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Organisation

Social Epidemiology & Health Policy (SEHPO)

Research Group

Lifecycle:1 Jan 2019 →  Today
Organisation profile:Regarding Social Epidemiology, an important line of research within our Research Group is the licit and illicit substance use in students. Our group has (1) a large European project on substance use and social norms, (2) collaborations with colleagues from two South-African Universities (University of Limpopo and University of Kwazulu Natal) to replicate the studies on substance use in Flemish students by using similar questionnaires and (3) two active PhDs : one about the misuse of prescription stimulants as cognitive enhancers among Flemish university and college students: the process of prescribing, supplying and acquiring, and one about better health in university and college students: pin-pointing the interplay between social support, study stress, substance use and mental health across different study programs. The Research Group is involved in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) and the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and an own birth cohort (PIPO study) is still ongoing. An important component of these studies is the association between social-epidemiological determinants and the occurrence of atopic diseases. In 2018 results of a four-yearly survey on substance use in over 36,000 Flemish university and college students, the so-called 'Head in the Clouds' study, will be disseminated. Regarding Health Policy, evaluation research is performed on the Flemish screening programmes for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer. Within the Research Group, there is one active PhD on the screening programme for colorectal cancer. The Research Group playes an important role in advising the Flemish Government concerning the organization of the cancer screening programmes. The Research Group is also executing research to advice the Flemish Government on how parents can best be informed to make a choice with regards to infant screening for congenital disorders, including cystic fibrosis.
Keywords:HEALTH DISPARITIES, PHARMACEUTICAL POLICY RESEARCH, SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH, HIERARCHICAL MODELING, MIXED METHODS RESEARCH, HEALTH POLICY RESEARCH, SUBSTANCE USE
Disciplines:Public health sciences