Research group Lifestyle and Health
The Research group Lifestyle and Health supports people with chronic health conditions. We act to promote their self-reliance by, among other things, improving their physical condition so they are more capable of doing what they want to do.
Lines of research within the research group
This line of research is concerned with preventing so-called ‘drop-out’ during pain rehabilitation (PREPGO) and relapse after pain rehabilitation (SOLACE, AGRIPPA). This concerns people with chronic pain, who often have physical, social and mental problems that greatly reduce their quality of life. One of the aims of pain rehabilitation is to train people to adopt new patterns of behaviour. But not everyone is able to sustain these new behavioural patterns (relapse). Maladaptive disease perceptions play a role in maintaining unhealthy patterns of thought and actions (PERCEPT study).
Projects
- AGRIPPA
- SOLACE
- PERCEPT
This line of research is concerned with people who are experiencing difficulty moving due to their having suffered a stroke. These people are often not physically active enough, and therefore run the risk of comorbidities such as diabetes II and (increased risk of) cardiovascular diseases. They are also unable to fully participate in their living environment (neighbourhood). We provide tools for kinesio-therapists and physiotherapists that are designed to encourage people to exercise more. At the same time, we know that when people start exercising more after a stroke, there is an increased risk of falling. This is the focus of the ‘Making sense of sensor data’ study.
Projects
- Active after Stroke (ACTS)
- InveStigating and Stimulating long Term walking Activity IN stroke (SUSTAIN)
In this line of research, the motor development of infants is studied for the purpose of early detection of possible abnormalities in their development. The aim of ‘Wat beweegt jou?!’ (‘What gets you moving?!’) is to employ a systemic perspective in the development of toolboxes for SME paediatric physiotherapists, with which they can improve the care they provide to children with disabilities. The ‘Let's Ride’ study focuses on improving the wheelchair skills of children with disabilities, so that these children can be more self-reliant within their environment.
Projects
- Godivapp Applied in Pediatric Primary care (GoAPP)
- Let's Ride
UPPScAle
This strategic partnership is a powerful transnational collaboration between international institutions offering European bachelor Physiotherapy programmes aiming to innovate, improve and standardise undergraduate physiotherapy pain science curricula.
How active are you?! Activity monitoring in children
Physical activity is essential for all children, with and without disabilities. Pediatric physical therapists support children to participate in physical activities and facilitate a physically active lifestyle. So far, no valid and feasible activity monitor is available to measure the level of physical activity in children.
Publications
- Illness perceptions; exploring mediators and/or moderators in disabling persistent low back pain Multiple baseline single-case experimental design
- Non-specific neck pain: to match or not to match? Does matching the treatment to diagnose improve outcomes?
- Physiotherapists’ knowledge, attitude and practice behavior to prevent chronification in patients with non-specific, non-traumatic, acute- and subacute neck pain: A qualitative study
Education
Our aim is to develop knowledge for and with educational practice, and to renew the educational programmes of students and refresher courses for lecturers.
“We actually conduct our research together with therapists and patients. It is very important for us to have all stakeholders participate in our research projects”
Harriët Wittink Professor of Lifestyle and Health
Collaboration
The research group develops knowledge for and with professional practice (especially Cesar kinesio-therapists and physiotherapists). The aim is to innovate our healthcare and to establish networks in the area of exercise and health.
Our professors and researchers
Would you like to collaborate or do you have any questions?
