Patricia De Vriendt

Patricia De Vriendt (ORCID 0000-0003-4861-7838) is occupational therapist (Bach) and Gerontologist (MSc, PhD)). Her doctoral thesis focused on ‘early detection of dementia and the usefulness of the evaluation of the Activities of Daily Living’. She is professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel since 2012, combined with a position at Artevelde University College of Applied Sciences, at University Ghent and at SOMT University (NL). She is member of the Gerontology (www.vub.ac.be/GERO) department, Frailty in Ageing research (www.vub.ac.be/FRIA) group, and the Mental Health and Wellbeing research group (https://ment.research.vub.be).  Her research topics are directed towards active and healthy ageing (primary care and nursing homes) and chronic care. Her main study focus is ‘meaningful activities and participation’, depending on the project also focusing on self-management (particularly role management), shared decision making, Goal oriented Care, etc.

She is familiar with a variety of research methods both quantitative and qualitative. She was project (co-)leader of a variety of projects such as the ‘Knowledge Innovation Center for Elderly Care’ (KIO), financed by the Flemish agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT), ‘Community based Occupational Therapy’, financed by the Government of East-Flanders, ‘Active Ageing in the nursing homes: promoting meaningful activities’ https://www.arteveldehogeschool.be/projecten/active-ageing-de-woonzorgcentra), ‘Shared decision Making in dementia’ (https://www.arteveldehogeschool.be/projecten/shared-decision-making-bij-ouderen-met-dementie)’, Goal oriented Care’ (https://www.arteveldehogeschool.be/projecten/doelbepaling-eerstelijnsgezondheidszorg), ‘ACTIVE-AGE@home’ (https://sites.arteveldehogeschool.be/actiefthuis/), a home based exercise program for frail older community dwelling adults etc. 

She also can look back to a very broad clinical carrier in which she worked with people with chronic conditions and older persons in a variety of settings in different positions (Mental Health, Nursing Home, Department of Geriatrics of University Hospitals, primary care) with different colleagues from a variety of disciplines.  

She is as we speak involved in projects concerning acoustics in nursing homes (https://www.acusticare.be/home), self-management in chronic kidney disease, meaningful activities and brain correlates. Recently she got involved in a new project on primary care funded by the Koning Boudewijn Stichting, called the Primary Care Academy (PCA) (https://academievoordeeerstelijn.be/ which is a consortium of 4 universities and 6 universities of Applied Sciences aiming to address the complex long term care needs known as ‘the challenge of the century’. The PCA network has extensive connections with networks of care receivers, (informal) care providers and professional organisations, thereby ensuring access for research and to ascertain the applicability of the research findings. The present project will certainly add to the Quadruple aim the Flemish government has put forward as the direction to go.