PhD defense Carla Kolner on prevention in public health care

Tuesday 11 July, Carla Kolner defends the thesis entitled Preventie - Op het snijvlak van de publieke gezondheidszorg en het sociaal domein ('Prevention - At the intersection of public health and the social domain')

Supervisor: Prof. Dr Arjan Braam

Description

How can prevention policies and practices in the future benefit more people whose health is vulnerable and quality of life is under pressure? Carla Kolner researched this question. The 2018 report by the Wetenschappelijke Raad van het Regeringsbeleid ('Scientific Council of Government Policy'), which showed that prevention efforts are not sufficiently reaching people who just really need it, gave her the right push for her quest, so to speak. In this PhD thesis, she consults and connects different fields of science and domains as well as science, policy and practice and critically reflects on them from the point of view of prevention, social equity and health equity ("health and social equity"). 

Topics covered in her monograph include: the history of public health (theory), ethics and philosophy, normative professionalisation and the history and theory of social work. Each chapter has its own substantive angle focusing on prevention or prevention policy. An empirical narrative study she conducted during the corona pandemic, with colleagues from the RIVM's Corona Behavioural Unit, in the years 2020-2022, connects the fields of science and literally gives narrative 'image' and content to her overarching advocacy for Rechtvaardige Preventie ('Just Prevention'). Carla concludes at the end of her thesis that prevention for people who are vulnerable for socio-economic reasons needs its own language and vocabulary. She translates the concept of Just Prevention into a solid definition and into seven 'pointers' for professionals and policymakers who want to work on prevention in public health and the social domain