Activities Report 2022 / 2023
Public Health Rotterdam

Section

Youth Health Care

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In our research group we focus on public health for youth and other vulnerable groups. With our research we aim to contribute to equal opportunities to prevention and care for everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity etc. by contributing to improved prevention and care practices and policies.

Using participatory approaches such as co-creation, and both qualitative and quantitative research methodology, we study health and well-being. Topics include health equity, parenting, frailty, care (use and) pathways, lifestyle behaviour and the (urban) environment.

We apply mixed methods, ‘big data’ approaches and implement community (randomised) trials. Our international research group conducts and leads European and (inter)national projects funded by Horizon Europe, ZonMw, and other (inter)national institutions.

Sustainable public health is a key research topic of our team and ongoing projects include WELLBASED (energy poverty and health; wellbased.eu), K-Health in Air (indoor air quality and health; k-healthinair.eu/) and HORUS (urban health; horus.eu).

Highlight

SEEDS

The Science Engagement to Empower aDolescentS (SEEDS) project aimed to engage and empower boys and girls from low socio-economic areas in living healthy lifestyles. Together with teenagers interventions were designed, co-created and subsequently implemented in schools in Spain, The Netherlands, Greece and the UK. Interventions were focused on improving snacking behaviour and physical activity. The effectiveness of the resulting interventions was evaluated using a cluster-randomized controlled study design.

K-HEALTHinAIR

K-HEALTHinAIR is an interdisciplinary research project that aims to increase knowledge about chemical and biological indoor air pollutants affecting human health, and to provide solutions for more accurate monitoring and improvement of indoor air quality. The project will leverage on a novel artificial intelligence algorithm and advanced data analysis to identify the determinants, their sources, and the potential health risks of indoor air quality.

A rigorous research action based on data collected through real-life scenarios, public health surveillance, and particularly vulnerable groups such as high-risk outpatients, elderly people, pregnant women, and children, will investigate the holistic correlations between indoor air quality characterization and its harmful effects on health.

Section: Youth Health Care