Wim JA van den Heuvel

• PhD
• University of Groningen

Objectives Ageing of societies causes serious political concerns on well-being of old citizens and care for the (frail) old. These concerns increased with the economic crisis of 2008. In European countries policy measures were taken to deal with the consequences of this crisis. This study explores the possible effects of these measures on life sati...

Objectives The relationship between health care expenditures and health care outcomes, such as life expectancy and mortality, is complex. Research outcomes show different and contradictory results on this relationship. How and why health care expenditures affect health outcomes is not clear. A causal link between the two is not proven. Without such...

Background . The predictive value of frailty assessment is still debated. We analyzed the predictive value of frailty of independent living elderly. The outcomes variables were visits to the general practitioner, hospital admission, and occurrence of new health problems. Methods . A one-year follow-up study was executed among 215 community-living o...

The Ageing of societies is a unique historical development of mankind. Today, such ageing is recognized as a threat for developed societies. There is fear of increasing inequality in health and in access to health care. Apart from the costs of ageing and care, such fear creates intergenerational conflicts. This paper explores what values are at sta...

The objective of this study was to study the feasibility of a recently developed instrument, LPZ-International, which assesses care problems in health care, and to describe the prevalence of care problems in Romanian health care institutions. Large differences exist in care services in Europe. Data on quality of care are absent or incomplete in Cen...

Background: The school environment has shown itself to be an important factor in explaining adolescent behaviour. The relationships and experiences that pupils have at school have been found to influence their development, psychological well-being, self-esteem and social adjustment.Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore whether there is a rela...

De verzorgingsstaat transformeert naar een participatiemaatschappij zonder visie op een gewenste, toekomstige verouderende samenleving. Dit is een risico, maar biedt ook kansen. Met de demografische veroudering ontstaan nieuwe vragen over de inrichting van de maatschappij en de betekenis van fundamentele begrippen voor maatschappijvorming en samen...

Background: Primary health care may play an important role in identifying persons at risk for frailty. The Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI) is considered a valid instrument to assess frailty in old age. However, it is not tested yet in a different cultural context. The aim of this study is to analyse the construct, content and criterion validity...

In addition to the amount and intensity of rehabilitation interventions and the number of therapies, the degree of patient participation in physical rehabilitation activities is key. For this reason, adequate information regarding participation is necessary to evaluate patient performance. This article reviews instruments designed to assess partici...

Purpose: In addition to the amount and intensity of rehabilitation interventions and the number of therapies, the degree of patient participation in physical rehabilitation activities is key. For this reason, adequate information regarding participation is necessary to evaluate patient performance. This article reviews instruments designed to asses...

Aging is affecting health care all over Europe, but it is expected to have a much greater impact in Eastern Europe. Reliable data on various indicators of health of older adults in Eastern Europe are lacking. The objectives of the present study were to describe the health of older Romanian adults, and to examine its relationship with sociodemograph...

The objectives of this study are to investigate the relationship between adjustments to amputation and artificial limb, and quality of life (QoL), and to analyse the influence of sociodemographic, medical and amputation-related factors on this relationship. Patients with unilateral and noncongenital lower limb amputation who were using artificial l...

Background: Positive adjustments to amputation and an artificial limb play important roles in the rehabilitation process. Objectives: To study the different facets of adjustments to amputation and an artificial limb in lower limb amputees and to assess the possible role of different background and amputation-related factors that could potentiall...

Health is defined as the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being than just the absence of disease or infirmity. In order to measure health in the community, a reliable and validated instrument is required. To adapt and translate the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) for use in India, to study its validity and...

This study explored the associations between adolescents’ assertive behavior, psychological well‐being, and self‐esteem. The sample consisted of 1,023 students (14.9 ± .51; 47.6% boys). Two dimensions of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (distress and performance), 2 factors of the General Health Questionnaire‐12 (depression/anxiety and social d...

The increasing number of old people is becoming a growing policy concern. Negative attitudes towards old people raise questions about the extent to which discrimination against old people exists and elder abuse occurs. This paper describes the occurrence of discrimination against old people and elder abuse, as well as the factors related to it, bas...

Het tweede gerontologisch en geriatrisch internationale congres in India was georganiseerd door het ‘All India Institute ofMedical Sciences’ (AIIMS) en het ‘University College of Medical Sciences’ (UCMS), beide te Delhi. Het congres vond de eerstetwee dagen plaats op de campus van het UMCS, een preklinisch opleidingsinstituut. Op zaterdag – het beg...

In the Netherlands and abroad detailed indicators are developed to measure quality of care for a variety of treatments and care systems. These days the development of quality indicators is a profession and business in itself. The significance of these indicators is often not related to the primary care process, but based on (administrative) data fo...

If brief and easy to use self report screening tools are available to identify frail elderly, this may avoid costs and unnecessary assessment of healthy people. This study investigates the predictive validity of three self-report instruments for identifying community-dwelling frail elderly. This is a prospective study with 1-year follow-up among co...

This study analyses the experienced age discrimination of old European citizens and the factors related to this discrimination. Differences in experienced discrimination between old citizens of different European countries are explored. Data from the 2008 ESS survey are used. Old age is defined as being 62 years or older. The survey data come from...

This series of articles for rehabilitation in practice aims to cover a knowledge element of the rehabilitation medicine curriculum. Nevertheless they are intended to be of interest to a multidisciplinary audience. The competency addressed in this article is ‘The trainee consistent demonstrates a knowledge of how evidence based methods and strategie...

The aim of this study was to examine the health- and work outcomes of renal transplant recipients long-term after transplantation as well as the pattern of work status, work ability and disability benefits during the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) trajectory that precedes transplantation. 34 transplant recipients completed interviews 3, 13 months a...

Background Frailty can lead towards serious adverse consequences, such as disability. With regard to prevention valid screening instruments are needed to identify frail older people. The aim was to evaluate and compare the psychometric properties of three screening instruments: the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (T...

To systematically review studies on quality of life (QoL) in lower limb amputees. Computerised literature search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, PUBMED and PsycINFO databases was performed using the keywords, amputee, leg, knee, foot, amputation, QoL, prosthesis, orthopaedic equipment, ADL, phantom, mobility, rehabilitation, psychosocial, psychology and social...

Frailty can lead towards serious adverse consequences, such as disability. With regard to prevention valid screening instruments are needed to identify frail older people. The aim was to evaluate and compare the psychometric properties of three screening instruments: the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) and the...

In the Netherlands and abroad detailed indicators are developed to measure quality of care for a variety of treatments and care systems. These days the development of quality indicators is a profession and business in itself. The significance of these indicators is often not related to the primary care process, but based on (administrative) data fo...

Quality of life (QoL) is increasingly being recognized as an important outcome for rehabilitation programs, and has mainly been used to compare the efficacy of interventions or to compare amputees with other diseased populations. There is relatively a limited number of studies primarily focusing on analyzing the multitude of factors influencing QoL...

We examined the effect of switching from a familiar to an unfamiliar setting on household task performance in healthy adults. We also examined the influence of the cognitive functions abstract reasoning and memory on the ability to adapt to different environments. Thirty healthy adults were observed in two different settings while they performed tw...

The main aim of this longitudinal study was to explore intra-individual change over time in psychological well-being and self-esteem from early to middle adolescence and to investigate the roles played by gender and parental education. The sample consisted of 519 Slovak adolescents (mean age: 11.48 (SD ± 0.58) at baseline and 14.88 (SD ± 0.45) at f...

There is extensive literature on interventions to prevent or reduce falls in elderly people. These findings, however, were based mainly on studies of community-living persons. The primary aim of the present study was to report the effectiveness and implementation aspects of interventions aimed at reducing falls in elderly residents in long-term car...

To assess the course of nonspecific work-related upper limb disorders (WRULD) and the influence of sociodemographic factors, psychologic factors, and physical fitness on clinical status and functional disability. Retrospective cohort study with cross-sectional analysis among computer workers with several stages of nonspecific WRULD; average follow-...

Frailty Instruments: Overview of all items. The file contains an overview of all items of the Groningen Frailty Indicator, the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (2nd subscale) and the Sherbrooke Postal Questionnaire.

This narrative review was conducted to provide an overview of the variety of interventions aimed at disability prevention in community-dwelling frail older persons and to summarize promising elements. The search strategy and selection process found 48 papers that met the inclusion criteria. The 49 interventions described in these 48 papers were cat...

Vergrijzing is ‘oud nieuws’, zeker voor gerontologen. Gevolgen van de vergrijzing en kansen of problemen die de samenleving zou kunnen zien vanwege de vergrijzing, zouden het kennisdomein van gerontologen moeten zijn, zeker voor Nederlandse. Nederland is een van de eerste landen in de wereld geweest, waar de vergrijzing alsmaatschappelijk vraagstuk...

To describe the feasibility of the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) adjusted for use in people with aphasia and to report its psychometric properties in people with aphasia (internal consistency, factor analysis, test-retest reliability, convergent validity). A cross-sectional, interview-based psychometric study. Test-retest reliability wa...

Frailty is highly prevalent in older people. Its serious adverse consequences, such as disability, are considered to be a public health problem. Therefore, disability prevention in community-dwelling frail older people is considered to be a priority for research and clinical practice in geriatric care. With regard to disability prevention, valid sc...

Aphasia can profoundly affect a person's capacity for social participation. The purpose of this study is to describe how people with aphasia participate socially, and to investigate the factors which are related to social participation. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 150 people with aphasia using a structured interview format, adjusted to...

To assess the influence of work- and treatment-related factors on clinical status and functional disability in patients with non-specific work-related upper limb disorders (WRULD). 182 computer workers with non-specific WRULD, 18-50 years old, not having specific WRULD nor incomplete medical records. Retrospective cohort study among computer worker...

Little is known about the way people with aphasia perceive their social participation and its influencing factors. To explore how people with aphasia perceive participation in society and to investigate influencing factors. In this qualitative study thirteen persons with aphasia and twelve central caregivers kept a pre-structured diary over two wee...

To determine the course of life satisfaction of persons with spinal cord injury and its determinants during inpatient rehabilitation and up to 1 yr after discharge. Prospective cohort study of 222 persons with spinal cord injury. Measurements at the start of active rehabilitation, after 3 mos, at discharge, and 1 yr after discharge. Questions about...

Rosenberger J, van Dijk JP, Prihodova L, Majernikova M, Nagyova I, Madarasova Geckova A, Roland R, van den Heuvel WJA, Groothoff JW. Differences in perceived health status between kidney transplant recipients and dialyzed patients are based mainly on the selection process. Clin Transplant 2010: 24: 358–365. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: K...

Background: People with aphasia are often excluded from research because of their communication impairments, especially when an investigation into the communication impairment is not the primary goal. In our research concerning social participation of people with aphasia, we wanted to include people with mild, moderate as well as severe aphasia. Ai...

Frailty refers to a state of vulnerability in older persons for adverse outcomes. The recent assumption that frailty, disability, and comorbidity are distinct concepts creates possibilities for interventions that focus on delaying the onset of disabilities. However, disagreement exists on the definition of frailty and the factors contributing to it...

to evaluate the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention on incidence of falls in psychogeriatric nursing home patients. cluster-randomised controlled 12-month trial. psychogeriatric wards in 12 nursing homes in The Netherlands. Participants: psychogeriatric nursing home patients (n = 518). Intervention: a general medical assessment and an ad...

There is an interest for intervention studies aiming at the prevention of disability in community-dwelling physically frail older persons, though an overview on their content, methodological quality and effectiveness is lacking. A search for clinical trials involved databases PubMed, CINAHL and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and man...

To determine the impact of spinal cord injury (SCI) on life satisfaction of persons with SCI 1 year after discharge of inpatient rehabilitation. A cohort study. Life satisfaction before SCI was retrospectively measured at the start of active rehabilitation. One year after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation, current life satisfaction was measur...

Background: Re-establishing participation in social life is an important aim of rehabilitation, but instruments to measure participation in people with aphasia are rare. Aims: To identify and describe measures of social participation that may be specifically useful when measuring participation in people with aphasia. Methods and procedures: A syste...

Palliative care is directed to maintenance of quality of life and to prevent and to relief suffering of those with a life-threatening disease. Palliative care does not only concern the patient, but also the quality of life of family members and it deals with physical symptoms as well as with psychosocial and spiritual problems. Palliative care is d...

Are postural exercises delivered by Mensendieck/Cesar therapists more effective in decreasing pain, reducing disability and improving health-related quality of life in visual display unit workers with early non-specific work-related upper limb disorders than strength and fitness exercises delivered by physiotherapists? Randomised trial with conceal...

To identify strategies used by people with high cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) to function autonomously. A multidimensional concept of autonomy was used, with four dimensions: independence, self-determination, participation and identification. Qualitative methods were used, involving literature study and semi-structured interviews with eight ind...

Het Ministerie van VWS doet een grote investering in de ouderenzorg, zo kopte het persbericht in mei 2007. Er worden 6000 extra verpleegkundigen en verzorgenden in deze sector aangesteld, volgens de beleidsbrief ‘Zorgen voor ouderen’. 1 Dat was goed nieuws, dat in de miljoenennota van september 2007 wordt bevestigd. 2

The objective of this study was to evaluate transfer effects of cognitive strategy training for stroke patients with apraxia. During 8 weeks, 29 apraxic patients received cognitive strategy training to teach them how to perform activities of daily living (ADL) as independently as possible. ADL functioning was assessed at the rehabilitation centre a...

Objective: To evaluate whether transmural care for people with spinal cord injury living in the community has more impact on health outcomes than traditional follow-up care within the Netherlands. Design: Quasi-experiment with 12 months of follow-up. Setting: Eight Dutch rehabilitation centres. Subjects: Thirty-one patients who received transmural...

This study describes the activities and interventions carried out by an at-home palliative care team treating cancer patients who died within two years of being enrolled in a palliative care program. It analyzes which changes in symptoms and pain occurred and which sociodemographic and medical characteristics were related to these changes. The anal...

Background: Communication impairments following stroke impact on social interactions and life experience. To look beyond body functions and activities into actual performance in life, knowledge about participation of working-age persons with aphasia is necessary. Aims: To describe what is known in the literature about participation in working-age p...

This study describes changes in social participation in the first year after kidney transplantation and examines the influence of clinical factors, health status, transplantation-related symptoms, and psychological characteristics on change in social participation. A prospective study was performed on a cohort of primary kidney transplant recipient...

To investigate the occurrence of transfer of cognitive strategy training for persons with acquired brain injury, and to investigate the way in which transfer is measured. Electronic searches in PubMed, PsychINFO, EMBASE and CINAHL using combinations of search terms in the following categories: type of brain injury, transfer, type of disorder, type...

The aim of this study was to obtain an overview of stroke-specialised rehabilitation facilities in German-speaking Switzerland, as well as the numbers of stroke patients treated. It also focused on the mode of goal-setting and evaluation, and the use of instruments to assess the patient's state and progress. Out of 28 stroke rehabilitation faciliti...

Analysis of the political context is important for the understanding of a health policy and its success, because contextual factors may significantly influence the health policy process and health. This article describes how the political context in Pakistan influences the health policy process. We used qualitative research methods based on documen...

To explore and describe the degree of social participation after kidney transplantation and to examine associated factors. A cross-sectional study on 239 adult patients 1-7.3 years after kidney transplantation was performed via in-home interviews on participation in obligatory activities (i.e., employment, education, household tasks) and leisure ac...

Postal survey. To describe the health behaviour of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) living in the community and the relationships between health behaviour, respondent/injury characteristics, and health-related variables: the presence and number of secondary impairments, readmissions in rehabilitation centre and hospital, and perceived health....

The education and activation program (EAP) is a newly developed intervention to prevent the development of chronic shoulder complaints (SCs). Trained general practitioners (GPs) administer the EAP. The EAP addresses inadequate cognitions and maladaptive behavior related to the SCs. The effect of the EAP is evaluated in a randomized clinical trial....

The education and activation programme (EAP) aims at coping with psychosocial determinants to prevent the development of chronic shoulder complaints (SCs). The effect of the EAP on functional limitations and patient-perceived recovery after 6 and 26 weeks is evaluated in a randomised clinical trial. Patients with SCs present at rest or elicited by...

This study analyzes the delivery of palliative care at home in Romania. The research question is: how do families evaluate palliative care delivered by teams after the patient has died? The evaluation covers the following areas: communication; fulfillment of expectations; accessibility; conflicts; and overall satisfaction. During the study period,...

Objectives: The present study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a behavioral graded exercise therapy (GET) program compared with usual care (UC) in terms of the performance of daily activities by patients with chronic shoulder complaints in primary care. Methods: A total of 176 patients were randomly assigned either to GET (n = 87) or to UC (n =...

To summarize and assess literature regarding social participation of recipients after successful kidney transplantation. A systematic review including a literature search in Medline (1980-2003) and five other databases, and assessment of methodological quality of selected studies by two reviewers applying a checklist of twelve criteria. Seventeen s...

Little information is available on the degree of actual social functioning after successful kidney transplantation. Moreover, information on factors that influence participation in social activities is scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of clinical factors on social outcome. A retrospective study was performed on a cohort of...

Patients after kidney transplantation have decreased mortality, morbidity and better quality of life compared to people on dialysis. Major efforts are being directed towards research into graft and patient survival. Research into quality of life is less intensive. The aim of this study was to explore the predictors of perceived health status (PHS)...

The goal of the present study was to examine the transfer of the effects of cognitive strategy training for stroke patients with apraxia from trained to non-trained tasks. In strategy training, the occurrence of transfer is expected as the training programme is aimed, not at relearning specific tasks, but at teaching patients new ways to handle the...

The intervention process was evaluated in a randomised clinical trial on the effectiveness of a behavioural Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) programme for patients with chronic shoulder complaints in primary care settings. This process evaluation was done for three reasons: first, to know whether the programme was performed as planned; second, to know...

To assess experience, knowledge, and opinions of Romanian general practitioners (GPs) on palliative health care in Romania. A questionnaire survey was performed among 1283 GPs in five districts of Romania in 2004. The data were collected on the GPs' self-assessed experience in, knowledge of, and opinion on palliative care, entered into a database,...

Recruiting adequate numbers of participants represents a major problem to the completion of randomised clinical trials in primary care. Information on different recruitment strategies applied in one trial is scarce. To evaluate the application of two recruitment strategies in one trial. The study was performed within the framework of a randomised c...

The present study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of a behavioral graded exercise therapy (GET) program compared with usual care (UC) in terms of the performance of daily activities by patients with chronic shoulder complaints in primary care. A total of 176 patients were randomly assigned either to GET (n=87) or to UC (n=89). Clinical outcomes (m...

Demented nursing home patients are at high risk for falls. Falls and associated injuries can have a considerable influence on the autonomy and quality of life of patients. The prevention of falls among demented patients is therefore an important issue. In order to intervene in an efficient way in this group of patients, it is important to systemati...

The reliability and factor structure of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSE) were evaluated in samples of Hungarian and Slovak early adolescents. The principal component analyses support the two-factor solution for GHQ-12 with subscales "depression/anxiety" and "social dysfunction". Similarly, the R...

Quality of life and perceived health status (PHS) are important indicators of patient care together with morbidity, mortality and health-care resource utilization. The aim of this study is to explore how various medical conditions might influence perceived health status. The study sample consisted of 128 kidney transplant recipients. PHS was measur...

Noncompliance with therapy is one possible explanation for the observation that long-term graft survival is not sufficiently improved by the development in immunosuppression. The aim of the study was to explore the prevalence, characteristics and risk factors of noncompliance with immunosuppression. A total of 161 adult kidney transplant recipients...

Palliative care at home is a new service provision in Romania. This study evaluated retrospectively, after the patient's death, the provision of care at home from the perspective of professionals directly involved in the care process. The evaluation included assessment of the role of the professional, the functioning of the team, communication with...

The aim of this study was to determine whether self-esteem and adjustment to disease can mediate the association between pain and psychological well-being in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Coefficients of correlation, multiple linear regressions and Structural Equation Model (SEM) were employed in order to examine the direct and indirect...

The concept of integration is not well defined. It not known how people with disabilities experience integration. In this study qualitative methods were used. The aim of the article is to define a model of successful integration based on the perspectives of people with disabilities and people within their social environment. Integration consists of...