVENT COMPLICATIONS AFTER HEART SURGERY

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FOCUS ON APHASIA / NEW RESEARCH

Since its start the research group Speech therapy; participation through communication has been focussing on language and speech impairments in children. With the continuation of this research group in 2014, the focus was broadened to include a new patient group: adults with acquired brain damage.

Children make up an important part of the work done by speech therapists. But also adults with acquired brain damage, for example because of a stroke, have language and speech impairments. In our ageing society that group of patients will grow and with that the demand for effective interventions. The focus of this investigation agrees with the motto of the research group; it is all about maximal communicative self-reliance and participation in society. On September 1st dr. Lizet van Ewijk started as the lead investigator of the new research into adults. She is a speech therapist. She was educated in the United Kingdom and received her doctorate degree from Utrecht University in 2012. After her doctorate she started as a faculty member at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. In addition to her teaching appointment she will do practice based research into new diagnostics and the efficacy of existing interventions for patients with aphasia.

The studies that have started pertain to the development of new instruments to measure quality of life in patients with aphasia. The first project, in collaboration with rehabilitation centre the Trappenberg, focuses on the development of a well normed and validated quality of life questionnaire for patients with (and without) aphasia after stroke. Data for the normative data come from two cohort studies: the Stroke Cohort Outcome Rehabilitation project (SCORE study);

“OUR RESEARCH FOCUSES ON OPTIMAL COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTIONING AND PARTICIPATION”

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a study among patients after stroke with and without aphasia that is conducted in the Rijnlands Rehabilitation Centre, together with Sophia Rehabilitation. In addition, the SAQOL-39NL is used in the TEA study (tDCS and aphasia), a randomised multi-centre effect study on transcranial direct current stimulation in patients after stroke with aphasia in the sub-acute phase. For this study the Erasmus medical Centre, department of rehabilitation, collaborates with the rehabilitation centres of Rijndam (Rotterdam), Libra (Tilburg and Eindhoven) and Revant (Breda).

The second project concerns the development of a new naming test for patients with aphasia. Two Clinical Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences students are working on this project. Various grants have been applied for; van Ewijk hopes to expand the number of researchers for her studies in 2015.

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What works in basic nursing care? The effectiveness of many interventions and actions is unclear. Six Dutch universities and Universities of Applied Sciences are going to collaborate to change this. The research group Chronic Disease will examine the theme nutrition, together with the Radboud Medical Centre.

The Basic Care revisited partnership received funding for 5 years from ZonMw in 2014. In addition to Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and the Radboud Medical Centre, Maastricht University, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, the HAN University of Applied Sciences and Utrecht University participate in this project. In three couples of a University and a University of Applied Sciences ten trials will be conducted in the area of basic nursing care. The trials focus on 4 main themes: communication, washing and getting dressed, mobility and nutrition. The trials will be conducted in three settings: hospital, nursing home and home care. Thousands of patients will be involved in the trials. In addition, two British universities are interested in conducting similar trials. This would expand the dataset even more.

Dr. Roelof Ettema is project leader for HUAS. In 2014 the first PhD student, Debbie ten Cate, MSc, started. The first aim is to conduct a literature study into nutritional interventions in the nursing context. After this, exploratory studies will be conducted in clinical practice. Thereafter, an intervention will be developed to signal malnutrition in elderly people living at home who are waiting for hospital admission or who have just been discharged from the hospital and to bring them to a good nutritional status.

At the start of year 4 of the project a trial will be conducted.

BASIC CARE REVISITED: FOCUS ON BASIC CARE

/ NEW RESEARCH

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“UTRECHT UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES WILL DEVELOP AN INTERVENTION TO SIGNAL MALNUTRITION”

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LIFE ENRICHED CARE FACILITIES FOR AGEING ADULTS

/ FINISHED PROJECTS

How can you adjust the physical environment of frail ageing adults so that it contributes to the well-being of those older people and the work experience of care professionals? This is the main question of the Life enriched care facilities study of the research group Demand Driven Care of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. On November 26th a common room of a small scale living facility was presented that is designed and decorated according to the insights gained in the study.

The well-being of elderly people is influenced by the environment in which they live. This study focused mainly on three aspects of the physical environment:

BEFORE

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light, acoustics and air quality. Sufficient daylight, for instance, lessens the risk for falls, justified use of colours can influence mood and emotions positively and interventions in the acoustics of a space can help older people with hearing problems understand their companions.

The study was financed by SIA RAAK. In May SIA allocated an extra grant to the project, under the name of networks for growth. The purpose of the extra allocation was to better embed the knowledge gained from this study in the regional networks of small and medium-sized enterprises and public institutions.With the grant the researchers have redesigned a common room in the small-scale living facility of WZH de Strijp in The Hague via light and acoustics interventions among others. The common room is part of a complex of a small scale facility with two common rooms, and a multitude of bedrooms surrounding it. In the coming months the researchers will monitor the residents and collect data to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions. Ultimately, the knowledge gained in this project will be shared with care organizations and professionals in the building and installation sectors.

AFTER

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THREE NWO PHD GRANTS FOR TEACHERS

/ AWARDS AND GRANTS

In 2014 three researchers of the Research Centre Innovation in Health Care received a PhD track support grant from NWO. This grant exempts them from a part of their educational duties so that they can do their doctorate work. There were hundreds of submissions; but in the end in 2014 90 grants were awarded.

On February 10th Michiel Punt (Lifestyle and Health) and Gerda Bruinsma (Speech therapy, participation through communication) received their grant from minister Bussemaker from OCW. Punt focuses on falls after stroke. It is unknown why people who have had a stroke fall more often and there is no

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effective intervention to prevent falling. Punt wants to develop an effective therapy for people with high fall risk by studying how walking and falls are related. The research by Bruinsma focuses on speech therapy for children with developmental language disorders and the extra help these children receive at school. She wants to know whether these interventions are effective and they might be improved upon.

On October 8th Janke Oosterhaven (Lifestyle and Health) received her grant from the minister and state secretary Dekker. Her research focuses on rehabilitation for patients with chronic pain. Many such patients leave the programme early. Janke investigates why and how often that happens. The hypothesis is that this is related to poor health literacy.

“OF THE 90 GRANTS IN 2014, THREE WENT TO THE RESEARCH CENTRE INNOVATION IN HEALTH CARE”

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In November was the election of the Best Care Idea in the Netherlands. In the finals was an app which helps signal medication problems in clients. Utrecht University of Applied Sciences was involved in the development.

The idea for the app comes from Carolien Sino, director of the Institute for Nursing studies at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and pharmacist Eric Hiddink of Health Base. The home care app, together with 4 other ideas was selected from 540 submissions. The best Care Idea should, according to organising health insurer ONVZ, “contribute to the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of care. It should be feasible in Dutch health care and achievable within a year.”

Although the app got no more than a nomination, it received much attention from the field.

Carolien Sino: I received my doctorate recently on Medication Management in home care patients. Part of the study was a signalling instrument for home care workers to detect problems with medication early. I am now conducting follow-up research. In this study an early signalling app for medication problems is being tested by a team of community nurses and a pharmacy in Schagen. Community nurse Judith van Leeuwen and home care workers of care organisation Omring and the Schager pharmacists will test the app in the fall of 2014. Home care workers, community nurses, primary care physician and pharmacists can report faster and simpler through the app and intervene earlier. With this new way of working, the home care professionals also seem to be saving time.

APP NOMINATED FOR BEST CARE IDEA

/ AWARDS AND GRANTS

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“HOME CARE PROFESSIONALS CAN REPORT SIMPLER AND INTERVENE EARLIER WHEN THERE ARE MEDICATION PROBLEMS”

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/ FAREWELL

After being a professor at the UAS for 12 years, Luc Vanhees bids farewell on October 3 2014. In his farewell lecture, he looked back at the forming of the research group Lifestyle & Health. He pointed out that the path the Research Centre is following, will be completed soon: research and education will be interlaced within one University of Applied Sciences.

The title of the farewell lecture was “Aspiration leads to Inspiration. From research group to University of Applied Sciences.” Vanhees recalled that the aims of the introduction of research groups in higher professional education (2002) were to further professionalization of faculty and knowledge development. Vanhees was professor at the Catholic University Leuven, but accepted the invitation by Utrecht because of the unique opportunity to develop practice based research from scratch that fit closely with the research topics at the university.

In the beginning, the research group concentrated on the relations between physical activity, various components of health related physical fitness and 4 health problems with large societal impact, namely cognition (dementia), chronic low back pain, cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome and finally children with spina bifida.The research group steadily increased in size, but Vanhees had to step back to 20% because of his obligations in Leuven. In 2007 Harriet Wittink was appointed co-Chair and responsible for a whole series of new research projects.

The research group of Vanhees was combined in 2005 with the two other

CHAIR LUC VANHEES BIDS FAREWELL

DESPITE THE DISTANCE, VANHEES TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO START PRACTICE BASED RESEARCH FROM SCRATCH”

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research groups in existence within the Faculty of healthcare. Thereby Vanhees, together with Marieke Schuurmans and Helianthe Kort, was the founder of the Research Centre Innovation of Health care. The aspiration that stood at the base of the foundation of the Research Centre was the creation of synergy in research. That goals was quickly expanded to include the translation of research results to the curricula within the FACULTY. That aspiration fits with the broader development towards academization of higher professional education and the conduct of practice based research at the Universities of Applied Sciences, that was translated into the HU2020 vision. We are moving towards a University of Applied Sciences and Vanhees has made an important contribution in one of the first research groups and co-founder of the Research Centre.

In his farewell Vanhees points out the importance of inspiration, but also the importance of getting the inspiration on the right track. The transition towards a University of Applied Sciences will only be a success when everybody is inspired, not just the Chairs and the researchers, but also the students and faculty. Faculty members can be inspired when they are involved in the aspirations of the Research Centre. We need to strive for more unity within the Research Centre by focusing on a common theme: self-reliance. The research group, the Research Centre, the faculty and Utrecht University of Applied Sciences are moving in the right direction, concludes Vanhees.

“THE ASPIRATION OF THE RESEARCH CENTRE IS TO CREATE SYNERGY IN OUR RESEARCH”

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THE TRANSITION TOWARDS UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES WILL ONLY BE A SUCCESS WHEN EVERYONE IS INSPIRED: CHAIRS, RESEARCHERS, FACULTY MEMBERS AND STUDENTS

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BRITISH GROUP: FOCUS ON EHEALTH

/ INTERNATIONAL

The research group Demand driven care of the Faculty of Health care organised an international knowledge exchange programme in May between Coventry University and Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. The central theme was eHealth.

The visit was in line with the spearhead Care and Technology of the faculty of healthcare . It also overlapped with eUceps, the Utrecht network of personalised health and self-management, in which the Research Centre is closely involved.

From May 13-15 the Consumer Models for Assisted Living (COMODAL) project team from the institute for Health Design & Technology from Coventry University visited the Faculty. The purpose of the COMODAL project, financed by the Technology Strategy Board is to support the development of electronic assisted living technologies (eALT) for the consumers market.The COMODAL group focuses on people in the age category from 50-70 years. The group investigates the question which elements hinder the development of a consumers market for eHealth. In addition, the COMODAL group develops business models, through collaboration with consumers, the industry and the third sector to make technology accessible and consumer friendly.

During the symposium various speakers discussed a variety of topics. For instance Judith Tielen, researcher in the research group Marketing, market research and Innovation of Utrecht University of Applied Sciences give insight into the consumer market for eHealth. Thijs van Houwelingen, researcher in the research group demand driven care identified predictors for the use of eHealth. Furthermore, in addition to researchers from the COMODAL group, researchers from the University Medical Centre and Technical University Delft presented.

Backstage, the possibilities for collaboration between Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and the Health Design & Technology Institute were discussed. Also discussed were the possibilities for exchange of students and researchers, joined grant applications and joined projects.

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“BACKSTAGE THE POSSIBILITIES FOR COLLABORATION BETWEEN UTRECHT AND COVENTRY WERE DISCUSSED”

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EUROPEAN GRANT FOR INTERVENTION FOR CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE PROBLEMS

The research group Speech therapy, participation through communication, is involved in a large project to improve the identification, care and education for children with developmental language problems. At least 16 countries take part in the project. The project is supported by an European grant.

It is estimated that 5.8 million children and young people have a developmental language disorder. Several studies have shown that interventions have a positive effect on language proficiency of these children. Scientific publications however are often poorly accessible for professionals in care and education. New knowledge that is relevant for evidence based practice and innovation of interventions therefore does not reach clinical practice sufficiently. In addition there is much variation in treatment and guidance within Europe.

To improve identification, care and education for children with developmental language disorders in Europe, a European grant application was submitted entitled “Enhancing children's oral language skills across Europe and beyond: a collaboration focusing on interventions for children with difficulties learning their first language.“ The EU has honored this COST Action IS1406 application (www.COST.eu). At least 16 European countries participate. The COST Action is led by James Law from the university of Newcastle in England. From the Netherlands Ellen Gerrits (chair Speech therapy) Jan de Jong (UvA) and Rob Zwitserlood (Royal Auris Group) participate. In the project knowledge will be assembled on three themes that pertain to interventions for language development disorders.

/ INTERNATIONAL

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The themes are: 1. The linguistic and psychological underpinning of interventions, 2. European best practices in care and education 3. The effect of social and cultural context on interventions

From this Action congresses and workshops will be organized wherein scientists and professionals work together on gathering information and dissemination of knowledge across the three themes. Early stage researchers will get the opportunity to get some experience in another European institution for a period. The kick-off meeting is on April 17, 2015 in Brussel. News about the Action can be followed in twitter@COSTIS1406. 

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DRY EYES ON CONGRESS: CONTACT LENS SPECIALISTS

What do family doctors and Optometrists know about Dry Eye Disease (DED)? How much do they think they know? Who sees the most patients and which tools do these groups of professional have to diagnose DED? PhD candidate Mirjam van Tilborg presented this part of her research at a British Congress.

Van Tilborg is a faculty member in Optometry. In addition, she is working on her doctoral research on Dry Eye Disease (DED) at Cardiff University and the research group Demand Driven Care. Her research focuses on care pathways for DED for the working population aged 18-65 years. Particularly the work related complaints have received little attention according to van Tilborg; primary care physicians, health and safety experts and occupational physicians could work together better, from prevention to treatment. Her research consists of three phases: the first is a survey conducted among primary care physicians and optometrists. Both groups were asked about their knowledge of DED. They were asked about the definition, diagnose and treatment methods of DED. Van Tilborg also investigated how many patients both groups see. It appears that optometrists see the most patients. Knowledge about DED, however, varies strongly, making it uncertain whether a patient gets the right advice or the right treatment.

Van Tilborg presented on this phase of her research on the yearly congress of the British Contact Lens association, where optometrists from the whole world meet each other.

/ INTERNATIONAL

“KNOWLEDGE OF DRY EYES VARIES, WHICH IS WHY PATIENTS DO NOT ALWAYS GET THE RIGHT TREATMENT”

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The Research Centre organized 6 courses for the Summer School 2014. All courses were well visited by students from a large number of different countries.

The Faculty of Health care offered 15 courses in total for the Utrecht Summer school from introduction to advanced level. Of these 13 started; six were organized by Chairs and researchers from the Research Centre Innovation of Health care. The research group Demand Driven Care organized a course “health and engineering” that was given by the Chair Helianthe Kort and researcher Emelieke Huisman. The Chair Innovation of Care Processes in the Pharmacy up, Ad van Dooren, gave two courses on collecting, managing and monitoring of clinical data.

Pieterbas Lalleman, researcher in the research group Chronic Disease, gave two courses on leadership in healthcare, once on bachelor level and once on master level. All courses were given in collaboration with faculty members and researchers from international universities.

In total about 220 students with 18 different nationalities attended the courses of the Faculty of Health care. Almost a third of the participants were students from Utrecht. The rest of the students came from Spain, Greece, England, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Norway, France, Portugal, Turkey, South Korea, Brazil, Pakistan, India, the US and Indonesia.

/ INTERNATIONAL

SUMMER SCHOOL: 18 NATIONALITIES

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“IN TOTAL ABOUT 220 STUDENTS WITH 18 NATIONALITIES ATTENDED THE SUMMER COURSES OF THE FACULTY OF HEALTH CARE”

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/ INTERNATIONAL

Within the framework of the world conference ISG 2014 the chair of the research group Demand Driven Care organized a symposium with the title “creating enriched environment for ageing adults” From June 18-21 2014 specialists from across the whole world found each other in Taipei, Taiwan. Researchers Emelieke Huisman and Sigrid Vorrink of the research group presented their projects there.

The congress was organized around the question how technology can be applied to support the ageing population in fully participating in society. Challenges here are being and staying healthy, living with chronic disease, the necessity to work until advanced age and safe commuting to work.

During the symposium, in 4 presentations and a panel discussion the identification of factors in the physical and social environment were discussed that could be changed from barriers to facilitators for older adults. In two presentations the topic was day light and acoustic interventions in care institutions. In the other two presentations the central theme was how physical activity can contribute to social inclusion of aging adults. An important point of attention in all presentations and the panel discussion was the question how insights can be translated to concrete products and architectural adjustments.

The conference of the International Society for Gerontechnology is held twice yearly. ISG was the 9th edition.

'CREATING ENRICHED ENVIRONMENTS FOR AGEING ADULTS'

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“CENTRAL QUESTION IS HOW SCIENTIFIC INSIGHTS CAN BE TRANSLATED TO CONCRETE ARCHITECTURAL ADJUSTMENTS”

'THE RESEARCH CENTRE DOES RESEARCH FOR AND WITH CLINICAL PRACTICE'

Bolognalaan 1013584 CJ Utrecht

www.ivz.onderzoek.hu.nlkenniscentrumivz@hu.nl

Photography: Harold van de Kamp Dirk Verwoerd / Atelier PROHU Beeldbank, Jurjen DrenthText: Sjoerd van der LindenDesign: RAAK Grafisch Ontwerp

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