معرفی
Jessie Dezutter is a Senior Lecturer at KU Leuven's Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of School Psychology and Development in Context. She serves as head of the Leuven Interdisciplinary Centre for Meaning and Lived Religion: Man and Society and is actively involved with multiple research centers including the Leuven Centre for Health Humanities and KU Leuven Brain Institute.
Her research focuses on gerontology, positive psychology, existential psychology, positive and meaningful ageing, and forgiveness. Dezutter investigates how older adults experience meaning in life, particularly those facing challenges like dementia, depression, and existential distress. Her work bridges clinical psychology with spiritual and religious dimensions of aging, examining how meaning-making processes affect mental health outcomes in late life.
Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on existential concerns in aging populations, particularly the phenomenon of 'tiredness of life' among nursing home residents. Her research employs diverse methodologies including qualitative interviews, cross-cultural studies, and psychometric scale development. Key themes include nighttime agitation in dementia patients, grace experiences, forgiveness processes, and the relationship between existential isolation and depressive symptoms in older adults.
Dezutter serves on multiple institutional committees including the Social and Societal Ethics Committee, Faculty Council, and Program Committees for both Bachelor's and Master's Psychology programs. She teaches courses in psycho-gerontology, clinical psychology of meaning and religion, and aging-related topics.
She leads several major research projects through 2029, including studies on the relationship between 'mattering' and depressive symptoms in older adults, existential scars and meaning-making in late-life weariness, and cross-cultural research on existential isolation among older adults in Belgium and China. Her work has significant implications for improving geriatric mental health care and developing meaning-centered interventions for vulnerable older populations.
