Partners of CoRPS
Given the mission statement of the research institute and its focus on research on the interface between medicine and psychology, a multidisciplinary approach that involves expertise from other health-related scientific disciplines is pivotal. This includes a very close collaboration with medical specialists, biologists, and other bio-medically oriented disciplines. In order to achieve this aim, CoRPS aims at strategic alliances with partners from the medical community that have an excellent clinical profile and an established scientific expertise.
St. Elisabeth Hospital
In line with naturally evolving processes in research collaborations over the past few years, the CoRPS research institute has started with an institutional embedment in Tilburg University and the St. Elisabeth and TweeSteden teaching hospitals in Tilburg. The Department of Medical Psychology and Neuropsychology has developed close relationships in research with both hospitals over the past few years. Both hospitals participate, like Tilburg University, in the Brabant Medical School.
The St. Elisabeth hospital is a medium sized training hospital which provides highly specialised medical care. This top clinical hospital offers education and educational programmes in a broad sense, advancing high-quality care for patients and fulfilling an important role in applied medical scientific research. It offers the opportunity for PhD research to specialists and trainee specialists.
The St. Elisabeth Hospital Tilburg services 435,000 inhabitants in its catchment area. Annually, 347,000 patients visit the outpatient clinics and 44,000 patients are admitted. In the emergency care department about 30,000 patients register annually. The hospital has 3000 employees and 559 beds.
The lasting collaboration with the St. Elisabeth hospital resulted in a comprehensive agreement on cooperation in the fields of research and education in 2003. Since then a member of the Department of Medical Psychology acts as a research officer, bringing in methodological-epidemiological support. She works together with medical specialists in several research- and PhD-projects that, over the last years, have covered the medical conditions as mentioned in the CoRPS research program. Further, specialists and psychologists from the hospital participate in the program of the Master Medical Psychology. Because of its scientific mission, the St. Elisabeth hospital sponsored the foundation of a shared chair in Personality and Quality of Life in the Medical Setting in 2006, held by Professors Jan-Anne Roukema (oncological surgeon) and Jolanda de Vries (psychologist) who were also appointed to intensify their joint research program on oncology at the St. Elisabeth hospital.
TweeSteden Hospital
As of January 2007, the TweeSteden Hospital also decided to anchor its scientific collaboration with the Department of Medical Psychology in the context of a more comprehensive covenant. The TweeSteden hospital and the department have been working together for several years on research projects on cardiovascular disorders, and in the internship of students from the Master Medical Psychology. They also have the intention to extend this collaboration to other relevant fields of medical expertise. A staff member of the department started in January 2007 as a research officer in the hospital. The TweeSteden hospital is a training hospital focused on the local area, offering health care to more than 200.000 inhabitants of Tilburg, Waalwijk, Oisterwjik and the northern part of the area of Midden-Brabant. The hospital has 500 beds and provides care in the local hospitals of Tilburg, Waalwijk as well as an outpatients' clinic in Oisterwijk. The TweeSteden hospital provides an inspiring, safe and healthy working environment for almost 2000 employees among which approximately 115 medical specialists. Four special patient groups have a special focus: care for people with cancer, cardiovascular diseases, the ageing person and mother & child.
IKZ
In addition to the strategic alliance with the Elisabeth Hospital and the TweeSteden hospital, CoRPS also closely cooperates with the IKZ and PoZoB. Since 2008 the IKZ (Comprehensive Cancer Centre Eindhoven) joined CoRPS as a partner in the research projects.The purpose of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre Eindhoven is to provide cancer patients and their families access to comprehensive and high-quality care as close to home as possible. The Centre was set up to improve treatment, patient care and (clinical) research within the field of oncology. They contribute to the prevention of cancer and help to decrease the number of deaths caused by the disease. The services of the centre are directed towards improving the professional, organisational and relational quality of care. In addition to professional groups, they also focus on patient associations, families, carers and voluntary workers. The aim is to provide care tailored to the individual patient's needs and to ensure that the care provided by the various disciplines is well coordinated.
PoZoB
Also since 2008 PoZoB (Praktijkondersteuning Zuidoost Brabant) has decided to join CoRPS as a partner. PoZoB was founded in 2002 by general practitioners for the benefit of general practitioners. PoZoB's mission statement is to optimize and guarantee in an innovative way the quality of primary health care for chronically ill patients. Currently PoZoB is supporting more than 200 general practitioners and acts as an employer on behalf of these general practitioners for some 120 practice support staff. The first 'ketenzorgprogramma's' PoZoB developed and implemented are Diabetes Mellitus and Asthma/COPD. In 2010 the programs Cardiovascular Risk Management/Heart failure and Care for the Elderly will be developed. PoZoB highly values (applied) scientific research to improve the quality of care for chronically ill patients in primary health care. PoZoB's research ambitions and CoRPS' research program are so closely linked, that in 2008 it was officially decided to start a cooperation with the aim to stimulate and support research within primary health care by primary health care staff together with CoRPS staff, in the PoZoB sphere of activity.
