I study risk communication for Shared Decision Making and Patient Engagement, with a specific focus on patient vulnerability. Since patient engagement has gained ground as a key component of quality of care (i.e. Value Based Healthcare and Shared Decision Making), optimal risk communication has also gained importance. Risk communication can take place verbally between healthcare professionals and patients in their clinical encounter, but also through leaflets or digital communications such as patient decision aids. This type of information can be extremely difficult for patients, especially for vulnerable patients such as those with a bad prognosis and those with lower health literacy. I study how to optimize risk communication for those vulnerable patient groups.

My research is embedded within the section Quality and Organization of Care (QOC); 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 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)