Sexuality is a fundamental part of being human. Yet, for many people with disabilities, it remains overlooked, unsupported, and surrounded by stigma. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga confronts that long-standing neglect with a project that envisions an urgent yet straightforward future: one in which sexual rights…

On Friday 12 November Professor of Palliative Medicine Yvette van der Linden will give her inaugural lecture entitled: ‘Timeless’. How do we spend our time if illness cuts it short? According to Van der Linden much stands to be gained in the area of care during this last phase of life. Among other things,…

The project officially started in September 2020, but with the enrolment of PhD students Hanum Atikasari and Shajeela Shawkat the research team of the ERC project 'Globalizing Palliative Care? A Multi-sited Ethnographic Study of Practices, Policies and Discourses of Care at the End of Life' is compl…

Many parents whose children have been placed in care do not understand the basis on which the decision was taken. Dutch youth protection organisations and the Child Protection Council must better document why they request such a measure from the Juvenile Court.

More and more people worldwide have infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to many types of antibiotic. Why is this and how big of a problem is it?

How many children are waiting for help from youth services in the Netherlands at any given time? And exactly how long do they have to wait?

Does medicine make patients feel better or worse? We are getting better at predicting this from people’s DNA profiles, says Professor Jesse Swen. ‘It never fails to fascinate me how one DNA base pair can have such a huge effect on treatment with medication and the outcome.’

At the request of the Dutch Parliament, Professor Marielle Bruning, Dr Kartica van der Zon (Dept. of Child Law), Professor Lenneke Alink and Dr Sabine van der Asdonk (Education and Child Studies) have produced a fact sheet on the placement of children in care in the Netherlands.

In Europe, the Netherlands is in middle position when it comes to the placement of children in care. The consequences of such a placement in care are often disastrous, says Mariëlle Bruning.

The research project 'when patients don't want to know everything: guide and training for culturally sensitive information in palliative care' investigates how healthcare providers can offer inclusive palliative care.

Recently, the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate sounded the alarm about the state of the Dutch youth care. What is going wrong and what needs to be done? In a special broadcast from youth care institution Via Jeugd, Op1 talks to adolescents, staff, State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen, and Professor…

Every year in the Netherlands, thousands of children are placed in out-of-home care because their parents are unable to look after them properly or because the children are at risk.

What happens in our bodies when we care for children? And why are some people more caring than others?

The 16-year-old girl was staying in a closed juvenile care institution where, among other things, she was administered 'pain stimuli'. The charges are the first of their kind, says Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, to Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant.

The world is currently beset by many problems. The armed conflict and continuing violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories is resulting in numerous casualties. This is giving rise to many emotions and reactions worldwide, and also greatly affecting our own university community. We have seen…

Would you like to take a walk with a fellow student who you don’t know? That is the idea behind Walk & Talk. With this new initiative, International Studies aims to provide more opportunities for social contact.

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The waiting lists in youth care are alarmingly long. This has been confirmed again by a study carried out by a Dutch foundation The Forgotten Child.

It is not possible for juvenile courts to properly assess whether it is necessary to place a child in care. This is evident from a fact sheet that has been prepared by legal scholars from Leiden University, commissioned by the Dutch House of Representatives and others.

Months after the case of the abused foster child from Vlaardingen (Zuid-Holland) came to light, many questions still remain. Why was the child not listened to? Marielle Bruning, Professor of Child Law, discussed this with NOS, NPO Radio 1, NRC and Nieuwsuur.

Roughly arrested and subjected to extreme isolation. Using his experience, expert Jason Bhugwandass spoke to 50 young people who have spent time on Zikos wards (‘very intense, short-term observation and stabilisation wards’). He concluded that they’re ‘mostly locked up’ and leave ‘even more traumatised’…

After a turbulent Covid year, the well-being of our students and staff has the highest priority. How can we prevent physical and mental health problems? This was the key question at the Opening of the Academic Year in Pieterskerk in Leiden on 6 September.

On Friday 9 September, Jeanin van Hooft, Professor of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, will deliver her inaugural lecture titled: 'The scope of connection'. She emphasises the value of collaboration and connection for scientific research. In addition, she pleads for more diversity; according to…

Two organisers at heart. In the background, facilities managers Nick van Asperen and Kees Schoonwater ensure that staff and students have everything they need to work and study well. Recently, the familiar faces started doing so in a new role. Schoonwater is now project manager housing and Van Asperen…

Anthropologist Rodrigo Ochigame studies how AI is changing the practice of scientific research. From astrophysics to mathematics to climate science, they find that the adoption of new AI models is raising questions about what counts as reliable scientific evidence.

Practice and science show that secure residential youth care in the Netherlands should no longer be used as a catch-all solution. This is the conclusion of several professionals including Professor of Child Law Mariëlle Bruning in Dutch newspaper NRC.

Parents are not always heard before their children’s placement in care is extended. They can only have their say if they ask the judge for a hearing themselves. ‘It should be the other way round,’ says Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Child Law in a ‘De Nieuws BV’ broadcast.

What if seriously ill patients do not want to hear their diagnosis? Does a clinician always need to provide a patient with all available information? Communication researcher Liesbeth van Vliet, medical anthropologist Annemarie Samuels and research intern Fiona Brosig will put these questions on open…

How do you behave towards patients with life-threatening conditions who do not want to know all the details of the state of their health? This question brought psychologist Liesbeth van Vliet and anthropologist Annemarie Samuels together. It’s an unusual partnership, but their interdisciplinary approach…

Better health for all the residents of The Hague region. This is the mission of Health Campus The Hague – formerly LUMC Campus The Hague. Eight partners – the LUMC, Leiden University, the municipality of The Hague and five healthcare institutions (see box) – are collaborating intensively in healthcare…

When a child is placed in care, the assumption is always that the child can return home again. But there are still many questions about how this process - the 'permanency plan' - is arranged. New research aims to provide insights.

Care conferences for long-term residents (15+ years) in forensic mental health care are widely appreciated by all parties involved. Research by Leiden University shows that the demand for these meetings is so great that the supply cannot be met within the desired time frame.