Tackling loneliness will also cut healthcare costs
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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. These are the findings of a study among nearly 350,000 people in the Netherlands. The difference is greatest among young people (aged between 19 and 40). “This is concerning in the light of the current measures, which are hitting young people hard”, the researchers say.
The research, conducted by Rachelle Meisters, Daan Westra, Dirk Ruwaard and Maria Jansen (RL Creating Value-Based Healthcare), Hans Bosma (RL Health Inequities and Societal Participation) and Polina Putrik (GGD ZL) appeared last week in the International Journal of Public Health. The study was also featured in newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
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Our new professors Tim Welting en Paul Willems: "People finding each other is crucial for innovation”
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Tim Welting and Paul Willems were appointed professors in 2020. Both new professors work in the department of Orthopaedic Surgery at MUMC+ and are connected to the research line Functioning, Participation and Rehabilitation. Paul Willems is a professor of Integrated Spinal Care. Tim Welting is a professor of Experimental Orthopaedics specialised in molecular cartilage biology. 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.
Read the entire interview
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New Funding Advisor CAPHRI: Vivian Braeken
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As of 1 January 2021 CAPHRI has a new Funding Advisor: Vivian Braeken, PhD. She works at the FHML Grants Office and replaces Anne Gilsing, who is now Funding Advisor of NUTRIM.
Vivian can provide you with information on grant opportunities and composes the triannual Funding Alert which presents important upcoming open calls. In addition, she can support you in developing, writing and editing your grant proposal.
Get to know more about Vivian here.
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Research and innovation in elderly care now spans the whole of Limburg
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The successful partnership the Living Lab in Ageing & Long-Term Care is being expanded. Three care organisations from North and Central Limburg have now joined the partnership, thus covering the entire province. Initiated by Maastricht University to promote improved and innovative care for the elderly, the living lab’s partners include home care organisations in Limburg, as well as more than 185 care homes, totalling around 50,000 clients and 27,000 members of staff.
Read more
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Many things go wrong in science, as they do everywhere. But why are the failures, setbacks or dead ends in research rarely exposed? Mark Spigt (chair RL Optimising Patient Care) was interviewed by Observant about his experiences with "failed science".
Read the entire interview here.
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Loss of muscle is an important risk factor for premature death in hospitalized geriatric patients
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Wather Sipers (RL Ageing and Long-Term Care), geriatrician at Zuyderland recently received his PhD on his study on loss of muscle strength and muscle mass (also called sarcopenia) in elderly who are admitted to hospital. In his study he shows that sarcopenia is common in geriatric patients and is an important risk factor for premature death. Research into the presence of sarcopenia is unfortunately not a regular part of the diagnosis and treatment of these elderly people and this leads to the underestimation of this problem.
The study was featured in De Limburger. The coronavirus pandemic strengthens the importance of the study as COVID-19 patients spend a long period in hospital and thus lose muscle strength, Sipers argues.
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Training before surgery leads to fewer complications after surgery
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Exercise prehabilitation prior to colon surgery reduces the risk of complications by nearly 50 percent. Bart Bongers (RL Functioning, Participation and Rehabilitation) told about the importance of prehabilitation in front of the RTV Maastricht camera (minute 1:42). The study was conducted in collaboration with the University Medical Center Groningen, Medisch Spectrum Twente and Twente Hospital Group. The results were published in the prestigious journal Annals of Surgery.
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Give to....more inclusive research and good health for all!
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We still talk too much about instead of with people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This is why Gera Nagelhout, Latifa Abidi (RL Promoting Health and Personalised Care) and their colleagues at the Department of Health Promotion want to set up a permanent advisory group composed of people who have to make ends meet on little money. Drawing on their own personal experience, these people will advise on research carried out at the department. To achieve this, a crowdfunding campaign has been started in collaboration with the University Fund Limburg/SWOL, the charitable foundation of Maastricht University.
Read more and donate online now via www.umcrowd.nl
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Science communication lunch sessions
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Are you interested in science communication? Join the online #SciCommLunch on Wednesdays from 12.30-13.00, organized by Prof. Gera Nagelhout (RL Promoting Health and Personalised Care). With your participation you also support Gera's crowdfunding campaign (see above).
Every Wednesday there is a different guest who is active in the field of science communication (for example as a blogger, podcast maker, in the media, or on social media). The language spoken during the sessions is Dutch.
More information and registration
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Why don't you need 8 hours of sleep?
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Merijn van de Laar (Family Medicine) gave a free 15-minute lecture "Why don't you need 8 hours of sleep?" at the University of the Netherlands. Merijn obtained his PhD in 2017 for his study on the relationship between insomnia and personality traits. The UniversityNL offers entertaining, easy-to-understand and enthusiastic lectures by a scientist or professor working at a university.
Watch the lecture (in Dutch) here
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Equity starts in the lunchbox
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Equity starts with healthy food and exercise for áll children. This conviction was the foundation of the Healthy Primary School of the Future project. An extensive article about the impressive results of the project appeared in the science section of NRC Handelsblad. Read the article here.
On 5 March 2021 Marije Oosterhoff will defend her thesis on the health-economic impact of the Healthy Primary School of the Future.
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The most comprehensive living review of COVID-19 related prediction models: Key findings
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Prediction models combine characteristics of a patient and their health to estimate an individual’s risk and optimize care and the allocation of resources. Laure Wynants (RL Optimising Patient Care) and a group of international researchers systematically reviewed 236 models for COVID-19, from simple pen-and-paper scoring systems to artifical intelligence that automatically interprets medical images. Together with a panel of severe COVID-19 survivors and laypeople, they wrote a summary of the findings.
Have a look at the easy-to-read key findings of the PRECISE project.
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As you probably already know the NWO network has been hacked and the application process has been suspended indefinitely. Our Funding Advisor Vivian Braeken informs you about the consequences for calls and awarding grants.
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Read more
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Inaugural lecture Gera Nagelhout
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On 19 March 2021 at 16:30, Prof. Gera Nagelhout (RL Promoting Health and Personalised Care) will give her inaugural lecture entitled: "Stap voor stap naar een gezonder leven voor iedereen" (Step by step towards a healthier life for everyone).
More information and registration
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Save the date: inaugural lecture Hilde Verbeek
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Hilde Verbeek, professor of Long-Term Care Environments (RL Ageing and Long-Term Care) will give her inaugural lecture on 9 July 2021 at 16:30 in the Aula of Maastricht University.
More information (in Dutch)
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04-03-2021 Richard Houghton (Optimising Patient Care) Utilisation And Outcomes Of Treatment In Autism Spectrum Disorder
05-03-2021 Marije Oosterhoff (Optimising Patient Care) The Healthy Primary School of the Future: evaluating the health-economic impact of primary school-based lifestyle interventions
16-03-2021 Judith Graser (Functioning, Participation ad Rehabilitation) Contextual Interference – The Challenging Way Towards Evidence In Paediatric Neurorehabilitation
17-03-2021 Katya Sion (Ageing and Long-Term Care) Connecting Conversations - Experienced quality of care from the resident’s perspective: a narrative method for nursing homes
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