Health
Various studies in the field of health
Health is a prominent theme in many of Centerdata’s activities. We conduct projects concerning virtually all aspects of health and healthcare.
Our activities range from fielding an annual survey on health in the LISS panel to questionnaires for cancer patients, and from research into PTSS symptoms to a study regarding healthy life styles. Another example of a health-related project concerns the early detection of potentially complex issues among children and families.
Why work with Centerdata?
Centerdata possesses a vast amount of data on various aspects of health, accumulated through the representative LISS panel since 2008. These data can be coupled to a researcher’s own study, conducted in the LISS panel. The data can also answer research questions on health-related developments among various population groups, such as young and elderly people, people living in rural or urban settings, and people with academic or practical qualifications.
Centerdata also offers specialized knowledge regarding mental health, stress and trauma. Studies in this field have for instance concerned how victims of medical errors have come to cope, how loneliness has increased in the wake of the corona pandemic, and about specific groups where the corona pandemic has led to an increase in mental complaints.
How do we work?
Centerdata’s approach always depends on the client’s question. Questions vary from how best to promote a healthy lifestyle to what the health trends are among specific population groups. To answer the client’s question, we use methods that include survey research fielded in the representative LISS panel, research among a specific group that has the client’s interest (e.g. a patient group or a group of insurance participants), coupling data from the panel with CBS microdata, and also online experiments examining for instance how to effectively encourage healthy behavior.
Like to know more? Feel free to contact us.
About usprof. dr. Peter van der Velden
Senior researcher Mental Health, Stress & TraumaExample projects
- PROFIEL: research into the quality of life of people living with cancer
We have been gathering data for Tilburg University’s PROFIEL program since 2011. PROFIEL is a program of scientific research into the quality of life with people that have or have had cancer. Researchers affiliated with PROFIEL (Tilburg University) and the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organization (Integraal Kankercentrum Nederland, IKNL) work with medical specialists in hospitals across the Netherlands.
Centerdata developed a panel management system (PMS) for PROFIEL to enable the researchers to directly manage the contact details of patients participating in the study. The system enables them to monitor the patients’ response and to send out invitation emails for the questionnaires. Centerdata furthermore ensures that different patient groups receive specifically tailored online questionnaires. To monitor developments over time, we prepare and offer follow-up questionnaires at various moments, for instance after completing a treatment. To compare the patients’ data with a norm group, representative for the Dutch population, data are also collected through the LISS panel.
- Smart Start
Motivated by the commitment to giving both parents and children the best possible chances of a good future, in 2018 we launched ‘Smart Start’: a partnership between Sterk Huis (community support center), the Regio Hart van Brabant (regional administrative body), Data Science Center Tilburg and Centerdata.
Smart Start is a three-year program to develop an approach that uses data and knowledge to detect (the risk of) complex problems among children and families at an early stage. We do so by combining the knowledge and experience of care professionals and residents with available data about the neighborhood and through scientific research. Centerdata is responsible for the data collection and analyses. Based on the resulting predictive data, appropriate support is offered in schools, health centers and vulnerable neighborhoods.
- VICTIMS: Victims in Modern Society
The Fonds Slachtofferhulp (victim support fund) has commissioned Centerdata to perform a multi-year representative study. The goal is to obtain an in-depth understanding of the interactions between and patterns in victimhood, social support, self-reliance, PTSS symptoms, problems in areas including finances, work, religion and legal, and the use of care.
It is the first long-term study into these themes in the Netherlands, involving annual interviews with a large representative group of people. The study is performed with the help of Centerdata’s LISS panel. Also internationally, this is the first longitudinal population survey examining the frequency with which people experience potentially traumatic events, the social support and recognition that different groups of victims receive, and the factors that affect social support and recognition. It is one of the first studies to show how support and recognition following events can depend on factors that existed prior to these events.