Veerle Buffel
Biographic Data
| ID | 3761582 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Veerle Buffel |
| GIVEN NAMES | Veerle |
| FAMILY NAME | Buffel |
| SIGNATURE | BUFFEL V |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Antwerp |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2578-7260 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 34 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 83 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 34 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Reimagining Migrant Integration Through a Socio-spatial Lens
Understanding the role of family social support in the medication adherence to hypertension treatment in Cambodia
The role of social support from family members was very positive in enhancing medication adherence among patients with HTN in Cambodia. Potential strategic interventions should include focus on establishing an intervention involving family members to provide support for HTN treatment
Sexual Activity and Mental Health in Higher Education Students in Antwerp, Belgium During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Unravelling the Belgian cascade of hypertension care and its determinants
Our results show that undiagnosed hypertension is the most significant barrier to BP control in Belgium. Health interventions are thus needed to improve the accurate and timely diagnosis of hypertension. Once diagnosed, the Belgian health system retains patients fairly well along the continuum of hypertension care, yet targeted health interventions to improve hypertension management for high-risk groups remain necessary, especially with regard to…
Hypertension cascade across three healthcare systems and in relation to the level of implementation of the integrated care package of hypertension
Introduction: Primary health care (PHC) systems across the globe are struggling to produce an effective response to the rising burden of disease related to Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). However, effective T2D care at the PHC level – the ‘Integrated Care Package (ICP)’– exists and is cost-effective. Further, there is evidence that this integrated care package ((1) structure) leads to improved care processes (2), to health care responsive to people’s need…
Understanding the Role of Social Support in the Adherence to the Hypertension Continuum of Care in Cambodia
Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) is a major public health problem and a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases and deaths globally. A continuum of HTN care is necessary for people living with HTN since this chronic disease requires comprehensive life-long healthcare management. Several studies have examined the factors influencing the adherence to HTN care. Socio-demographic and economic characteristics are commonly studied as influencing facto…
Developing and testing an Evaluation Strategy for Integrated care for Type II Diabetes in three health system contexts (Belgium, Cambodia and Slovenia)
Introduction: Primary health care (PHC) systems across the globe are struggling to produce an effective response to the rising burden of disease related to Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). However, effective T2D care at the PHC level – the ‘Integrated Care Package (ICP)’– exists and is cost-effective. Further, there is evidence that this integrated care package ((1) structure) leads to improved care processes (2), to health care responsive to people’s need…
Increased Anxiety and Depression Among Belgian Sexual Minority Groups During the First Covid-19 Lockdown—Results From an Online Survey
The COVID-19 pandemic most likely had a negative impact on mental health. Sexual minorities are at higher risk for adverse mental outcomes such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. Such mental health disparities may have exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to restricted real-life social contact. The study aim was to examine changes in depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among Belgian sexual minority adults between the per…
Substance Use among Belgian Higher Education Students before and during the First Wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many countries to issue far-reaching policy measures that may have led to increased substance use. Higher education students may have been disproportionally affected due to the rearrangement of educational life and their susceptibility to psychosocial distress and substance use. The current study examined associations between pandemic-related stressors, psychosocial distress, and self-reported alcohol, tobacco, and …
From Physical Distancing to Social Loneliness among Gay Men and Other Men Having Sex with Men in Belgium
Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, levels of loneliness have increased among the general population and especially among sexual minorities, such as gay men and other men who have sex with men, who already experienced more problems with social isolation before the pandemic. We analyzed how the disruption of the social network and social support structures by containment measures impact loneliness among gay and other men having sex with me…
Knowledge deficit and fear of Covid-19 among higher education students during the first wave of the pandemic and implications for public health
COVID-19 related knowledge was independently associated with both fear of acquiring SARS-COV-2 infection as well as contracting severe COVID-19. Our findings will serve as a basis for public health response for both the current and similar future pandemics by highlighting the need for addressing the COVID-19 knowledge deficit to fight the infodemic and prevent negative mental health outcomes
Evaluating the Cascade of Hypertension Care in Belgium
The International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles in the field of integrated care on a continuous basis.IJIC has an Impact Factor of 2.913 (2021 JCR, received in June 2022)The IJIC 20th Anniversary Issue was published in 2021
A data framework to assess quality of integrated diabetes care in Belgium
The International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles in the field of integrated care on a continuous basis.IJIC has an Impact Factor of 2.913 (2021 JCR, received in June 2022)The IJIC 20th Anniversary Issue was published in 2021
Caredoc Community Intervention Teams - An Integrated, Multidisciplinary Approach to Delivery of Care in a Community Setting
The International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles in the field of integrated care on a continuous basis.IJIC has an Impact Factor of 2.913 (2021 JCR, received in June 2022)The IJIC 20th Anniversary Issue was published in 2021
The Impact of Covid-19 Lockdown on Health Behaviors among Students of a French University
This study aimed to determine the changes in health behaviors among students of a French university during the COVID-19 lockdown. An online retrospective survey was distributed to Rouen-Normandy University students at the end of the COVID-19 lockdown (13th March-11th May 2020). Voluntary university students were included. Data collected were on socio-demographics, academic environment, COVID19 concerns, tobacco smoking, binge drinking, cannabis u…
Mind the Gate
Scale-up integrated care for diabetes and hypertension in Cambodia, Slovenia and Belgium (SCUBY)
Health systems worldwide struggle to manage the growing burden of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Many patients receive suboptimal care, especially those most vulnerable. An evidence-based Integrated Care Package (ICP) with primary care-based diagnosis, treatment, education and self-management support and collaboration, leads to better health outcomes, but there is little knowledge of how to scale-up. The Scale-up integrated care for diabetes a…
Depressive Feelings in Religious Minorities
Fiddling While Rome Burns”
Since March 2019, students around the world have taken to the streets to express their anger at the lack of effective actions against the threat of climate change, essentially accusing governments, and adults in general of "fiddling while Rome burns." This paper puts forward the hypothesis that the ecological state moderates the positive association found in the literature between greenhouse gas emissions and mental well-being, taken as evidence …
Assessing Provider Bias in General Practitioners’ Assessment and Referral of Depressive Patients with Different Migration Backgrounds
Organized Labor and Depression in Europe
Despite engagement with the construct of power relations, research on the political economy of health has largely overlooked organized labor as a determinant of well-being. Grounded in the theory of power resources, our study aims to fill this gap by investigating the link between country-level union density and mental health while accounting for the compositional effects of individual-level union membership. We use three waves of the European So…
Mental wellbeing, air pollution and the ecological state
Comparing Negative Attitudes Toward the Unemployed Across European Countries in 2008 and 2016
We explore how negative attitudes toward the unemployed are related to countries’ overall and long-term (LT) unemployment rate. Insights from the risk attribution and position theory are combined with the in-group–out-group conflict model, derived from migration literature. Multilevel analyses are performed on two waves (2008 and 2016) of the European Social Survey. Negative attitudes toward the unemployed are measured via the item “most unemploy…
The Reversal of the Gender Gap in Education
Recent studies have indicated that the relationship between education and health differs between men and women. In line with the resource substitution theory, these studies demonstrate that women receive greater health returns to an additional year of schooling than men do. In this article, we argue that this female advantage in the effect of education can change across different socio-historical contexts. In particular, we investigate the impact…
Medicalization of Sleep Problems in an Aging Population
Sleep problems seem to be medicalized particularly when they prevent aging individuals from engaging in work-related responsibilities, as medication is especially used by employed individuals with sleep problems
Educational expansion and the education gradient in health
The social norm of unemployment in relation to mental health and medical care use
The relationships between unemployment, mental health (care) and medication use among 50-65 year-old men (N = 11,789) and women (N = 15,118) are studied in Europe. Inspired by the social norm theory of unemployment, the relevance of regional unemployment levels and workplace closure are explored, using multilevel analyses of data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement. In line with the social norm theory, the results show that - only fo…
Medicalization of the Uncertainty? An Empirical Study of the Relationships between Unemployment or Job Insecurity, Professional Care Seeking, and the Consumption of Antidepressants
In addition to concerns about the treatment gap in mental health (MH) care, an increasing number of researchers are paying attention to the medicalization of daily life. Framed in a context characterized by a growth in the use of antidepressants and at the same time economic instability, the aim of this study is to unravel the relations between employment status/job insecurity, seeking professional care for MH problems, and antidepressant use. Da…
Assessing Provider Bias in General Practitioners’ Assessment and Referral of Depressive Patients with Different Migration Backgrounds
The Institutional Foundations of Medicalization
In this study, we question (1) whether the relationship between unemployment and mental healthcare use, controlling for mental health status, varies across European countries and (2) whether these differences are patterned by a combination of unemployment and healthcare generosity. We hypothesize that medicalization of unemployment is stronger in countries where a low level of unemployment generosity is combined with a high level of healthcare ge…
The mental health consequences of the economic crisis in Europe among the employed, the unemployed, and the non-employed
Mind the Gate
Comparing Negative Attitudes Toward the Unemployed Across European Countries in 2008 and 2016
We explore how negative attitudes toward the unemployed are related to countries’ overall and long-term (LT) unemployment rate. Insights from the risk attribution and position theory are combined with the in-group–out-group conflict model, derived from migration literature. Multilevel analyses are performed on two waves (2008 and 2016) of the European Social Survey. Negative attitudes toward the unemployed are measured via the item “most unemploy…
The Reversal of the Gender Gap in Education
Recent studies have indicated that the relationship between education and health differs between men and women. In line with the resource substitution theory, these studies demonstrate that women receive greater health returns to an additional year of schooling than men do. In this article, we argue that this female advantage in the effect of education can change across different socio-historical contexts. In particular, we investigate the impact…
The relation between religion and depression in Europe
Previous research has found that religiosity is positively related to mental well-being. This study assesses whether the religious context moderates the relationship between individual levels of religiosity and depression in the religiously diverse European context. We apply multilevel models, examining 68,874 individuals in 29 European countries subdivided into 277 regions from the sixth (2012) and seventh (2014) wave of the European Social Surv…
Gender specific effects of financial and housework contributions on depression
Studies that focus on the effects of both the division of household chores and of financial contributions on the mental health of couples are scarce. This paper expands on previous research by paying attention to the variation of this relationship among three types of households: Male breadwinner, one-and-a-half-earner and dual-earner. Using paired data from the 10th wave of the Panel Study of Belgian Households, collected in 2001, we perform sep…
Fiddling While Rome Burns”
Since March 2019, students around the world have taken to the streets to express their anger at the lack of effective actions against the threat of climate change, essentially accusing governments, and adults in general of "fiddling while Rome burns." This paper puts forward the hypothesis that the ecological state moderates the positive association found in the literature between greenhouse gas emissions and mental well-being, taken as evidence …
Mental wellbeing, air pollution and the ecological state
Medicalization of Sleep Problems in an Aging Population
Sleep problems seem to be medicalized particularly when they prevent aging individuals from engaging in work-related responsibilities, as medication is especially used by employed individuals with sleep problems
Power and the gendered division of contraceptive use in Western European couples
Gender specific effects of financial and housework contributions on depression
Studies that focus on the effects of both the division of household chores and of financial contributions on the mental health of couples are scarce. This paper expands on previous research by paying attention to the variation of this relationship among three types of households: Male breadwinner, one-and-a-half-earner and dual-earner. Using paired data from the 10th wave of the Panel Study of Belgian Households, collected in 2001, we perform sep…
The mental health consequences of the economic crisis in Europe among the employed, the unemployed, and the non-employed
Educational expansion and the education gradient in health
Medicalization of the Uncertainty? An Empirical Study of the Relationships between Unemployment or Job Insecurity, Professional Care Seeking, and the Consumption of Antidepressants
In addition to concerns about the treatment gap in mental health (MH) care, an increasing number of researchers are paying attention to the medicalization of daily life. Framed in a context characterized by a growth in the use of antidepressants and at the same time economic instability, the aim of this study is to unravel the relations between employment status/job insecurity, seeking professional care for MH problems, and antidepressant use. Da…
Medicalization of Sleep Problems in an Aging Population
Sleep problems seem to be medicalized particularly when they prevent aging individuals from engaging in work-related responsibilities, as medication is especially used by employed individuals with sleep problems
Power and the gendered division of contraceptive use in Western European couples
The relation between religion and depression in Europe
Previous research has found that religiosity is positively related to mental well-being. This study assesses whether the religious context moderates the relationship between individual levels of religiosity and depression in the religiously diverse European context. We apply multilevel models, examining 68,874 individuals in 29 European countries subdivided into 277 regions from the sixth (2012) and seventh (2014) wave of the European Social Surv…
The social norm of unemployment in relation to mental health and medical care use
The relationships between unemployment, mental health (care) and medication use among 50-65 year-old men (N = 11,789) and women (N = 15,118) are studied in Europe. Inspired by the social norm theory of unemployment, the relevance of regional unemployment levels and workplace closure are explored, using multilevel analyses of data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement. In line with the social norm theory, the results show that - only fo…
The Institutional Foundati ons of Medicalizati on
The Institutional Foundations of Medicalization
In this study, we question (1) whether the relationship between unemployment and mental healthcare use, controlling for mental health status, varies across European countries and (2) whether these differences are patterned by a combination of unemployment and healthcare generosity. We hypothesize that medicalization of unemployment is stronger in countries where a low level of unemployment generosity is combined with a high level of healthcare ge…
Comparing Negative Attitudes Toward the Unemployed Across European Countries in 2008 and 2016
We explore how negative attitudes toward the unemployed are related to countries’ overall and long-term (LT) unemployment rate. Insights from the risk attribution and position theory are combined with the in-group–out-group conflict model, derived from migration literature. Multilevel analyses are performed on two waves (2008 and 2016) of the European Social Survey. Negative attitudes toward the unemployed are measured via the item “most unemploy…
The Reversal of the Gender Gap in Education
Recent studies have indicated that the relationship between education and health differs between men and women. In line with the resource substitution theory, these studies demonstrate that women receive greater health returns to an additional year of schooling than men do. In this article, we argue that this female advantage in the effect of education can change across different socio-historical contexts. In particular, we investigate the impact…
Mental wellbeing, air pollution and the ecological state
Scale-up integrated care for diabetes and hypertension in Cambodia, Slovenia and Belgium (SCUBY)
Health systems worldwide struggle to manage the growing burden of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Many patients receive suboptimal care, especially those most vulnerable. An evidence-based Integrated Care Package (ICP) with primary care-based diagnosis, treatment, education and self-management support and collaboration, leads to better health outcomes, but there is little knowledge of how to scale-up. The Scale-up integrated care for diabetes a…
Depressive Feelings in Religious Minorities
Fiddling While Rome Burns”
Since March 2019, students around the world have taken to the streets to express their anger at the lack of effective actions against the threat of climate change, essentially accusing governments, and adults in general of "fiddling while Rome burns." This paper puts forward the hypothesis that the ecological state moderates the positive association found in the literature between greenhouse gas emissions and mental well-being, taken as evidence …
Assessing Provider Bias in General Practitioners’ Assessment and Referral of Depressive Patients with Different Migration Backgrounds
Organized Labor and Depression in Europe
Despite engagement with the construct of power relations, research on the political economy of health has largely overlooked organized labor as a determinant of well-being. Grounded in the theory of power resources, our study aims to fill this gap by investigating the link between country-level union density and mental health while accounting for the compositional effects of individual-level union membership. We use three waves of the European So…
The Impact of Covid-19 Lockdown on Health Behaviors among Students of a French University
This study aimed to determine the changes in health behaviors among students of a French university during the COVID-19 lockdown. An online retrospective survey was distributed to Rouen-Normandy University students at the end of the COVID-19 lockdown (13th March-11th May 2020). Voluntary university students were included. Data collected were on socio-demographics, academic environment, COVID19 concerns, tobacco smoking, binge drinking, cannabis u…
Mind the Gate
Increased Anxiety and Depression Among Belgian Sexual Minority Groups During the First Covid-19 Lockdown—Results From an Online Survey
The COVID-19 pandemic most likely had a negative impact on mental health. Sexual minorities are at higher risk for adverse mental outcomes such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. Such mental health disparities may have exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to restricted real-life social contact. The study aim was to examine changes in depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among Belgian sexual minority adults between the per…
Substance Use among Belgian Higher Education Students before and during the First Wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many countries to issue far-reaching policy measures that may have led to increased substance use. Higher education students may have been disproportionally affected due to the rearrangement of educational life and their susceptibility to psychosocial distress and substance use. The current study examined associations between pandemic-related stressors, psychosocial distress, and self-reported alcohol, tobacco, and …
From Physical Distancing to Social Loneliness among Gay Men and Other Men Having Sex with Men in Belgium
Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, levels of loneliness have increased among the general population and especially among sexual minorities, such as gay men and other men who have sex with men, who already experienced more problems with social isolation before the pandemic. We analyzed how the disruption of the social network and social support structures by containment measures impact loneliness among gay and other men having sex with me…
Knowledge deficit and fear of Covid-19 among higher education students during the first wave of the pandemic and implications for public health
COVID-19 related knowledge was independently associated with both fear of acquiring SARS-COV-2 infection as well as contracting severe COVID-19. Our findings will serve as a basis for public health response for both the current and similar future pandemics by highlighting the need for addressing the COVID-19 knowledge deficit to fight the infodemic and prevent negative mental health outcomes
Evaluating the Cascade of Hypertension Care in Belgium
The International Journal of Integrated Care (IJIC) is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles in the field of integrated care on a continuous basis.IJIC has an Impact Factor of 2.913 (2021 JCR, received in June 2022)The IJIC 20th Anniversary Issue was published in 2021
Psychology (22 works) · Medicine (19 works) · Psychiatry (15 works) · Economics (13 works) · Mental health (12 works) · Environmental health (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Demographic economics (9 works) · Economic growth (8 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (8 works)