What we do
About our project
Rationale
People with a chronic condition -such as spinal cord injury, stroke, cardiovascular disease, cerebral palsy- often have poor physical fitness and an unhealthy lifestyle. This may affect mobility, participation, quality of life, and health. Given the improved life expectancy, focus on health-related physical fitness and lifestyle in people with a chronic condition has become more and more important, but knowledge is often scarce.
Approach
To optimize treatment with regard to health-related physical fitness and lifestyle, we apply the knowledge from our research projects in rehabilitation care. In our research, we strongly work together with rehabilitation professionals from the design of the study onwards, and we focus on sustainable and personalized lifestyle interventions to achieve long-lasting effects.
Our research focus
Health-related physical fitness and lifestyle
To build on knowledge regarding health-related physical fitness and lifestyle, we perform research in several patient groups, both ambulatory and wheelchair-dependent. We focus on several constructs of health-related physical fitness -such as aerobic capacity, muscle strength, body composition- and on physical behaviour, nutrition, and sleep.
Mechanisms
To understand the role of physical fitness and lifestyle in people with a chronic condition, we study associations with mobility, participation, quality of life, and health. To understand underlying mechanisms, we include parameters such as exercise self-efficacy, motivation, coping style, and social support.
Effectiveness
To evaluate the (cost-)effectiveness of fitness programs and lifestyle interventions, we perform pragmatic (randomized) controlled trials, with focus on maintenance of effects.
Collaborations
Internal collaborations
- ACE’s: BrainMotion, Obesity
- Departments: Cardiology, Neuroscience, Neurology, Internal Medicine
External collaborations
- Rijndam Rehabilitation
- Capri Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Libra Rehabilitation & Audiology
- Maxima Medical Center
- TU Delft
- TU Eindhoven
- LUMC
