BACKGROUND: Loneliness is expected to become an even bigger social problem in the upcoming decades, because of the growing number of older adults. It has been argued that the use of social network sites can aid in decreasing loneliness and improving mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how social network sites usage is related to loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults. METHOD: The study population included community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and over residing in the Netherlands (n = 626) collected through the LISS panel (www.lissdata.nl). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses, adjusted for potentially important confounders, were conducted in order to investigate the relation between social network sites usage and (emotional and social) loneliness and mental health. RESULTS: More than half of the individuals (56.2%) reported to use social network sites at least several times per week. Social network sites usage appeared unrelated to loneliness in general, and to emotional and social loneliness in particular. Social network sites usage also appeared unrelated to mental health. Several significant associations between related factors and the outcomes at hand were detected. CONCLUSION: In this sample, which was representative for the Dutch population, social network sites usage was unrelated to loneliness and/or mental health. The results indicate that a simple association between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health as such, cannot automatically be assumed in community-dwelling older adults.
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Objectives Most complex healthcare interventions target a network of healthcare professionals. Social network analysis (SNA) is a powerful technique to study how social relationships within a network are established and evolve. We identified in which phases of complex healthcare intervention research SNA is used and the value of SNA for developing and evaluating complex healthcare interventions. Methods A scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework. We included complex healthcare intervention studies using SNA to identify the study characteristics,level of complexity of the healthcare interventions, reported strengths and limitations, and reported implications of SNA. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews 2018 was used to guide the reporting. Results Among 2466 identified studies, 40 studies were selected for analysis. At first, the results showed that SNA seems underused in evaluating complex intervention research. Second, SNA was not used in the development phase of the included studies. Third, the reported implications in the evaluation and implementation phase reflect the value of SNA in addressing the implementation and population complexity. Fourth, pathway complexity and contextual complexity of the included interventions were unclear or unable to access. Fifth, the use of a mixed methods approach was reported as a strength, as the combination and integration of a quantitative and qualitative method clearly establishes the results. Conclusion SNA is a widely applicable method that can be used in different phases of complex intervention research. SNA can be of value to disentangle and address the level of complexity of complex healthcare interventions. Furthermore, the routine use of SNA within a mixed method approach could yield actionable insights that would be useful in the transactional context of complex interventions.
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Wereldwijd onderzoek: Hoe gebruiken nieuwsmedia social media? Jongeren lezen geen krant meer, ze kijken op hun smartphone die ze altijd bij de hand hebben. Binnen het lectoraat social media en reputatiemanagement van NHL hogeschool te Leeuwarden heeft een groep internationale studenten in 12 landen onderzoek gedaan. Hierbij hebben ze meer dan 150 social media sites bestudeerd van nieuws media. De resultaten maken deel uit van een internationaal onderzoek van NHL Hogeschool en Haaga Helia University. De onderzoeksvraag was: Wat speelt zich af in de nieuwsmedia? Persbureaus kunnen het overzicht gebruiken om hun social media te optimaliseren. En voor ieder die journalistiek een warm hart toedraagt is het interessante informatie over de nieuwsmedia in een overgangssituatie (2nd edition)
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The HAS professorship Future Food Systems is performing applied research with students and external partners to transform our food system towards a more sustainable state. In this research it is not only a question of what is needed to achieve this, but also how and with whom. The governance of our food system needs rethinking to get the transformative momentum going in a democratic and constructive manner. Building on the professorship’s research agenda and involvement in the transdisciplinary NWA research project, the postdoc will explore collective ownership and inclusive participation as two key governance concepts for food system transformation. This will be done in a participatory manner, by learning from and with innovative bottom-up initiatives and practitioners from the field. By doing so, the postdoc will gain valuable practical insights that can aid to new approaches and (policy) interventions which foster a sustainable and just food system in the Netherlands and beyond. A strong connection between research and education is created via the active research involvement of students from different study programs, supervised by the postdoc (Dr. B. van Helvoirt). The acquired knowledge is embedded in education by the postdoc by incorporating it into HAS study program curricula and courses. In addition, it will contribute to the further professional development of qualitative research skills among HAS students and staff. Through scientific, policy and popular publications, participation in (inter)national conferences and meetings with experts and practitioners, the exposure and network of the postdoc and HAS in the field of food systems and governance will be expanded. This will allow for the setting up of a continuous research effort on this topic within the professorship via follow-up research with knowledge institutes, civic society groups and partners from the professional field.
This project aims to develop a measurement tool to assess the inclusivity of experiences for people with varying challenges and capabilities on the auditory spectrum. In doing so, we performed an in-depth exploration of scientific literature and findings from previous projects by Joint Projects. Based on this, we developed an initial conceptual model that focuses on sensory perception, emotion, cognition, and e[ort in relation to hearing and fatigue. Within, this model a visitor attraction is seen as an “experienscape” with four key elements: content, medium, context, and individual. In co-creative interviews with experts by experience with varying challenges on the auditory spectrum, they provided valuable insights that led to a significant expansion of this initial model. This was a relevant step, as in the scientific and professional literature, little is known about the leisure experiences of people with troubled hearing. For example, personal factors such as a person’s attitude toward their own hearing loss and the social dynamics within their group turned out to greatly influence the experience. The revised model was then applied in a case study at Apenheul, focusing on studying differences in experience of their gorilla presentation amongst people with varying challenges on the auditory spectrum.Societal issueThe Netherlands is one of the countries in Europe with the highest density of visitor attractions. Despite this abundance, many visitor attractions are not fully accessible to everyone, particularly to visitors with disabilities who sometimes are not eligible to ride due to safety concerns, yet when eligible generally still encounter numerous barriers. Accessibility of visitor attractions can be approached in various ways. However, because the focus often lies on operational and technical aspects (e.g., reducing stimuli at certain times of the day by turning o[ music, o[ering alternative wheelchair entrances), strategic and community-focused approaches are often overlooked. More importantly, there is also a lack of attention to the experience of visitors with disabilities. This becomes apparent from several studies from Joint Projects, where visitor attractions are being visited together with experts by experience with various disabilities. Nevertheless, experience is often being regarded as the 'core product' of the leisure sector. The right to meet, discover, develop, relax and thus enjoy this core product is hindered for many people with disabilities due to a lack of knowledge, inaccessibility (physical, digital, social, communicative as well as financial) and discrimination in society. Additionally, recreation entrepreneurs still face a significant gap in reaching the potential market of guests with disabilities and their networks. Thus, despite the numerous initiatives in the leisure sector aimed at improving accessibility on technical and operational fronts, often people with disabilities are still not being able to experience the same kind of enjoyment as those without. These observations form the pressing impetus for initiating the current research project, tapping into the numerous opportunities for learning, development and growth on making leisure offer more inclusive.Benefit to societyIn total, the current project approach comes with a number of enrichments in terms of both knowledge and methodology: a mixed-methods approach that allows for comparing data from different sources to obtain a more complete picture of the experience; a methodological co-design process that honours the 'nothing about us without us' principle; and benchmarking for a group (i.e., people with challenges on the auditory spectrum) that despite the size of its population has thus far mostly been overlooked.
Climate change and the depletion of resources in the world are widely recognized as the greatest societal challenges. The building sector is responsible for 40% of the raw material consumption globally. The emissions related to construction materials are anticipated to double by 2050, if no new technologies are adopted (EC, 2021). Based on the environmental cost indicator, isolation has the second largest (after concrete) impact to the environment. In Mythic - Myterials for THermal Insulation in Construction goal is to develop (in co-creation with the work field) the best available mycelium biocomposite, which can be used as a circular, biodegradable insulation material for construction in the building sector. In recent research projects partners concluded that Mycelium biocomposites have a high potential to replace traditional fossil-based isolation materials, but further research on the thermal insulation and moisture absorption is needed to convince the construction market. In the project various partners will cooperate, both from the production side of mycelium composites, as well as from the application side. Some partners originate from previous projects, but others contacted Centre of Expertise for the Biobased Economy (CoEBBE) to build further on the existing network. There are several SME’s from the Netherlands, but also from abroad (Nylausn from Iceland, Mogu Srl from Italy and Corstyrene form France), as well as Branche organizations and knowledge institutes. Avans works together with HZ in CoEBBE and for the microbiological knowledge we cooperate with the University of Utrecht. For the market research CoEBBE cooperates with the lectorate New Marketing within Avans, focussing on sustainability via biomimicry. Mycelium composites and natural products for the building industry is the theme that binds all partners.
Lectorate, part of NHL Stenden Hogeschool
