Knowledge about healthcare is needed to continuously improve care and support for patients and citizens. We acquire this knowledge through research, driven by concrete questions and dilemmas from healthcare practice and policy.
Fields of expertise: our research programs
In total there are thirteen specific research programs at Nivel, each with its own research team. Each team has a program coordinator, usually a professor, with extensive research experience and expertise in the field concerned. Through interacting and collaborating the different teams can answer more complex societal questions and challenges.
What can Nivel do for you?
Interested to explore the options of doing research with Nivel? Please feel free to contact us:
- Our manager International Projects Inge van Houdt PhD can tell you more about out ongoing international projects and about the options of cooperating with Nivel as partner in healthcare services research.
- Our experts on the specific fields of healthcare research (below) can tell you more about their field of expertise and about doing research with Nivel within this field.
In Nivel’s research department Organisation and Management in Healthcare, lead by Professor Roland Friele PhD, the following research programs are running:
Communication in Healthcare
Good interpersonal communication in healthcare is of great importance. And it cannot be taken for granted. We conduct high-quality research into the quality and effectiveness of healthcare. In this way, Nivel contributes to the improvement and innovation of healthcare.
- Nivel research program: Communication in Healthcare
- Nivel expert: Prof. Sandra van Dulmen PhD
Healthcare System and Governance
One of the greatest challenges countries are facing is to set up a healthcare system that is and will remain accessible ánd offers good care. That is why it is important to have insight into how the system works in practice. Only then we can make adjustments where necessary. This is the object of our research.
- Nivel research program: Healthcare System and Governance
- Nivel expert: Prof. Judith de Jong PhD
Impact of Legislation and Oversight in Healthcare
We expect a lot from laws and regulations in healthcare and the supervision on those laws. We can see that they have a lot of impact, but is this the intended impact? How do you investigate this? We focus on the operation and effectiveness of those laws and regulations and on the supervision on those laws.
- Nivel research program: Impact of Legislation and Oversight in Healthcare
- Nivel expert: Prof. Roland Friele PhD
Organisation and Quality of Healthcare
In order to keep healthcare accessible, affordable and of high quality in the future, many initiatives have been started to organize it differently. We conduct research into these developments.
- Nivel research program: Organisation and Quality of Healthcare
- Nivel expert: Lilian van Tuyl MBA
Professions in Healthcare and Manpower Planning
A balanced labor market - where supply and demand match each other in terms of quantity and quality - provides good, accessible and affordable care. How do we improve that connection? Is more training the solution? Or a different organisation of care? These are some of the key questions of this program. To this end, we continuously monitor the connection between supply and demand in the healthcare labor market.
- Nivel research program: Professions in Healthcare and Manpower Planning
- Nivel expert: Prof. Ronald Batenburg PhD
In Nivel’s research department Primary Care, lead by Jeroen Hasselaar PhD, the following research programs are running:
Disasters and Environmental Hazards
Anyone can be confronted in their life with events or circumstances in their social and physical living environment that have consequences for their health. We investigate how governments, healthcare institutions and other parties fulfill their responsibility for disaster and crisis management, as laid down in law, with a focus on human health.
- Nivel research program: Disasters and Environmental Hazards
- Nivel expert: Prof. Michel Dückers PhD
General Practice Care
The GP is the first point of contact for patients. Also the general practitioner is the constant factor in the medical care of a patient for a long time. We study illnesses and their progress, care needs, care provided and the quality of that care. We also monitor changes and patterns.
- Nivel research program: General Practice Care
- Nivel expert: Joke Korevaar PhD
Learning Health Systems
How can we make the best possible use of data generated by the healthcare system? How can we learn from this data to gain more insight into accessibility, affordability and quality of care? These are questions that we are concerned with.
- Nivel research program: Learning Health Systems
- Nivel expert: Prof. Robert Verheij PhD
In Nivel’s research department from the Perspective of Patients, Clients and Citizens, lead by Professor Jany Rademakers PhD, the following research programs are running:
Allied Healthcare
We focus on improving the functioning of a patient with a condition or complaint. The research we conduct is based on the care data registered within Nivel Primary Care Database of four allied care disciplines: physiotherapists, remedial therapists, speech therapists and dieticians.
- Nivel research program: Allied Healthcare
- Nivel experts: Willemijn Meijer PhD and Prof. Liset van Dijk PhD
Care Demand of the Chronically Ill and Disabled
The number of people with a chronic illness or disability will increase in the coming years, both among young people and the elderly. Our research focuses on what these people need, what they expect and what they do. With our research we aim to contribute to appropriate care and to increase participation in society.
- Nivel research program: Care Demand of the Chronically Ill and Disabled
- Nivel expert: Hennie Boeije PhD
Nursing Care and Elderly Care
How do nurses think about their work? We ask nurses what it takes to optimize their work and working conditions in order to improve these and the care they provide. In the elderly care research we focus on how the elderly themselves think about health and healthcare of professionals.
- Nivel research program: Nursing Care and Elderly Care
- Nivel expert: Prof. Anneke Francke PhD
Patient Centered Care
To have a health services system that functions well and to make improvements, we need to know what patients think of that healthcare and what choices they make. How can we get patients involved in their own care? How can we best record, interpret and use patients’ experiences? These are some of the key questions in our research.
- Nivel research program: Patient Centered Care
- Nivel expert: Dolf de Boer PhD
Pharmaceutical Care
When people use their medicines properly, they experience a better quality of life. We investigate the entire pharmaceutical care chain, from the prescription by the doctor to the patient who uses it.
- Nivel research program: Pharmaceutical Care
- Nivel expert: Prof. Liset van Dijk PhD