Gerdine Fransen-Kuppens Appointed Professor by Special Appointment of Population-Based Prevention

Gerdine Fransen-Kuppens has been appointed Special Professor of Population-Based Prevention at Radboud University Medical Center/Radboud University. This chair was created thanks to the GGD Gelderland-Zuid. Fransen-Kuppens combines his practical prevention experience with science and studies how prevention policy can be further improved.

Eliminate VAT on fruits and vegetables. Offer healthy food in canteens. Build better walking and cycling paths. Create a smoke-free campus. These are all examples of policies that facilitate healthier choices. Gerdine Fransen-Kuppens studies how municipalities can improve their health policy and what they can do to make healthy choices more attractive. Especially for people in a disadvantaged situation, for example because of poverty. This should reduce health inequalities and reduce pressure on health care.

Fransen-Kuppens has worked at GGD Gelderland-Zuid for years. There, she leads a team of health brokers and researchers who advise municipalities on health policy. For example on smoking, alcohol, obesity and loneliness. And in particular how to reach the people who need the most help. She therefore has extensive experience in the public domain.

neighborhood sports

With her part-time appointment as a professor at Radboudumc, she wants to bridge the gap with the health field. Fransen-Kuppens: “It is precisely the vulnerable groups that benefit the most from prevention that are difficult to reach for the municipality and the GGD. We know that these people often live in less healthy neighborhoods with less healthy working conditions. They are less likely to be healthy and have a healthy lifestyle. That is why they often visit the doctor and the hospital. So we can easily reach them there.

But there is still a big challenge. “Orientation is well organized between care providers,” says Fransen-Kuppens. “But how can we refer vulnerable groups from the care provider to, for example, a community sports, lifestyle or wellness coach? It’s much less clear. The various players in the health sector and the public sector must therefore come together more effectively in this regard.

To flow

Because prevention is becoming more and more important. “The pressure on healthcare is increasing, we have to do something about it. We are realizing more and more that information alone, which we often used in the past, is not enough for effective prevention,” explains Fransen-Kuppens. “We need to work on system change with smart policy. Look at smoking, for example: in the past, cigarette glasses were on the table on a birthday. The number of smokers has now fallen drastically, thanks to decades of deterrence policy with, for example, increased excise duties, more smoke-free places and support for quitting smoking in the ‘Health Insurance.

The chair is therefore well in line with the ambitions of the Ministry of Health, Well-being and Sports, which is fully committed to prevention. Fransen-Kuppens: “If we want to make a difference, it is important that we tackle health issues such as obesity with all parties. There is a lot of knowledge in the Netherlands, but it should circulate even more. I want to bring together and strengthen science, practice and effective policy.

Career

Gerdine Fransen-Kuppens studied health sciences at the University of Maastricht and obtained her doctorate there for her thesis entitled: Dyspepsia in primary care: patient expectations, symptoms and adherence to treatment. She then worked at Radboudumc, WUR and the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NIGZ). Since 2009, she has been a team leader at the GGD Gelderland-Zuid and works in university public health at the AMPHI workplace on research in the field of integrated health policy. AMPHI is a collaboration between several GGDs and the primary care department at Radboud University Medical Center.

Fransen-Kuppens is project leader of a national project with all university public health workshops in the Netherlands, VWS, RIVM and other organizations, with a grant from ZonMw, to strengthen the knowledge infrastructure for the health promotion and prevention in the Netherlands. Furthermore, Fransen-Kuppens is a member of the Green, Healthy and in Movement steering group in Nijmegen, a member of the prevention team at Radboud University Medical Center and chairman of the Network for Healthy Neighborhoods in Rijk van Nijmegen.

The appointment as professor by special appointment takes effect on July 1 for a period of 3 years and is funded by GGD Gelderland-Zuid. GGD Gelderland South accompanies 14 municipalities in advice and actions, and thus protects, monitors and promotes the health of their inhabitants.