About

How do we make sure that children in a wheelchair can play sports? What do elderly people need to live independently? How can we help people recover faster after a medical treatment?

The Health Innovation Centre of Expertise is researching these and other complex issues around the themes of 'Prevention through nutrition and exercise', ‘Inclusive exercise and sport’ and ‘Long-term care, housing and welfare’.

Social and technological aspects 

With over 80 staff members, the Centre of Expertise contributes to a vital and sustainable life for everyone, in the broadest definition of the word. In the nine participating research groups, professors, (lecturer) researchers and students work together with professionals, companies and end users. Using these various perspectives (social, design, engineering), our research is mainly focussed on the use of socio-technological innovations. Socio-technological because we believe that technology is never isolated from the social aspect.

To initiate change, you need to take into account the person behind the issue. E-health or healthcare technology is here to stay, creating new opportunities. However, technological capabilities don't automatically result in a better quality of life. Social contacts and participation in society also play an important role here. We include all these perspectives in our approach of complex health and inclusion issues, making the best use of our knowledge and expertise. 

Practice-oriented 

A practical focus is always part of our research. We work together with residents, students, local (sports) organisations and businesses to find solutions to real questions and provide advice or offer solutions can be directly put into practice. By implementing the knowledge and expertise acquired in education, we train the real professionals of the future. We sometimes do this in so-called living labs. These are places at companies or in neighbourhoods where we can fully release the creative energy of researchers, students and stakeholders in an informal setting. We distinguish ourselves by listening carefully, always testing our findings against real life and actually implementing the solutions found. 

Projects

Fighting childhood obesity together (Leer-Kracht Preventie in de Wijk)

In some of The Hague's districts, there are relatively many overweight children and young people. So far, professionals are only partially succeeding in helping this target group.
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Assistive technology for longer independent living (AW Technology for Home)

Assistive devices are of great importance in supporting and improving the users' independence, quality of life and participation in society.
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Robot vacuum cleaners in home care

The workload in home care is high and technological innovations, such as a robot vacuum cleaner, can make a valuable contribution to reducing that workload and the amount of work done by home helpers, among other things.
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News

26 October 2023

Data Innovation Hub: Participation in the 4th ASEF Higher Education Innovation Laboratory

Research

This year’s focus is on Universities’ Role in Advancing Teaching Artificial Intelligence (AI) Skills and…
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11 February 2023

Lecturer Yvonne van Zaalen encourages a change in thinking about healthcare during inaugural lecture

Research

Inspired, resolute and quirky. That is typical of Yvonne van Zaalen, lecturer in Relational Care. And her inaugural…
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8 February 2023

Working together to empower sex workers

Research

Sex workers are entrepreneurs. They exercise a legal profession, pay taxes and are registered with the Chamber of…
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Team

Sanne de Vries

dr. Sanne de Vries

Director Centre of Expertise Health Innovation

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dr. Sanne de Vries

Director Centre of Expertise Health Innovation

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.

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Monique Berger

dr. Monique Berger

Professor Assistive Technology for Mobility and Sports

dr. Monique Berger

Professor Assistive Technology for Mobility and Sports

Monique Berger graduated from VU Amsterdam with a degree in Human Kinetic Sciences. From 1993, Monique has held various positions within the Human Kinetic Technology degree programme.

Koen Breedveld

dr. Koen Breedveld

Professor Impact of Sport

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Joke Korevaar

dr. Ir. Joke Korevaar

Professor Oncological Care

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Jorit Meesters

dr. Jorit Meesters

Professor Rehabilitation and Technology

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dr. Jorit Meesters

Professor Rehabilitation and Technology

Innovate rehabilitation care to enable patients to receive the best possible care, with the right use of e-health and care technology. That is the ambition of Jorit Meesters.

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dr. Lampros Stergioulas

dr. Lampros Stergioulas

Professor Data Science

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dr. Lampros Stergioulas

Professor Data Science

Lampros Stergioulas is affiliated to The Hague University of Applied Sciences as a professor of Data Science and AI. 

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dr. Luc de Witte

dr. Luc de Witte

Professor Technology for Health Care

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dr. Luc de Witte

Professor Technology for Health Care

Luc de Witte is a professor of Technology for Healthcare at The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. 

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dr. Yvonne van Zaalen

dr. Yvonne van Zaalen

Professor Relational Care

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dr. Yvonne van Zaalen

Professor Relational Care

She has extensive experience in national and international research on multidisciplinary and interprofessional collaborations in healthcare. 

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Roos van der Vaart

dr. Roos van der Vaart

Senior researcher

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dr. Roos van der Vaart

Senior researcher

Roos is a senior researcher on our theme: Longer Independent and Healthy. Behavior change, digital care and health skills play an important role in her research.

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Elise Peters

Elise Peters

Programme manager

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Elise Peters

Programme manager

Elise is responsible for the progress and support of the centre of expertise.

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Portretfoto Marjolein de Vries

Marjolein de Vries

Management Assistant

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Marita Vaes

Marita Vaes

Communication Advisor

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Marita Vaes

Communication Advisor

Marita is responsible for the internal and external positioning of the centre of expertise.

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Publications

Article

Differences in motor competence, enjoyment and weight status of young children (4-6 years)

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Article

The Participant Journey Map: Understanding the Design of Interactive Augmented Play Spaces

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Article

Agreement Between the KTK3+ Test and the Athletic Skills Track for Classifying the Fundamental Movement Skills Proficiency of 6- to 12-Year-Old Children

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Article

The effects of neighbours on sport club membership

Neighbours have been found to influence each other’s behaviour (contagion effect). However, little is known about the influence on sport club membership. This while increasing interest has risen for the...

Report

What role can men play in facilitating gender equity in Football Governance?

Football has endured a long standing issue of a lack of diversity within its governance structure. Across many sectors, research shows that governance is strengthened when different voices are included in...

Article

Building an alternative conceptualization of participation: from shared decision-making to acting and work

The paper presents an alternative conceptualization of participation in order to offer legitimation and guidance for (new) scholars, policymakers and citizens, and to prepare them for the work that needs to...

Article

Biomimetic Approaches for the Design and Fabrication of Bone-to-Soft Tissue Interfaces

Bone-to-soft tissue interfaces are responsible for transferring loads between tissues with significantly dissimilar material properties. The examples of connective soft tissues are ligaments, tendons, and...

Article

“I Stood By and Watched”: An Autoethnography of Stakeholder Participation in a Living Lab

Article

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...