Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Dr. Hilde Verbeek

Hilde Verbeek is an Associate Professor at the Department of Health Services Research, within CAPHRI, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. She is the Scientific Director of the Living Lab in Ageing and Long-Term Care. This is an interdisciplinary and formal partnership of Maastricht University with seven long-term care providers, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and two vocational training institutes. For over 20 years the Living Lab has served as an infrastructure that drives scientific research in long-term care in co-creation with end-users, including older people and their relatives, health care professionals, policy makers and educators. The network covers approximately 110 long-term care facilities (e.g. nursing homes, assisted and group living facilities) as well as professional home care, and includes about 30,000 clients and more than 15,000 staff.
The research line of Dr. Verbeek focuses on innovations in long-term care for older people, especially dementia care. In particular, she studies effects of care environments (organizational, physical and social aspects) on residents, caregivers and the broader community, taking a trans-disciplinary perspective (psychology, nursing science, gerontology). Examples include small-scale, homelike care environments and green care farms.  Her research contributes to the development of evidence-based interventions and design in long-term care. Results facilitate training of front-line care staff, and support policy makers in developing best practice strategies in organization of long-term care.

Dr. Bram de Boer

Bram de Boer holds a Master degree in Social & Health Psychology from Maastricht University, the Netherlands since 2012. During his studies Bram worked as a research assistant at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience. After obtaining his Master degree Bram did a PhD at the Department of Health Services Research (HSR). In 2017, Bram successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled ‘Living at a green care farm, An innovative alternative for regular care in nursing homes for people with dementia’. After his PhD Bram worked at KU Leuven on the Trans-Senior Horizon2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie innovative Training Network Grant. Bram now works as a post-doctoral researcher at the HSR department at Maastricht University and works as a ‘Linking Pin’ at Mosae Zorggroep for The Living Lab in Ageing and Long-Term Care. Furthermore Bram teaches within the Bachelors Health Sciences, European Public Health, and the Master Healthcare Policy, Innovation & Management.

Prof. Silvia Evers

Silvia Evers studied Health Sciences (Mental Health Sciences; Health Policy & Administration), Epidemiology, and Law (Labour and Social; Health Law). Since the early nineties, she has been working as a researcher in the field of Economic Evaluations/Health Technology Assessment at the Institute for Rehabilitation Research, the Maastricht University (Epidemiology; Health Economics; Medical Sociology), the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Centre for Care Studies), the University of Amsterdam (Pedagogics), and the University Hospital Maastricht (Neurosurgery). Next to research she has been working as a legal and policy advisor at the Faculty of Psychology of Maastricht University, where she headed the Research Institute of the Faculty Board.
Currently she holds a chair on Public Health Technology Assessment at the Maastricht University, department of Health Services Research at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science and at the Care and Public Health Research Institute (Caphri) and at the Netherlands School of Primary Care Research (CaRe). Next to that she is working at the Trimbos Institute, the Centre of expertise on mental health and addiction in the field of HTA research since 2013.
She is involved as an HTA-project leader and supervisor in numerous (clinical) trials funded both nationally (ZonMw, NWO, industry, etc) and internationally (EU, OECD). She is a co-ordinator and a senior lecturer in HTA and Health Economic courses, especially in Health Science Research Master (HSRM) and in the Master Healthcare Policy, Innovation and Management (HPIM). Currently, she has been the co-supervisor of more than 25 PhD. students and about 150 Bachelor and Master students. She has co-authored over 250 publications (Hirsch Index = 40 google.scholar).
Her chief current research efforts are directed towards the methodology of economic evaluation of public health interventions, meta-analysis and quality of life analysis. She has a special interest in the application of these methods looking at innovative interventions in the field of brain related and mental diseases, public health, youth, and rehabilitation. She is editor of the Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics and BMC Health Services Research and a member of several national and international working groups and referee for several journals and research programmes.

Prof. Jan Hamers

Prof. dr. J.P.H. (Jan) Hamers, RN, PhD, is a Full Professor of Care of Older People at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and visiting professor at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. He is deputy chairman of the department of Health Services Research and head of the multidisciplinary research program ‘Ageing and Long-Term Care’ at the Research School Caphri. Furthermore, he is founder and director of the Living Lab in Ageing and Long-Term Care and chairman of the Dutch Scientific College of Nursing Science.

Prof. dr. Ruud Kempen

Prof. dr. G.I.J.M. (Ruud) Kempen, originally trained as a medical sociologist, has been interested in ageing research from the early eighties of the last century. His master thesis, PhD thesis, post-doc and visiting fellowships, assistant and associate professorships were all directly related to aging research. Nowadays he is one of the two professors of social gerontology in The Netherlands. From May 2016 he is the President of the Dutch Society of Gerontology.

Prof. Kempen leaded from 2005 to 2019 the research programme 'Ageing and Long-Term Care', until 2019 he was Board Member of the Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI) and currently he is since 2014 program director of the Bachelor Health Sciences at Maastricht University. So far he published in his area of research more than 230 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and more than 300 other articles, chapters and abstracts. He supervised 20 external funded research projects (earning power more than 5 million Euros). Prof. Kempen is/was furthermore involved in the supervision of 30 PhD-trajectories and he was member of more than 50 PhD judgment committees. Kempen was Associate Editor of Quality of Life Research and since 2003 fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Main interest:
Psychosocial aspects of aging. On the one hand this refers to psychosocial determinants of independency and quality of life in old age. On the other hand his work comprises the development, evaluation and implementation of related innovative health care programs to slow down processes of disablement and to improve quality of life.

Dr. Silke Metzelthin

Silke Metzelthin is an Assisstant Professor at the Department of Health Services Research, within CAPHRI, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. Her research line focuses on innovations in care for community-dwelling older people. In particular, she develops and evaluates interventions that teach front-line care staff to actively engage older people in daily and physical activities taking into account innovative care concepts like reablement or function focused care. These concepts have in common that (home) care services are provided in a goal-oriented, holistic and person-centred way, taking into account the capabilities and opportunities of older adults instead of focusing on disease and dependency. Her research aims to facilitate successful aging and postpone or prevent nursing home admissions. In addition, Dr. Metzelthin works one day a week as scientific advisor for the Living Lab in Ageing and Long-Term Care. The Living Lab is an interdisciplinary and formal partnership of Maastricht University with seven long-term care providers, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and two vocational training institutes. Her task is to integrate research, policy, practice and education within MeanderGroep South-Limburg, one of the participating long-term care providers. MeanderGroep has approximately 5600 employees and provides home and institutional long-term care. Furthermore, Dr. Metzelthin teaches within the Bachelors Health Sciences, the Master Healthcare Policy, Innovation & Management and the Master in Medicine.

Dr. Erik van Rossum

Lector Erik van Rossum werkt sinds 2003 bij Zuyd Hogeschool als docent-onderzoeker in het domein Gezondheidszorg en Welzijn. Van 2008 tot 2016 was hij, ondersteund door zorgorganisatie Sevagram, bijzonder lector Zorginnovaties voor kwetsbare ouderen. Vanaf 2017 is hij lector op het terrein van Wijkgerichte Zorg en tevens co-programmaleider van de themalijn Wijkgerichte Zorg en Samenwerking van het Expertisecentrum voor Innovatieve Zorg en Technologie (EIZT).

Hij combineert zijn werkzaamheden voor de hogeschool met een aanstelling als senior onderzoeker aan de Universiteit Maastricht, vakgroep Health Services Research (onderzoeksinstituut Caphri en Academische Werkplaats Ouderenzorg Zuid-Limburg).

Na zijn opleiding Gezondheidswetenschappen (1986) en aansluitende promotie-onderzoek aan de Universiteit Maastricht (promotie in 1993 op studie naar de effecten van preventieve ouderenbezoeken door wijkverpleegkundigen) heeft hij als universitair docent onderzoek op het terrein van de ouderenzorg gecontinueerd en onderwijs verzorgd, vooral gericht op de methoden en technieken van onderzoek. Zijn onderzoeks- en onderwijsactiviteiten richten zich momenteel op integrale concepten voor ouderen en andere kwetsbare groepen in de thuissituatie.