Gea C. van Dijk

Gea C. van Dijk serves as Associate Professor of "Older People with Mental Health Problems" at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences through a collaboration with healthcare organization Noorderbreedte, while simultaneously holding a policy advisor position to Noorderbreedte's board of directors where she champions practice-based research integration across clinical settings.

Her research centers on client-empowered care models for elderly psychiatric populations through action research methodologies. She developed the "In Conversation!" framework where clients, families, and professionals collaboratively design care plans based on individual client priorities, emphasizing that "the client's voice must lead" in quality-of-life improvements. Her work consistently bridges academic rigor with frontline applicability, focusing on dementia care innovations, family participation dynamics, and pandemic-resilient care systems.

Recent publications (2019-2020) reveal three dominant research trajectories: pandemic impact analyses on elderly care continuity, family-professional collaboration models for psychiatric care, and practical implementations of action research. These works demonstrate her commitment to generating immediately applicable knowledge through staff-involved research rather than purely academic pursuits.

Van Dijk leads the "Lectoraat Care & Innovation in Psychiatry Elderly people with mental health problems" research group, collaborating across home care, mental health services, and primary care organizations. Her "In Conversation!" method exemplifies her philosophy of co-created care solutions that prioritize client-defined needs while building professional support networks.