Mission and Quality of research
The aim of CAPHRI is:
High-quality research and teaching focused on health care innovation, ranging from prevention to rehabilitation, from a patient, professional and societal perspective, leading to improvement of health of the population.
Research and teaching in the School are devoted to contribute to improvements in the area of public health and primary care. CAPHRI focuses on interventions in the chain of care, starting with prevention and primary care, and ending with aftercare and rehabilitation. The aim of the research is to get insight into the effectiveness of interventions, and their adequacy in meeting prospective patients' needs.
The School focuses on chronic diseases. The main diseases are chronic lung diseases (COPD), cardiovascular diseases, rheumatic diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes, and common mental diseases (such as depression). The success of acute medicine has led to a rise in the number of patients with chronic diseases implying the need for integrated care, both between health care institutions and between professionals. New forms of organization (such as transmural or integrated care) are being developed, and new intermediate professions are being created (such as the specialized nurse). The primary care physician plays a prominent role in the delivery of integrated care, assisted by new professionals (e.g. primary care nurses and nurse practitioners). The role of the patient is also changing. A patient who suffers from a chronic disease has to learn to cope with dependencies, and find ways to function and participate in society. The change in emphasis from acute care to chronic care implies new challenges for prevention. Chronic diseases are often related to lifestyle. Prevention and management of chronic diseases require research into lifestyle determinants which takes environmental behavioural and biological elements (genetics) into account. This calls for new forms of cooperation between researchers from various disciplines while the application of results in practice requires new forms of cooperation between professionals (GPs, nurses and specialists). New insights in for example molecular medicine will be implemented in primary care. In the future preventive medicine will have an essential impact on primary care influencing the actual care provided by GPs and nurses including educational elements (e.g. genetic counselling) and motivational interviewing.
Primary care is a central research topic at Maastricht University, with a strong tradition of extramural research and more recent developments in transmural research. In the area of public health, prevention and health promotion, research on determinants of health behaviour is well developed. Innovation of care for chronically ill people, especially the elderly, is an important topic of research. Evidence-based health care has received a strong input through clinical epidemiology and Health Technology Assessment (HTA). The scientific output of CAPHRI has been excellent in the past years and the expectations for the future are excellent as well. Perhaps the most important indicator for scientific success is the bibliometric analysis performed by CWTS. The CAPHRI CPP/FCSm score of 1.63 (implying that CAPHRI publications have been cited 63% more often than the world average) is the highest score of all Maastricht UMC+ schools.
The high bibliometric score and the positive review of the national review committee in 2007 led to the designation of CAPHRI as an International Centre of Excellence by the Maastricht University Executive Board and the accompanying investment of nearly €4 million to further develop the CAPHRI Centre of Excellence.