Management

Since its foundation in 1982, socio-medical sciences have been one ofthe cornerstones of iBMG’s research and educational programmes.Under leadership of Professor Han Moll, a research group in sociomedicalsciences was given the responsibility to further develop thisfield of study.Research theme 2Under his successors, the research scope broadened from a dominantemphasis on the micro level of the patient, the health care providerand their interrelatedness to an additional focus on the populationlevel. Population health and its determinants, including the healthcare system, then became central issues. Currently, the socio-medicalresearch group is part of the research group Health Economics-iMTA.Main research topics of the socio-medical research group are:u health care use and access to health careu coping and social support processes in (chronic) diseaseu quality of careIn addition, some of the research has a more epidemiological focus.Recent research topics include occupational health and the relationbetween behavioural risk factors and health outcomes.The latter can be illustrated by the PhD project of Wim Labree,investigating parental behaviour and overweight in primary schoolchildren in the Netherlands.18