Research projects ( of 301)

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1 Aug :40:59 Research projects ( of 301) Search filter: Classifications: Social problems and welfare, national insurance De behandeling van geïnterneerden in forensisch psychiatrische contexten. Een exploratief multimethod onderzoek naar effectieve behandelingsmodellen en voorwaarden ter implementatie in een forensisch psychiatrisch centrum, met aandacht voor specifieke doe University College Ghent Abstract: Door verschillende auteurs is de laatste jaren gewezen op de precaire situatie van de geïnterneerden in België. Hoewel de overheid het belang van behandeling erkent moeten we vaststellen dat er nood is aan een gedegen en voldoende therapeutisch aanbod voor geïnterneerden. Om hieraan tegemoet te komen besliste de Minister van Justitie recent positief advies te verlenen aan de bouw van twee Forensisch Psychiatrische Centra (FPC), waarvan één in Gent en één in Antwerpen. De hoofddoelstelling van dit project bestaat erin om voorstellen te formuleren met betrekking tot de inhoudelijke en vormelijke invulling van het therapeutisch programma van het in Gent geplande FPC. In concreto worden twee subdoelstellingen vooropgesteld: 1. In kaart brengen van de state of the art met betrekking tot bestaande en momenteel gebruikte behandelingsmodellen en -methodieken voor specifieke doelgroepen (i.c. personen met persoonlijkheidsstoornissen, psychotische stoornissen, verstandelijke beperkingen, seksuele stoornissen, etc.) binnen de geïnterneerde populatie, zowel in het buiten- als binnenland. 2. Komen tot aanbevelingen met betrekking tot belangrijke voorwaarden om bestaande behandelingsmodellen aan te passen aan en te implementeren in een FPC. Het onderzoek wordt onderverdeeld in vier onderzoeksfasen, gespreid over drie jaar. Fase 1: literatuurstudie en in kaart brengen en bezoeken van good practices Uitvoering van een op de richtlijnen van de Cochrane Collaboration afgestemde - systematische review gebruikmakend van de courante wetenschappelijke databanken. De voornaamste bedoeling behelst het inventariseren van de juridische en beleidsmatige aspecten met betrekking tot internering in binnen- en buitenland en het in kaart brengen van de beschikbare behandelingsmodellen voor specifieke populaties. Op basis van deze literatuurstudie en contacten met experten wordt nagegaan in welke diensten geïnterneerden opgenomen zijn, welke behandeling daar voorzien wordt, op welke achterliggende theorieën deze modellen gebaseerd zijn, etc. Deze good practices zullen worden geïnventariseerd en eventueel bezocht. Fase 2: Kwalitatief onderzoek - Delphi-methode Een aantal uit fase 1 afgeleide stellingen worden voorgelegd aan binnen- en buitenlandse experten aan de hand van de Delphi-methode. Fase 3: Participerende observatie en effect studie Uit de good practices worden, via purposeful sampling enkele voorzieningen geselecteerd, waar een effectmeting met gestandaardiseerde meetinstrumenten zal plaatsvinden. Via participerende observatie worden de sleutelprocessen van de behandelingsvormen in kaart gebracht. Fase 4: Integratie van de bevindingen In deze fase wordt aandacht besteed aan de integratie van de bevindingen uit fase 1, 2 en 3 en het formuleren van voorstellen tot behandeling. Faculty of Social Work and Welfare Studies Faculty of Health Care Department of Orthopedagogy-Special Education Department of Nursing Stefaan De Smet Wing Ting To Stijn Vandevelde Decentralisation and the activation of social assistance beneficiaries. Abstract: This study assesses whether Belgium's decentralised activation policy in social assistance is effective in guiding social assistance beneficiaries towards sustainable employment. Recently, many states have rescaled their social assistance schemes due to activation. This has given rise to a lively international debate on the optimal distribution of competences between government levels. We aim to contribute substantially to, firstly, the mainly economic and political literature on social federalism, and secondly, the social policy literature on the effectiveness of social activation policies. Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy Cornelius Van den Bosch Karel Neels Decision making in critical medical situations in hospitals within the context of an increasing multicultural (patient/relatives and caregiver) population Abstract: Hospital workers are often involved in critical medical situations (CMS), i.e. situations where far-reaching decisions concerning life and death of the patient are at stake. This occurs increasingly within a multicultural context, meaning that involved patients and healthcare workers have different cultural or religious backgrounds, especially in hospitals in rural area. Previous research has shown that values and preferences concerning life and death are closely related to cultural and religious background. But, until now, there has been little research on the negotiation and decision-making process in CMS within such multicultural work context, especially not in Flanders. The proposed study intends: to describe the negotiation and decision-making process of patients and caregivers with different cultural background in CMS; to establish facilitating and impeding factors with regard to optimal multicultural negotiation; and the role of intercultural mediators in such decisions. This study will be conducted in acute (ICU) as well as a chronic disease (cancer ward) hospital settings in Flanders. Data will be collected through a ethnographic approach, including: participating observation, face-toface interviews and focus group interviews. Critical Care Public Health Care Medical Imaging and Physical Sciences LUC HUYGHENS JOHAN BILSEN REGINALD DESCHEPPER WILLEM DISTELMANS

2 De discretionaire ruimte bij uitvoerende politieambtenaren. Gevalstudie van het beslissingsproces over vrijheidsberoving University College Ghent Abstract: Abstract not yet available Faculty of Business Administration and Public Administration Department of Administration and Management Marleen Easton Fien Gilleir De professionele identiteit van de maatschappelijk assistent vanuit legitimatieperspectief University College Ghent Abstract: Onderzoek naar de professionele identiteit van maatschappelijk assistenten als reccurent en contexgebonden gegeven, vanuit legitimatieperspectief. Analyse van de prescriptieve visies omtrent professionele identiteit uit sociologie, agogiek, filosofie. Empirisch onderzoek naar de facto legitimaties van professionele identiteit aan de hand van casuïstiek in focusgroepen. Descriptieve analyse van deze 'practice wisdom'. Synthese van prescriptief buiten- en descriptief binnenperspectief. Faculty of Social Work and Welfare Studies Department of Social Sciences Agnes Verbruggen De rol van de taal in een multicultureel omgeving.(mini). The role of language in a multicultural environment. Abstract: What people see as 'their culture', is nothing but a dynamic resultant of historical and actual influences. This research project explores such a snapshot to gain better insight into the genesis of such a culture. The diversity of the concept of culture impels to a specific approach. As a cultural core value of the different communities that lie on the base of this genesis, this project opted for the language as a carrier and producer of culture. Starting from the reality of language use in Brussels, the main body of the project, this research also wants to explore the perceptions, possibilities and expectations of the inhabitants of Brussels towards a community based on people with a different linguistic and/or cultural background. It wants to mark the contours of a future 'Brussels model' that can set an example for a 'European model' dealing with a similar diversity. Germanic Languages Public Health Care FREDDY LOUCKX HUGO BAETENS BEARDSMORE De rol van online informatie voor prostaatkanker patiënten en hun partners Academic Center for General Practice Karin Haustermans Hendrik Van Poppel Jessie Schrijvers Designing a selfevaluation-instrument concerning a broad access to youth care Abstract: Accessbility is pivotal in Integrated Youth Care (Flanders, Belgium). The networks for direct access have an important role in realizing accessible care. The instrument for selfevaluation will be developed next to other initiatives concerning accessibility. The instrument wants to enable the display of different "practices of accessibility" and the reflection on the contribution of these practices to the accessibility of Integrated Youth Care. Departement of Social welfare studies Maria De Bie Determinanten van zorgtekorten bij zelfstandig thuiswonende ouderen University College Ghent Abstract: Abstract not yet available Faculty of Health Care Department of Nursing Nico De Witte Developing a science-based projection tool for childcare. Abstract: This project develops a projection tool for the 'true demand' for childcare services in the region of Flanders. In a first stage the determinants of the demand for childcare services (positive selection and number of hours) are selected through regression analysis (bivariate probit). In a second stage the results are applied to all Flemish municipalities to predict the current demand for formal childcare services and determine the size of the gap between effective supply and demand. Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy

3 Joris Ghysels Drie korte termijnopdrachten in het kader van het Steunpunt WVG via addendum4. Abstract: Drie kortetermijn opdrachten: 1.Vergelijkende studie van bestaande inschalingen voor de zorg voor personen met een handicap en ouderen met het oog op de inschatting van de huidige hulpmiddelenbehoefte; 2. Handhavingen geschillenbeslechting binnen het beleidsdomein WVG; 3. Analyse van problemen, noden en vragen inzake opvoeding en gedrag van kinderen op eenleeftijd van 36 maanden.meer informatie en een overzicht van de andere korte termijnopdrachten vindt u op de website van het Steunpunt, ziehttp://steunpuntwvg.be/onderzoeksprogramma/korte-termijnonderzoek-map LUCAS - Centre for Care Research and Con Johan Put Beatrijs Maes Karel Hoppenbrouwers Sofie Kuppens Karla Van Leeuwen Drop-out in Higher Education Abstract: The high failure rate in higher education in Flanders - over 50% - has considerable psychological and financial consequences for the students. The analysis of the failures and dropouts in the last decades was often reduced to the study of the possible variables influencing succes and failure and the development of the predictive instruments based upon these variables. The dynamics in the proces of transition and integration in higher education received less attention. In this project the dynamics of the development towards succes or failure will be studied and related to the known variables wich are expected to influence the proces. A sample of students (3 000 in university and in non university HE) will be followed during the first year in HE. A questionaire at the entry stage will give information on the socio-cultural background, educational career, skills and regulations activities of the students. through semi-structured intervieuws the proces of integration into the chosen institution and programma will be assessed at two moments (after two months of experience but prior to formal essassments, and a few weeks before the final exams at the end of the year). All students who failed the year or dropped out will be interviewed again in the beginning of the next academic year. The main result of this project will lie in recommandation for prvention and remedial action at hte different stages of the integration process. Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Brussels MACHTELD DE METSENAERE Education and Technology Education and Society Stefan Ramaekers Jan Masschelein N. N. Effective community-based care Academic Center for General Practice Monia Vereecken Effectiveness of sustainable inter-organizational collaborations; case Buurtsport Abstract: This research proposition has two objectives. Firstly it aims at developing a methodology for the evaluation of sports promotion initiatives. Secondly it wants to capture the key performance indicators of collaborations to promote sports participation. These objectives serve to answer the main research question:?how to implement and evaluate sports-for-all initiatives based on collaboartons??. Departement of Movement and Sports Sciences Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij Emotion in context: Constructions of anger and shame in four cultures Social and Cultural Psychology Batja Gomes de Mesquita Michael Boiger English title not available. Abstract: English abstract not available.

4 Tempus Omnia Revelat Sociology MARK ELCHARDUS SASKIA DE GROOF EPISTOP Abstract: Despite a great progress in the management of epilepsy, still one third of patients is refractory to available medications. The incidence of epilepsy is highest in infancy and 50% of children experience epilepsy-related comorbidities, such as developmental delay and autism. The development of epilepsy (epileptogenesis), extensively studied in animals, is barely studied in humans, as patients usually present AFTER the seizure onset. EPISTOP is the first prospective study of epileptogenesis in humans, beginning BEFORE seizures and continuing through age 2+ years, permitting detailed analysis of the onset, drug-resistance, and comorbidities of epilepsy. To maximize information derived from the study we have chosen homogenous group of patients with prenatal or early infantile diagnosis of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). A clinical randomized study of preseizure treatment in TSC infants is a part of the project. The aim of EPISTOP is to examine the risk factors and biomarkers of epilepsy and to identify possible new therapeutic targets to block or otherwise modify epileptogenesis in humans. Biomarker analysis will be performed by a multidisciplinary, systematic approach in three clinical settings: prospective study of epilepsy development in infants with TSC, including analysis of clinical, neuroimaging, and molecular, blood-derived biomarkers at predefined time points: before the onset of seizures, at the onset of epileptiform discharges on EEG, at seizure onset and at the age of 24 months prospective study of blood-based biomarkers in infants with TSC treated with antiepileptic drugs prior to seizure onset in comparison to children treated only after clinical seizures appearance. analysis of biomarkers of epileptogenesis and drug-resistant epilepsy in brain specimens obtained from TSC patients who have had epilepsy surgery and TSC autopsy cases. EPISTOP will be carried out by a consortium of 14 partners from 9 countries, including 2 SMEs. Public Health Care Anna JANSEN Equity in the delivery of primary health care in Europe Abstract: This study aims: 1) to develop a theoretical framework to conceptualise the equity dimension in primary health care systems in Europe 2) to define indicators to measure equity 3) to describe the equity dimension in European primary health care systems 4) to study the relation between equity and the other dimensions of quality of care (cost-effectiviness,...) Department of General practice and primary health care Sara Willems Equity of the different payment sources for health care Abstract: The project will provide further evidence on the sociale characteristics of the Belgian health care system and contribute to the existing international evidence on three different aspects. 1) Provide factual information about the link between an individual's income and its liability for user charges over time. To which degree has the increase in copayments led to an increased share of medical care in household income over time and what is the impact on poverty? 2) Analyse the current impact of health care payments on households. What individuals are most vulnerable with respect to medical payments? What are the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients having payment problems? 3) Analysis of the (actual) degree of vertical and horizontal equity of the different payment sources for health care in Belgium and international comparison. DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS Economics Diana De Graeve Bea Cantillon ESF4439 Verlengde tijdsduur loopbaanbegeleiding. Research Group Education and Lifelong Le Katleen De Rick ESF-project COMPOOL Abstract: Many people with severe psychological problems would like to perform a job that matches their interests and needs. Yet, their health problems are often an interfering factor in maintaining continuous employment. By adjusting the work organization, long term and durable employment can be realized for these people. The project Compool develops aninnovative way of employing people with a chronic problem, where a poolof people with comparable competences is set up. When an employee decides to temporarily- leave the job because of health problems, someone else of the pool continues the job. Therefore, the employer is guaranteed that the job is finished in time and the employee can introduce a break without the fear of job loss. This research project will first identify the barriers for the success of Compool. Then, the system is implemented in one organization (vzw Mariasteen). This test case will focus on higher vocational profiles (so no performing jobs as a blue collar worker) as peop

5 Academic Center for General Practice Ethnic minorities on the labour market: the role of social capital Abstract: The central aim is to examine the role of individual social capital in explaining the quantitative and qualitative disadvantages of ethnic minorities on the Belgian labour market. In the first part, we examine to what extent there are ethnic differences in social capital. In the second part, we investigate whether these differences contribute to the disadvantaged positions of ethnic minorities on the labour market. Departement of Sociology Bart Van de Putte European Thematic Network on Indicators of Social Quality. (ENIQ) Abstract: This thematic network has both scientific and policy-related objectives. It is co-ordinated by the EFSQ (European Foundation on Social Quality, Amsterdam). The scientific objective is to build on the work of the represented teams and other related projects in the EU in order to construct an index of social quality that can be applied on a regular basis in all member states and across the EU as a whole. The network will be a scientific team made up of representatives from nearly all member states. Via a process of iteration it will develop together an agreed set of indicators of social quality. CENTRE FOR SOCIAL POLICY Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy Bea Cantillon Evaluation of the convenant with VAPH. Abstract: The governance of social service organizations was until now mainly a regulative approach but more and more new steering instruments come to the foreground. Here, extra capacity is distributed to residential services which they only can use for ambulatory work. In this research project we analyse the benefits and constraints for the end-users, the service delivering units and the governing body. Welfare and the Welfare State Jozef Breda Evaluation of the deployment of volunteers within Victim Support Organisations Abstract: Since 1995 volunteers are deployed within the victim support services in Flanders. At the request of the Ministry of the Flemish Community a study was launched to map out the potential value of the commitment of volunteers in the victim support services and to search under what conditions these (potential) value can be best achieved. Departement of Social welfare studies Nicole Vettenburg Experiences and perceptions of victims. Research concerning young people and the impact of violent crime or crime against property Abstract: By means of multiple questioning of young victims, starting from their experiences and perceptions, we aim to get a broad view on the nature, significance and consequences of victimiation in general, and to view more in depth the victimisation of crimes against property and violent crime. Alongside the consequences of becoming a victim, we also wish to study secondary victimization. Departement of Penal law and criminology Paul Ponsaers Explaining EU-China Governance Relations at the Crossroads of the Trade, Climate and Renewable Energy Regime Complex. Centre for Political Research Emmanuel Gerard Kris Bachus Sander Happaerts FACIT - Faith-based Organisations and Exclusion in European Cities. Abstract: The result we expect: -to increase knowledge about urban forms of increasing social exclusion and decreasing social cohesion in a context of retreating welfare states; -to uncover the more prominent roel of FBOs in combating poverty and exclusion in cities and in Europe; -to identify a European dimension of the position of FBOs in relation to povery and exclusion in cities, bearing in mind dynamic relations between national and local diversity and common European characteristics; and -to construct a common framework for the analysis and evaluation of the policy and governance implications of FBOs, aiming to augment their European characteristics.

6 Centre on Inequality, Poverty, Social Exclusion and the City Jean Vranken Danielle Dierckx Family care for HIV/AIDS patients in ambulant care Abstract: Family care, the support of the ambulant care for HIV/AIDS, hardly has been examined. Our previous research shows that nonetheless its economic importance is considerable: it is classified second in the global care for AIDS patients, immediately after hospitalisations. These findings have been collected from patients. This project focuses on the caregivers of the patients. It will examine content and duration of their tasks in order to evaluate more precisely the economic cost, their relationship with the health and social services and with the volunteer services, and their needs. Next to a standardised interview they will complete a diary. Extra motivational support will be necessary. The researchers will be the same as previously in order to get maximum a response.as far as we know a comparable in-depth enquiry has not been done before. The project wants to make a better assessment of the social cost of HIV/AIDS and to contribute towards a better collaboration between professional services and informal care. Due to sickness of the mean researcher, this project has not yet been realised. Public Health Care ANNE-MARIE DEPOORTER Family policy: impact of policy measures on families. Abstract: This research project looks at possibilities to introduce a Family Impact Monitor for new Flemish policy decision. Research Centre for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (CELLO) Dimitry Mortelmans FLIECE Project: Flanders study to improve end-of-life care and evaluation tools Centre for Sociological Research Aniana Declercq Nele Spruytte Kirsten Hermans Focus groups with Turkish women in Flanders regarding conflictmanagement en coping strategies. Abstract: The triangulation of survey research with etnic minorities in Belgium, regarding family formation and value patterns, with the method of 'focus groups' provided more profound and aditional insight, and hence as such extra quantitative analyses. Another result was that the research populatiodn came up with different themes, e.g. coping with educational, relational and community conflicts, within the family, within the community and within Belhian society. This project proposal will finish the methodological research approach towards focus groups, compared and triangulised with other forms of qualitative research. The questions which research set up allows what kinds of applications and what implications this gives both on interactional as on content level' will be addressed. The elaboration of conflict management as a delicate theme emphasize the limitations of focus groups as a group research method as is shows by the analysis on the interactional level. Themes focused upon are partner choice, relations within the mariage, parent child relations and social control. The topic of family formation is laborated because the confrontation of different cultural systems of partner choice, provides potential sources of conflict, as are the conflicting expectations of the married couple versus the inlaws, as the married couple often has a ptrilocal residence, as the imported bride comes to live in with the inlaws. Social Research RONNY LESTHAEGHE Focusstudie naar toekomstige competentienoden. Research Group Work and Organisation Miet Lamberts Forms and patterns of poverty in Europe (European Community Household Panel) Abstract: The enlargement of the conceptual frame of poverty on the one hand, and a longitudinal and comparative design on the other hand, will lead to an innovative analysis of the European Community Household Panel. RESEARCH GROUP POVERTY, SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND MINORITIES Centre on Inequality, Poverty, Social Exclusion and the City Jean Vranken Caroline Dewilde From biographical disruption to biographical construction of a hybrid identity: a qualitative study of the impact of antiretroviral treatment on the life of HIV/AIDS-patients in South Africa.

7 Abstract: To gain a more profound understanding of the intrinsic dynamics (why) and processes (how) by which social factors positively or negatively affect the creation of the new identity as a chronic HIV/AIDS patient on ART, additional qualitative data is needed. The general aim is therefore to undertake a qualitative sociological study interviewing 120 HIV/AIDS patients on ART in the Free State Province of South Africa of this transition to life as a chronic HIV/AIDS patient. Research Centre for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (CELLO) Edwin Wouters From informal community credit associations to a formal social security system in India. Abstract: Through case studies of some Indian community-based health insurance schemes (CHI), the socio-institutional context and policy reforms which trigger their success and the process of scaling-up are analyzed. The results from the analysis could contribute to the formulation of policy advice with regard to the evolution towards a health insurance system that insures the Indian poor full access to qualitative health care. In reference to the definition of poverty as local institutional process, the central hypothesis is formulated that some CHI schemes are more likely to adapt to the local institutional landscape because of the difference in their organizational design. In doing so some schemes are more effective in ensuring the sustainable access to qualitative health care and in linking the poor to strategic useful networks within the broader society. Hence the schemes could provide tools to generate solidarity ties and social action on a scale that is politically and economically relevant in the Indian states. The research will be executed in co-operation with the Prince Leopold Institute for Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. Research Centre for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (CELLO) Herman Meulemans Joris Michielsen Future of Flanders: society and sport Abstract: -writing a paper concerning youth sport in Flanders-writing a paper with propositions concerning important topics in the future-consultancy and assistance of the preparatory work for seminars Sports policy and managment PAUL DE KNOP Future of Flanders: society and sport Abstract: -writing a paper concerning youth sport in Flanders-writing a paper with propositions concerning important topics in the future-consultancy and assistance of the preparatory work for seminars Sports policy and managment PAUL DE KNOP Geestelijke gezondheid en uitsluiting. Academic Center for General Practice Gender and depression in Europe. Anlayzing gender differences in depression from a cross-national comparative perspective Abstract: Using data from the ESS-round 3, the prevalence of depression is estimated among a sample of women and men from 23 European countries. Depression is modelled using confirmatory factor analysis and cross-national variation in the gender ratio in depression is estimated using the most appropriate factor model. Cross-national differences in depression and in the gender gap in depression are studied from a macrosociological perspective. Departement of Sociology Piet Bracke Gender differences in depression: a comparison of European welfare states. Abstract: The aim of the research proposal is to develop a measurement instrument to assess the degree to which men and women are encourages to engage in domestic tasks. The association with gender differences in depression is then assessed. Department of Third World studies Piet Bracke General report on Insecurity Abstract: In order to realise a 'general report on Insecurity' the KBS works with three methods, being: listening, understanding and acting. The research conducted by Ugent fits within the component 'listening'. In this listening process people are asked for their experiences of insecurityin their daily activities. The central characteristic of this listening process is to be found in its non-directive character. Ugent studies insecurity in specific places and situations. On the whole, six cases are being studied: 'single elderly in Ghent',

8 'shopkeepers and clients in Menen', 'youngsters in Ronse', 'residents and users of the Vlaamse en Waalse Kaai', 'residents in Borgerhout', and 'people without a valid or definitive staying permit in transit through Belgium'. Departement of Penal law and criminology Gert Vermeulen Jenneke Christiaens General report on Insecurty Abstract: In order to release a 'general Report on Insecurity' the KBS works with three methods, being: listening, understanding and acting. The research conducted by Ugent fits within the component 'listening'. In this listening process people are asked for their experiences of insecurity in their daily activities. The central characteristic of the listening process is to be found in its non-directive character. Ugent studies insecurity in specific places and situations. On the whole, six cases are being studied: 'single elderly in Ghent', 'shopkeepers and clients in Menen', 'youngsters in Ronse', 'residents and users of the Vlaamse en Waalse kaai', 'residents in Borgerhout', and 'people without a valid or definitive staying permit in transit through Belgium'. Departement of Penal law and criminology Tom Vander Beken Paul Ponsaers General : Understanding the relationship between financial services and poverty. Case study : Take-up and impact of the basic bank service in Belgium. Abstract: On the 1 st of September 2003, a new law on basic bank services* came into force in Belgium -unprecedented in Europe. This law obliges all banking institutions to offer a basic bank service for a maximum annual fee of 12 Euros, and thus aims to effectively eradicate bank exclusion, and more broadly socio-economic exclusion. But to what extent does the introduction of a legal 'right to a bank account' actually succeed in democratising access and usage of a bank account, and fight financial exclusion and poverty? How can we explain the establishment of this law, and interpret its meaning within the area of tension between on the one hand, increasing liberalization (deregulation) and sharp competition in the banking sector, and on the other, the need for quality and affordable basic service provision for all? Which additional policy measures -identified and tested via carefully designed experiments- are most urgent to effectively realize the potential impacts of the law on basic bank services? Which concrete suggestions does this unique case generate for efforts elsewhere (in particular, the EU and the US) to provide the poor with financial services? And more generally, what are the implications of our research-strategy and -results for the further design and implementation of well thought-out social policy in Belgium as well as abroad?to effectively evaluate the broader impacts of a basic bank service, and more generally, the usage of financial products, special efforts are needed in developing innovative data. Existing databases (namely, the Socio-Economic Panel and the Panel Study of Belgian Households) are inadequate to enhance our understanding of, amongst other things, how individuals conceptualise their decisions over new financial products, to what extent individuals actually make use of existing services, and whether the use of these services really impacts individual and household welfare. Moreover, the poor or low-income households, the central target group of our project, are often underrepresented (due to attrition and selection biases) in those typical databases (De Keulenaar, 2002; Adriaansen, 2003). Hence, the approach we wish to promote and explore combines randomised experiments with survey data of random samples. Our project strives not only to improve our understanding of social situations related to poverty, but also to help shape better policies to fight against poverty. For instance, the unravelling of how certain population segments in our society analyse and undertake every day consumption decisions should allow policymakers and professionals to more effectively reach and assist these groups. Also, feedback from a randomised encouragement experiment should allow development planners, among other things, to perfect the product (basic bank service) and to develop a targeted, effective marketing or promotion strategy for launching it to a wider audience. Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy Cornelius Van den Bosch Goals for the decenium Development and updating of the indicators used for monitoring the policy. Abstract: Goals for the decenium Development and updating of the indicators used for monitoring the policy. Centre on Inequality, Poverty, Social Exclusion and the City Jean Vranken Goals for the decenium Development and updating of the indicators used for monitoring the policy. Abstract: This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand Welzijnszorg vzw. UA provides Welzijnszorg vzw research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract. Centre on Inequality, Poverty, Social Exclusion and the City Jean Vranken Danielle Dierckx Gradient Project Abstract: The project seeks to address in particular health inequalities among families and children: how their socio-economic background influences their responses to public health policy interventions, to identify which are the protective factors for their health and which policy options would be most effective in tackling social inequalities in health. Departement of Public health Lea Maes

9 Health inequities and unequal acces to health care in Belgium. Analysis based on the first national health survey. Abstract: This project aims to describe social inequalities in illness and health, starting from four topics : health status, lifestyle, medical consumption and financial problems with the access to health services. It includes an analysis of the first Belgian Health Survey (1997) as well as an overview of recent relevant theoretical insights. Empirical findings will be placed in a broader socio-economic context. The social and health indicators used in the first Belgian Health Survey will be refined. The study also aims at creating a scientific basis for policy interventions to diminish avoidable social inequalities in health. The research programme will combine qualitative and quantitative methods. The link between the empirical data and theories in the international literature will be described. The data may induce modifications to the existing theories and explanatory models. Medical Sociology FREDDY LOUCKX Housing affordability and the effect of housing subsidies Abstract: Due to continuous house price rises in Western countries in the decadesbefore the global financial crisis, housing affordability has internationally been high on the agenda. In Flanders for instance, between 1995 and 2005, house prices doubled in nominal terms. In addition to the issueof affordability, it was questioned whether the housing subsidies were reaching the groups that need them the most. In this dissertation, the affordability of housing and the distributive impact of housing subsidiesare explored for Flanders and the Netherlands. A comprehensive conceptual approach is applied, taking account of both a short and long run perspective, based on data for the period 2005/2006. Flanders and the Netherlands are interesting cases for comparison, since they have a strongly differing housing market structure and different housing subsidies schemes. The results point out that in both Flanders and the Netherlands housing is unaffordability for 14% of households. Moreover, in both cases Centre for Sociological Research Jozef Berghman Kristof Heylen Wilhelmus van Oorschot