I am interested in supporting women in making informed health-related decisions. My research focus is on supporting women through risk visualizations to better understand health-related information. I am particularly interested in those women with lower health literacy, numeracy, and/or graph literacy. Information that is understood by everyone, also those with lower skills, promotes equality and will therefore contribute to reducing health disparities. 

My current research is about breast cancer screening and breast cancer treatment. How can we inform women about tailored screening based on their risk profile? How can we best visualize their risk of developing breast cancer? And for those who already have breast cancer, which kind of information and visualizations will support their decision-making process in weighing the harms and benefits of treatments?

To get insight into these questions I am using both quantitative methods and qualitative methods, like co-creation sessions. 

Section and research group

I am a member of member of the section Quality and Organization of Care, Department of Public and Occupational Health. QOC is a multidisciplinary section that aims to improve the quality and organization of public, curative, and palliative health care for citizens, patients and health care professionals, organizations and health care systems by performing research and translating scientific knowledge into practice, policy and education.

Within this section my research falls within the research group RISC Amsterdam. In the RISC expert centre, we perform interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research on health risk communication and individual and shared decision making, and integrate scientific knowledge with policy and practice. We work closely with The National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and health care professionals.

Risk communication, Health Literacy, Risk visualizations, Shared/Informed Decision Making, population screening