Centre of Expertise Health Innovation
Social and technological innovations for a vital and resilient environmentWe are seeing a growing focus on providing care closer to home, taking ownership, small-scale care and flexible networks. Technology is a mainstay in our transition to a more sustainable positive health and even creates more opportunities. The Health Innovation Centre of Expertise uses technological innovations to promote health and create the conditions for a healthy life cycle.
The Health Innovation Centre of Expertise engages the residents in the metropolitan region of Rotterdam The Hague (MRDH) in resolving health issues that will affect them in life and wants people to experience an improved positive health. This includes preserving vitality, rehabilitating functions, supporting people in their daily activities and participating in social life. We connect the knowledge and expertise from research, education and practice and invest especially in a ‘Healthy Lifestyle’, ‘Care and Rehabilitation’ and a ‘Healthy environment’.
As a Centre of Expertise we believe there is added value in addressing complex health issues from multiple perspectives. Several Health Innovation research groups are working together with government and private partners in the labs at THUAS to resolve practice-based cases. How about the fitness centre or hospital room of the future, or the use of robots? We tell a more comprehensive and complete story about Health Innovation and our work is instantly recognisable and identifiable to the outside world.
Projects
Towards Responsible Rebellion: governance and participation in collective housing for seniors
Living labs in The Hague Sports District
The Impact of Sport research group investigates the unifying power of sport in the Escamp district of The Hague, so-called ‘The Hague Sports District’. Researchers work with residents, students, local sports organisations and businesses in living labs, a research hub at the heart of the community, where the creative energy of all parties can be unleashed in a casual atmosphere. Living labs enable experimentation with innovative sports offerings and new forms of (sports) organisation and collaborations in a ‘real life setting’. The group is realising four living labs in Escamp, starting in the Morgenstond neighbourhood, on and around the fields of HKV Eibernest.
Blogs
Blogs of a researcher: reading, reading and more reading
In my first blog I described how I am researching the problem of the neighbourhood sports coach. I wanted to know more about the evaluation and accountability of the social impact of interventions. I worked on this in recent weeks ...
Read moreBlogs of a researcher
Conducting the research. Most students find it ‘boring. And difficult’. In this monthly blog I will share with you my experiences as a researcher. What challenges I encounter and how I resolve these issues. I will show you that res...
Read moreResearch Group Impact of Sport
Article
The effects of neighbours on sport club membership
Report
What role can men play in facilitating gender equity in Football Governance?
Article
Special issue European Sport Management Quarterly, Social responsibility and the European sport context
Article
An analysis of the multi-level factors affecting the coaching of elite women athletes
Chapter
The Direct Economic Impact of International Sport Events for the Hosting City
Research Group Technology for Health
Article
“I Stood By and Watched”: An Autoethnography of Stakeholder Participation in a Living Lab
Research Group Urban Ageing
Special issue
Special Issue about Age-friendly Cities published
Article
Towards Responsible Rebellion
Article
The challenges of urban ageing: Making cities age-friendly in Europe
Article
Special issue European Sport Management Quarterly, Social responsibility and the European sport context
The contribution frames the special issue ‘Social responsibility and the European sport context’. It investigates and aims to inspire the discussion around what constitutes a European approach in social responsibility and sport management research focusing on how the special historical and persisting features of the European (sport) context impact on knowledge creation and diffusion.
The article reflects on the contributions included in the special issue; is based on reviewing relevant management literature; and is guided by the authors’ rich observations derived from their deep involvement in the international space of social responsibility in and through sport, spanning research and practice.
Four anchors are suggested and explored as promising avenues to constitute ‘European-ness’ in social responsibility and sport management research. In short, these are investigations driven by empirical data; a comparative approach; comprehensive literature review; and theoretical/conceptual development. It is argued that the theory anchor is the most critical and challenging, but not fully developed yet.
The article contributes a critical view on the potential for American/English hegemony in sport management scholarly activity, also impacting on one of its popular and growing sub-fields: social responsibility. Enhanced intellectual fertility and diversity of perspectives will produce more accurate understandings of the role and conceptualisation of social responsibility in European sport, impacting on both theoretical richness and relevance for contextually-embedded sport organisations.
Breitbarth, T, S. Walzel & F. van Eekeren (2019), Special issue European Sport Management Quarterly, Social responsibility and the European sport context. Volume 19, 2019 DOI: 10.1080/16184742.2019.1566931Article
An analysis of the multi-level factors affecting the coaching of elite women athletes
High-performance sport systems offer athletes access to arange of experts including excellent coaches. This study examines the macro-, meso- and micro-level factors associated with coaching elite women athletes within a high-performance sport system.
This research was underpinned by constructionism and critical feminism. The data were collected via semistructured in-depth interviews with 10 international male elite rowing coaches with experience in coaching men and women athletes and analysed using thematic analysis. The data shows that at the micro-level, coaches differentiate their practices based on the gender of the athlete. These practices are influenced by meso-level factors (perceived value of sport participated by women) and shaped by macro-level factors (socio-cultural background of the coaches). Coaches’ socio-cultural experiences influence their construct of gender and affect their approach to coaching women athletes. Hence identifying macro-level factors can help managers understand coaches’ perspectives, philosophy and practice at a micro-level.
The use of a multi-level approach to examine the factors associated with coaching elite women athletes offers a unique holistic approach to understanding how multi-level factors affect the coaching of women athletes.
de Haan, D. and Sotiriadou, P. (2019). An analysis of the multi-level factors affecting the coaching of elite women athletes. Management Sport and Leisure. DOI: 10.1080/23750472.2019.1641139
Chapter
The Direct Economic Impact of International Sport Events for the Hosting City
Cities and communities around the world are aware of the different possibilities and benefits that may stem from hosting an international sport event. Such events provide a platform for cities to pursue positive effects and financial growth despite history indicating that hosting sport events, especially mega and major sport events, does not generate only positiveoutcomes and impacts for communities.
One common argument used to justify hosting and investing in sport events is the economic surplus and social welfare generated by the people and organizations that take part in the event in multiple different roles and forms. Impacts generated by sport events appear in many ways, such as economic impacts, tourism and visitor impacts, social impacts, customer and visitor satisfaction, promotional value and brand image impacts, participation and cohesion, environmental impacts and effects on the lifestyle and vitality of the surrounding community.
In this chapter, the direct economic impact generated by three international sport events organized in Finland and the Netherlands are assessed. The magnitude of the studied events can be estimated as medium-sized international sport events, with two of them being World Championships tournaments and the other a World Championships race. Conducting event impact research is a complicated process which includes numerous phases and viewpoints. From policymakers’ perspectives, surveying the benefits and disadvantages generated by sport events provides facts to endorse the very fundamental question in event bidding: to host or not to host. Presenting this question before the event, in time for bidding, requires projections and estimations of the possible event impact outcomes. The actual impact can be measured for the most part during and after the event, and its main purpose is to provide first hand information for policymakers, organizers and partners, and the citizens, concerning the benefits of the event in perspective with the investments.
Laitila, O. & N. van Herpen (2017), The Direct Economic Impact of International Sport Events for the Hosting City. In: Dodds, M., K. Heisey & A. Ahonen, Routledge Handbook of International Sport Business. London: Routledge
Special issue
Special Issue about Age-friendly Cities published
In February 2021, a Feature Paper Special Issue entitled "Age-Friendly Cities & Communities: State of the Art and Future Perspectives" was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. This special issue features 30 contemporary contributions which relate to the Age-Friendly Cities and Communities initiative launched by the World Health Organization in 2007.
The key focus of this Special Issue is to provide a critical assessment and overview of the state of the art within the Age-friendly Cities arena. Published papers include an editorial, seven papers focusing on age-friendly neighbourhoods, cities, communities, and societies, three papers explore innovative approaches to housing, two papers concentrate on age-friendly transportation, four papers focus on innovative practices in the domain of cure and/or care for older citizens, four papers relate to respect and social inclusion, and nine papers focus on and consider the use and implementation of technology in an age-friendly city or community.
As a take home message, the guest editors, Prof Joost van Hoof (The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences) and Dr Hannah R. Marston (The Open University, Milton Keynes) would like to emphasize the need for greater collaboration between disciplines in order to create a truly multisectoral actions for making our cities age-friendly for all generations. The contents of this Special Issue is one of the ways to expand and disseminate knowledge and to facilitate the actual age-friendly agenda and narrative further.
All papers are published as open access papers, which means that they can be read and downloaded free of charge. Direct access to the special issue: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/Age_Friendly_Cities
Team
dr. Sanne de Vries
Director Centre of Expertise Health Innovation
dr. Bregje Thomassen
Programme Coordinator
Natalie Janse
Management assistant
dr. Monique Berger
dr. Frank van Eekeren
Professor Impact of Sport
dr hab. ir. Joost van Hoof Eur Ing
Professor Oncological Care
dr. Jorit Meesters
dr. Joost van der Sijp MD
Professor Oncological Care
dr. Lampros Stergioulas
Professor Data Science
dr. ir. Erwin de Vlugt
Professor Technology for Health
Melle van Dilgt
Birk Frankvoort
Assia Kraan
Mara van der Schaaf
Wendy Scholtes-Bos
Director Centre of Expertise Health Innovation
dr. Sanne de Vries
Sanne graduated with a degree in Human Movement Sciences and Epidemiology from the VU University Amsterdam. From 2000 to 2013, she worked as a researcher and project leader at TNO. Sanne earned her PhD from the VU University Amsterdam in 2009 in Social Medicine with a thesis entitled 'Activity-friendly neighbourhoods for children'. Sanne has been involved in more than 75 research projects involving young people, movement and health and has published more than 200 scientific reports. Her primary focus is on the role of the physical environment in movement behaviour, physical education and ‘nudging’, as well as the assessment of physical activity in young people.
06 - 46 87 68 52s.i.devries@hhs.nl
Programme Coordinator
dr. Bregje Thomassen
Management assistant
Natalie Janse
dr. Monique Berger
Contact:
m.a.m.berger@hhs.nlProfessor Impact of Sport
dr. Frank van Eekeren
As a management and organisation research scientist, Frank van Eekeren has spent over 20 years investigating the social significance of sport in relation with the organisation of sport. In his PhD dissertation De Waardenvolle Club (the valuable club), he describes an ideal sports organisation that creates public value in addition to value creation in the nexus of sport and business. He conducts research in and around the field of sports, both locally and internationally, and publishes in journals, sports publications and blogs. Frank is also employed as Associate Professor at Utrecht University School of Governance.
+31 (0)6 - 48 07 21 43f.j.a.vaneekeren@hhs.nl
Professor Oncological Care
dr hab. ir. Joost van Hoof Eur Ing
Joost van Hoof (1980) attained his MSc degree at Eindhoven University of Technology (Department of Architecture, Building and Physics). He also studied Environmental Engineering at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) in Prague. Prof van Hoof attained his doctoral degree from Eindhoven University of Technology (in cooperation with Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and the Academy of Healthcare Utrecht) with a dissertation on ageing-in-place for people with dementia in 2010. From 2011 to 2018 he was affiliated with the Centre for Healthcare & Technology of Fontys University of Applied Sciences, and served as the project leader of the Nursing Home of the Future Programme. From 2012 to 2013, Prof van Hoof worked with the ISSO – the Dutch Building Services Research Institute in Rotterdam in the field of healthy building services. Apart from several board memberships in the domain of older people, technology and housing, Prof van Hoof collaborates and is affiliated with several universities abroad. Key to his work is a focus on the abilities of older people, not their disabilities, even when participations seems difficult.
j.vanhoof@hhs.nldr. Jorit Meesters
Professor Oncological Care
dr. Joost van der Sijp MD
Joost has been working as a surgeon since 1993. He did his residency at St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein and the University Medical Centre Utrecht and his doctoral research was conducted over the course of a year at St. Mark’s Hospital in London. After completing his residency, he worked at the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, the Daniël den Hoed Clinic in Rotterdam and the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam. He has been an oncological surgeon at the Haaglanden Medisch Centrum since 2005. His interest and expertise lie primarily in breast cancer and oncological surgery of the gastrointestinal tract. Joost holds several administrative positions both within and outside of the hospital and is a member of various advisory panels related to oncological care.
+31 (0)6 - 53 68 58 50j.r.m.vandersijp@hhs.nl
Professor Data Science
dr. Lampros Stergioulas
Lampros Stergioulas is also active for the European Commission as an expert in the field of artificial intelligence, data science and research ethics. In various programmes sponsored by the European Union and EU member states, he acts as an expert evaluator.
Lampros studied informatics and physics and received a Masters’ and a PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Liverpool (UK).
He has published more than 200 scientific publications and supervised and evaluated several PhD theses in the field of data science, computer science, health informatics, data-driven social innovation, modelling and simulation and intelligent systems.
He was principal researcher in more than 30 EU projects and coordinator of 4 EU research projects in which he cooperated with public organizations such as the European Center for Disease Prevention (ECDC), the European Medicine Agency (EMA), the European Commission, the National Health Service (UK) as well as national and regional authorities within Europe.
Lampros’s research interests span the areas of applied AI, data science and analytics, health informatics, data-driven management and innovation, system modelling and simulation, as well as data ethics. Through this he endeavors to achieve real-world impact in the areas of healthcare, wellbeing and sustainability.
Professor Technology for Health
dr. ir. Erwin de Vlugt
Erwin studied Mechanical Engineering at the TU Delft, where he then worked for twelve years as a researcher and professor of Biomechanics and Biorobotics. He has also worked in the Rehabilitation Medicine unit at the Leiden University Medical Centre. Erwin earned his PhD with a thesis on human-machine interaction and a study of the role played by proprioception (human movement sensors) during different movement tasks. A passion for robotics and the resemblance to the human musculoskeletal system prompted him to develop devices and products based on the perspective of human-machine interaction. He was appointed head of the Technology for Health research group at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in September 2015.
+31 (0)6-273 79154e.devlugt@hhs.nl