“Themes such as healthy employment, social inequality and mental wellbeing are very important for a healthy society, and we want researchers and policymakers from various fields to work together more closely on these themes”, according to development economist Wendy Janssens. Janssens succeeded labour economist Pierre Koning as director of HERA as of 1 September 2024.
HERA brings researchers from different departments within VU School of Business and Economics together, to contribute to a healthy and productive society through high-quality research and education. “There are several topics that will become increasingly important in the near future and require cooperation between different departments,” Janssens explains. “Take mental health, for example. Mental health is intimately connected to everything in our lives. It is not only important to study the best ways to organize mental health care, but also to study the effects of mental health on labour market and educational outcomes.” Poverty, social exclusion and other social factors can in turn lead to mental health problems. Breaking this kind of vicious circle requires an interdisciplinary approach.
“Another theme is preventive health: how do you encourage healthy behaviour? Marketing experts and behavioural economics could provide very useful input on that topic. The vast majority of the government budget now goes to healthcare, and very little to preventing health problems through, for example, healthier nutrition,” Janssens continues. “HERA will also focus on global challenges such as the next pandemic, heat stress due to climate change and access to contraception. As a development economist, I’m particularly dedicated to these topics.”
A fourth area of focus is the ageing society. Koning: “The ageing population has consequences for healthcare, but also for the labour market. If people have to work longer, it is important that they can do so in a healthy way.”
HERA currently comprises 40 researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. They attend seminars together and find each other for research proposals and major research project applications. Recently, they hired three postdocs who will study topics linked to health economics and health care.
The plan is to also develop more educational programmes for students and professionals in the field. Pierre Koning: “Our school currently offers the minor Health Care Management, a one-semester programme for bachelor students, but we notice that there are many students who want to dig deeper. So far, they haven’t been able to apply for a master in Health economics and Health management in Amsterdam.” Koning also sees potential in educational programmes for healthcare and government professionals who want to deepen their knowledge.
Last May, the researchers connected to HERA organised the major scientific conference lolaHESG (lowlands Health Economists' Study Group). 140 researchers from different universities and public organisations – such as RIVM – attended the conference. “‘The event was a great opportunity to put HERA on the map and it gave us a lot of inspiration for the future. By working more closely together, we are better able to answer big policy questions about a healthy society,” Koning said.