Addiction and Lifestyle
Someone who decides to have a beer does not intend to become addicted to alcohol. Yet that first drink can eventually lead to addiction. The same applies to drug, sex or gambling addictions. As an associate professor, Kor Spoelstra focuses on developing and improving lifestyle-related care and addiction treatment within the associate professorship Addiction and Lifestyle. The associate professorship Addiction and Lifestyle is part of the professorship Care & Innovation in Psychiatry.
“Drinking alcohol is a lifestyle choice; addiction is not. Nobody chooses to become addicted to alcohol after their first beer.”
Mission and Vision
Addiction and lifestyle are closely connected. An unhealthy lifestyle can contribute to the development of an addiction. Conversely, addiction can also lead to an unhealthy lifestyle. The associate professorship Addiction and Lifestyle focuses on developing and researching tools and processes that encourage healthier behaviours.
Professional Practice
The research conducted by the associate professorship centres on the perspectives of people experiencing addiction and healthcare professionals. University of applied sciences-educated professionals play a crucial role in promoting healthy lifestyles. However, lifestyle-related care still receives too little attention in professional practice. Furthermore, it remains unclear which competencies healthcare professionals need to provide effective lifestyle-related care. Through practice-oriented research, the associate professorship aims to help healthcare professionals feel more confident and capable of addressing lifestyle-related issues.
Research Themes
The associate professorship Addiction and Lifestyle focuses on the following research themes:
- Reducing uncertainty and lack of confidence among healthcare professionals when addressing lifestyle-related issues.
- Innovating and developing lifestyle-related care and addiction treatment for education and professional practice.
- Developing specialised lifestyle-related care for people with severe tobacco addiction.
Collaborations and Partners
The associate professorship works closely with Verslavingszorg Noord Nederland (VNN), an addiction treatment organisation in the Northern Netherlands. VNN supports the ambition to further develop expertise in addiction and lifestyle and bring this knowledge closer to professional practice through practice-oriented research.
Team
Connection with Education
Associate Professor Kor Spoelstra teaches in the minor in Addiction Studies, supervising students during their internships and assignments. He also supervises Nursing students during their graduation internships.
Within NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, he collaborates with the professorship Care & Innovation in Psychiatry, led by Professor Nynke Boonstra, and the associate professorship Older People with Mental Health Problems, led by Associate Professor Gea van Dijk.
Kor Spoelstra is a member of the editorial board of the scientific journal GGZet Wetenschappelijk and delivers guest lectures to medical students at the University of Groningen. He is also involved in national educational programmes for psychiatrists in training.
According to the associate professorship Addiction and Lifestyle, the key to healthier living lies primarily in a person's social environment. The mental healthcare model in Trieste and the Icelandic drug prevention model demonstrate that community building is crucial to encouraging healthier behaviour. This is why community building is one of the key focus areas of the associate professorship Addiction and Lifestyle.
There is no integrated approach to lifestyle-related care in the Netherlands. Currently, lifestyle-related care can broadly be divided into three categories:
- Standard lifestyle-related care
- Lifestyle coaching
- Specialised lifestyle-related care
This fragmentation means that healthcare professionals often do not know where to refer their patients or clients for appropriate support. This is another issue that the associate professorship focuses on.
For some patients, standard lifestyle-related care and lifestyle coaching do not provide sufficient support. They require longer-term and more specialised lifestyle-related care, as is often the case for people with alcohol or drug addictions. An important question arising from professional practice is what specialised lifestyle-related care should look like for people with severe tobacco addiction. The associate professorship therefore places particular emphasis on developing specialised lifestyle-related care for this group.
Publications
- Spoelstra SK, van der Graaf R, Dijkstra A. Individualized, multimodal and multidisciplinary residential treatment programs exclusively for tobacco dependence: a review (ingediend bij tijdschrift)
- Herder T, Spoelstra SK, Peeters A, Knegtering H. Sexual dysfunction related to the psychopathology of psychiatric disorders: a systematic review (ingediend bij tijdschrift)
- Spoelstra SK, Eijsink JJA, Hoenders HJR, Knegtering H. Prenatale choline suppletie ter preventie van psychose spectrum stoornissen? Tijdschrift voor psychiatrie (geaccepteerd voor publicatie)
- Baas C, Spoelstra SK, Knegtering H. Fysieke activiteit en het risico op depressie. Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie 2023;65 :122.
- Spoelstra SK, Knegtering H. Blow verstandig, en voorkom een psychose. Trouw 2021
- SK Spoelstra, H Knegtering. Metformine bij clozapine geïnduceerde gewichtstoename. GGzetwetenschappelijk 2020
- Slaapstoornissen en psychosen. Arjen Peters, Liesanne Brakema, Marguerite van de Hoeve, Kor Spoelstra en Rikus Knegtering (hoofdstuk uit boek ‘Slaapstoornissen in de psychiatrie 2020, onder redactie van Marike Lancel, Maaike van Veen, Jeanine Kamphuis)
Contact
Have a question? Get in touch with us through Margriet Dijkstra.
T: 06 28 31 70 08
E: [email protected]
