18 sep PhD thesis Koen Neijenhuijs
September 16, 2020 Koen defended his thesis “Patient reported measures in eHealth: on measurement properties and big data opportunities”, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam...
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17 sep PdD thesis Annette van Nieuwenhuizen
September 4, 2020 Annette defended her thesis “Health-related quality of life and survival in patients with head and neck cancer”, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam...
25 feb PhD thesis Vina Slev
February 28, 2020 Vina defended her thesis "Nurses' self-management support for people facing incurable cancer", Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam....
20 dec Young investigator grant
Amsterdam UMC receives 6.7 million euros for cancer research from KWF . Twelve projects with an Amsterdam UMC Cancer Center Amsterdam (CCA) researcher as first PI receive a KWF grant. Young investigator grant: Femke Jansen: Head and neck cancer long-term survivorship: Late effects, supportive care needs and healthcare utilization of survivors and their caregivers (€615.694), location VUmc. 19 December 2019...
12 dec Oncokompas: a behavioral intervention technology to facilitate and innovate supportive cancer care
Previous research has shown that web-based symptom monitoring as well as self-management interventions can be effective to reduce symptom burden and improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, most of the previous studies targeted cancer patients during or shortly after treatment, included most often cancer-generic symptoms but less often tumor-specific symptoms, and most interventions comprised behavioral intervention technologies (BITs) to be part of routine care, as adjunctive or guided BITs. We developed the fully automated BIT ‘Oncokompas’. Oncokompas supports cancer survivors in self-management, by monitoring symptoms (cancer generic and tumor-specific), providing feedback and information on their scores as well as a personalized overview of supportive care options, with the aim to reduce symptom burden and improve HRQOL. According to participatory design principles, several studies were conducted to investigate the needs of patients and healthcare professionals, and feasibility of Oncokompas. To ensure optimal customization of Oncokompas to the preferences and needs of the end-user (cancer patient) and other stakeholders (e.g. care providers), the application was developed through a development cycle. This cycle consisted of three phases: designing the actual program, testing its usability, and an outcome– and effect evaluation. We expected that developing Oncokompas through this development cycle will have a positive influence on the frequency of use, the understandability of Oncokompas, and the probability that users will actually comply with the recommendations they receive. The first step of the development cycle included a needs assessment with both patients and health care providers. This needs assessment has been carried out and consisted of interviews with patients and health care providers to identify their needs (preferences and demands) towards e-health applications in general, and Oncokompas in particular, within the supportive care phase. Also, a quantitative needs assessment was conducted. This quantitative assessment was directed towards gaining insight into the wishes and demands of cancer patients...
24 sep PhD thesis Janneke Rood
September 11, 2017 Janneke Rood defended her thesis "Perceived need for information and treatment decision-making in patients with hematological malignancies: not "one size fits all" at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam....
24 sep New PhD student
Per 1 September 2017, Angelina Santoso started as PhD student on the project: Sleep disturbances in newly diagnosed head and neck cancer patients....
24 feb Amsterdam Public Health project
Within the context of the alliance VUmc-AMC, Prof dr Ellen Laan (AMC) and Prof dr Irma Verdonck-de Leeuw (VUmc) received a grant of the new research institute Amsterdam Public Health (APH), theme Mental Health, for the project Sexual well-being in head and neck cancer patients....
24 jan Cost-effective treatment (January 2017)
Treatment of psychological distress in patients with head and neck or lung cancer cost-effective. A recent study of PhD-student Femke Jansen and colleagues, recently published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical Oncology, showed that this stepped care program is highly-likely to be cost-effective....
24 mei New PhD student
Per 1 May 2016, Anouk Schuit started on her PhD project within the ICT4PAL project. In this project the Oncokompas2.0 will be adapted for cancer patients in the palliative phase of the disease, and for their informal caregivers....