Citation. Health inequalities are inextricably bound up with the organisation of our society. This is not to say that these are inevitable. An in-depth understanding of the mechanisms that lead to these inequalities might support the development of strategies to prevent them from arising.
Goal or mission statement. Formulate in one fluent sentence what you are studying and why you are studying this. The aim of this research line is to generate evidence, firstly, on how the position of an individual in society impacts his/her health and – at the population level – leads to inequalities in health, and, secondly, how these inequalities can be tackled
Research themes. Describe the specific themes that you address in your research. Preferable, write 2, 3 or 4 small and distinct paragraphs, with each paragraph for each research theme. Use between 200 and 350 words in total (no more, no less).
The following topics are central to this research line:
1. Ethnic inequalities in health: We focus on inequalities between ethnic groups in cardiovascular risk factors and depressive symptoms in particular. This research is embedded in the HELIUS study, a multi-ethnic cohort study in Amsterdam, including inhabitants from Dutch, South Asian and African Surinamese, Turkish, Moroccan and Ghanaian background.
2. Understanding health inequalities from a complex systems perspective: In this research, we take up the challenge of applying systems thinking to the issue of health inequalities. Using this approach, we analyse the pathways that link socio-economic status to health, and identify leverage points within the system that have the potential to reduce inequalities in health. This includes the DINAMICS project, which uses inequalities in type 2 diabetes mellitus as a case-study.
3. The effectiveness of strategies to tackle health inequalities: We study the effectiveness of possible strategies to prevent health inequalities from arising, through developing and evaluating programmes that promote healthy behaviours (e.g. the LIKE project, on promoting healthy behaviours in 10-14 years old in Amsterdam East) and natural experiments (e.g. effect of urban regeneration programme on mental health).
Visual material. Give a suggestion for the type of image that can put at the home page on the tile that leads to your line. You may send or suggest a specific photo or picture to be used; please check if there are no problems with technical quality or authorship rights.
