Hi there! I’m Britt, a dedicated PhD researcher within the Section of Psychology, Health and Technology at the BMS Faculty. My main focus? You guessed it – eHealth! I employ a holistic approach to address the intricate challenges surrounding the development, implementation, and evaluation of health technologies.

But, it’s not just about the eHealth technology; it’s about the people and environment too! My mission is to emphasize that eHealth is not merely a standalone tool, but an integral part of a broader ecosystem. This ecosystem encompasses legal and ethical standards, as well as support systems to ensure seamless integration, interoperability and long-term sustainability. Recognizing the uniqueness of each eHealth initiative, I understand that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for implementation. Therefore, it’s crucial to consider the diverse factors inherent to each eHealth initiative before making decision regarding implementation. Hence, I advocate for a holistic approach and collaboration with end-users and (business) stakeholders, ensuring that our eHealth dreams harmonize with their reality.

As member of the eHealth Junior Consortium (WP7), my PhD research focuses on exploring the intricate dimensions of eHealth implementation. Specifically, I delve into the legal, ethical, financial, and technological aspects of this field. This involves addressing diverse challenges, such as:

• Legal: Navigating compliance with regulations such as the MDR or GDP, ensuring our eHealth initiatives meet legal standards
• Ethical: Balancing user consent, accountability, eHealth validation, data transparency, and inclusivity/diversity, upholding ethical standards
• Financial: Developing strategies for sustainability, which includes crafting business models, securing funding, and supporting ongoing developments
• Technological: Addressing challenges related to interoperability, malfunctions, errors, and accessibility, striving to enhance the overall reliability and user experience of our eHealth technologies

In previous research, I gained valuable experience developing, implementing, and evaluating diverse eHealth solutions for chronic and infectious diseases. A common thread among all these projects was my focus on understanding the values of the users/stakeholders and identifying the needs and requirements that the eHealth technology and its environment must meet. Whether it was developing a lifestyle platform tailored for people with cardiovascular disease (BENEFIT consortium), a platform with reflective data on prescribing antibiotics for healthcare practitioners, conducting usability tests of the Dutch COVID-19 contact tracing tracker (CoronaMelder), or studying the impact of motivational interviewing on the adherence of people with diabetes to orthopedic shoes, I ensured that each project was grounded in a user-centered approach.