Joukje Swinkels

Dr. Joukje Swinkels is an Assistant Professor in Sociology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. She specializes in social gerontology, focusing on informal caregiving dynamics, spousal caregiver burden, and aging populations. Her research employs longitudinal datasets like the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) and TOPICS-MDS, integrating sociological theories with stress process models. She is affiliated with the Social Gerontology Research Group and the VU Centre of Enterprise Family Research (CEFR), contributing to both academic and applied projects for Dutch governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Education: PhD in Sociology (2022, VU Amsterdam) with a thesis on spousal caregiver burden, Master’s in Sociology (cum laude, 2013, VU Amsterdam).

Research interests include caregiver stress adaptation, gender disparities in caregiving, and policy impacts on elderly care networks. Methodologically, she emphasizes longitudinal analysis and mixed-methods approaches. Key projects include FAMCARE (family care networks) and IN-CARE (international care system comparisons).

Publications span 16 peer-reviewed articles in journals like The Gerontologist and Aging and Mental Health, focusing on care networks, wellbeing associations, and self-determination theory applications. Applied work includes the annual Nationaal Vrijheidsonderzoek and evaluations for the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Teaching roles include statistical courses for sociology and enterprise family programs. Awards include two NWO mini-grants (2015/2016) and the Van der Zouwenprijs 2013. She collaborates on initiatives like SHARESTATS, an open educational resource for statistics instruction.

Labs/Teams: Active in the Social Gerontology Research Group, ROEF program, and CEFR. Current projects include LASA cohort updates and cross-country care system comparisons under IN-CARE.