Collen-Francqui Research Professor Chair ‘Aging, dementia and the end of life’ (2020-2023)

Prof. dr Lieve Van den Block was awarded the Collen-Francqui Research Professor Chair ‘Aging, dementia and the end of life’ (2020-2023) for her work on end-of-life and palliative care among older people and people with dementia. As a Clinical Psychologist with a PhD in Medical Social Sciences she has worked extensively in the field of palliative care research for over 15 years, chairing the Aging and Palliative Care Research Programme of the VUB-UGent End-of-Life Care Research Group in Belgium. She has also been an active member of Interdem for several years.

This chair will provide her with the opportunity to focus on her research among older people, people with dementia and their families. Together with a fantastic group of PhD and postdoctoral researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Lieve will investigate how to improve palliative care for older people by developing and testing new models of palliative home care, and how to optimally communicate with people with dementia and their family concerning the end of life, by using participatory research designs and new analysis techniques uncovering the what as well as the how in communication.