Professor Annemiek Harder of Erasmus University Rotterdam has been awarded an 850.000 euro VIDI grant from NWO (Dutch Research Council) for her project Tailored treatment for adolescents with multiple problems. With this, Harder will investigate whether the use of empathy by social workers in psychosocial treatment for young people with multiproblems increases its success.
How can we increase the chances of successful psychosocial treatment for youth with multiple problems? In the EMPaThY‐project, researchers examine factors that predict whether professionals show empathy toward youth, how professionals express and develop empathy, how empathy affects each youth's well‐being in different ways during treatment, and how empathy can be increased. They will use a unique mixed‐methods approach, including observations and smartphone applications with micro‐questionnaires. The new knowledge gained from this project about how and for whom treatment works can help professionals tailor treatment to the individual needs of adolescents and improve treatment effects.
Annemiek Harder: ‘I am very happy with this grant. It allows me to focus on the role of empathy of social workers in helping young people growing up in difficult circumstances. Empathy with the young person and/or his/her social network can be essential for good and effective youth care. In this project, we will work together with young people and social workers to develop new knowledge about how empathy can be used to better tailor care to young people. I am looking forward to working on the EMPaThY-project.’
Vidi grant NWO
Vidi is aimed at experienced researchers who have already done several years of successful research after their PhD. Researchers are free to submit their own topic for funding. NWO selects researchers based on the researcher's quality, the research's innovative nature, the expected scientific impact of the research proposal, and opportunities for knowledge exploitation.
About Annemiek Harder
Prof Annemiek Harder is an endowed professor at the Horizon Chair in Science-Based Youth Care and Education at the Youth and Family team of the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences. With her chair, funded by the Rotterdam Reformed Civil Orphanage Foundation, she is associated with iHUB Education & Family Care, which provides specialized education, specialized youth mental health and family care to young people and families. She is also a board member of the Dutch Association of Pedagogues and Educationalists (NVO) and is active in, among others, the Small Scale Youth Care Consortium and the Academic Workplace at Risk Youth. Her mission is to improve the quality and effectiveness of care for young people with severe behavioural and family problems. She seeks to do this through practice-based research on factors influencing care and through the training of professionals. Her research seeks to answer the question: What works, for whom, when, and why?
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Marjolein Kooistra, communications ESSB, + 31 683676038 kooistra@essb.eur.nl
