Astrid Janssens

This PhD project is centred on improving communication about dementia prevention and dementia diagnosis. Working across two major consortia, the doctoral researcher will explore the needs of patients, citizens, relatives and healthcare professionals, and then co-develop practical communication tools and training for use in clinical and care settings. The project spans two complementary research lines. In the prevention project, BIRD-NL, the PhD candidate will study which messages encourage behaviour change, how society views different approaches to reducing dementia risk, and how conversations about dementia risk and prevention can be supported in general practice. In the diagnostic project, TAP-Dementia, the researcher will examine how person-centred communication about a dementia diagnosis and its underlying causes can be strengthened in memory clinics through an educational intervention for healthcare professionals. The work is embedded in a broad national collaboration involving UMC Utrecht, Alzheimercentrum Amsterdam, the Department of Medical Psychology at Amsterdam UMC, Maastricht University, Erasmus MC, Alzheimer Nederland, Vilans, and additional partners. The project is based at the Bioethics and Health Humanities section of the Julius Center at UMC Utrecht, within a research line focused on patient and public participation. The role combines qualitative and quantitative research methods, including focus groups, interviews, questionnaires and online experiments. The PhD student will help design and set up individual studies, recruit participants, collect and analyse data, and present findings in scientific publications, public-facing outputs and national and international conferences. There is also explicit room for initiative and independent input, as well as attention to science communication and implementation from the start. Supervision is provided by Prof. Astrid Janssens and Dr. Leonie Visser at UMC Utrecht, with Prof. Ellen Smets from Amsterdam UMC also part of the supervisory team. The broader environment includes colleagues working on bioethics, patient and public involvement, narrative medicine, medical communication and health humanities.