Wouter Vanderplasschen
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 302305 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Wouter Vanderplasschen |
| NOMBRES | Wouter |
| APELLIDO | Vanderplasschen |
| FIRMA | VANDERPLASSCHEN W |
| AFILIACIONES | Ghent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6513-4243 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 68 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 46 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 68 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2000 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 5 |
Service user and healthcare-worker perspectives on Substance Use Disorder treatment journeys, relapse, and recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment in sub-Saharan Africa remains poorly understood from the perspectives of those who deliver and receive it. We integrated the perspectives of service users (SUs) and front-line health care workers (HCWs) within a single analytic frame to map SUD treatment trajectories and identify multilevel barriers and facilitators shaping treatment and recovery outcomes in Uganda. We conducted a qualitative study nested wi…
Coping mechanisms adopted following a suicide attempt among refugees in humanitarian settings within northern Uganda
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Gender-responsive addiction treatment
“It Shouldn’t Become the Club Med of Drug Problems Here”
While harm reduction has become increasingly embedded in urban drug policy across Europe, its local implementation remains a site of tension and controversy. Despite being backed by strong public health evidence, harm reduction services (e.g., drug consumption rooms, opioid agonist treatment centers) intersect with contested urban dynamics and diverging stakeholder expectations. This study explores how harm reduction services are perceived within…
Perspectives of professionals on the perinatal period as a window of opportunity for change in women with SUD
These findings underscore the need to move beyond hegemonic discourses that frame strength and deficit, mothering and substance use, or vulnerability and opportunity as binary opposites. Recognizing the ways these dimensions coexist and intersect is vital for developing responsive, relational, and ethically grounded models of perinatal care
A cluster analysis of European life in recovery data
Introduction There is little research around recovery pathways and how they cluster together by individual and situational factors according to time in recovery.Method This paper uses a cluster analysis with data from the European Life in Recovery (LiR) survey to produce typologies of recovery pathways around stages of recovery: early ( 5 years). A secondary aim was to explore evidence of national variations among clusters.Results Cluster analysi…
Examining social identity transition from a relational perspective
From (in)dependence to interdependence
The concept of agency in substance use recovery remains contested, positioned between deficit-based models emphasizing dependence and recovery paradigms highlighting personal strengths and capacities. However, the latter approach has faced criticism for individualizing responsibility, overemphasizing independence, and promoting normative notions of citizenship. This is particularly visible in the context of recovery without treatment. Commonly re…
Self‐change from problems with alcohol and drugs
Psychometric evaluation of the Dutch version of the patient‐reported experience measure for addiction treatment (PREMAT‐NL)
Islands in the stream
Despite the 'Title 107' reform, persons with SUD still experience mental health care services as 'islands in the stream', pointing to several pressing priorities for future policy and practice development: breaking the vicious cycles of waiting times, organizing relational case management, tackling stigma and centralizing lived experiences, and fostering recovery-promoting collaboration
Cross-Cultural Insights from Two Global Mental Health Studies
This commentary highlights two cross-cultural issues identified from our global mental health (GMH) research, RECOLLECT (Recovery Colleges Characterisation and Testing) 2: self-enhancement and ingroup biases. Self-enhancement is a tendency to maintain and express unrealistically positive self-views. Ingroup biases are differences in one’s evaluation of others belonging to the same social group. These biases are discussed in the context of GMH res…
Formerly Detained Adolescents’ Narratives
In recent years, a growing trend to consider strengths and protective factors in studies on desistance from crime has emerged. The present study explores three formerly detained adolescents’ narratives, aiming to tease out how Quality of Life (QoL) and desistance interact in pathways towards a “better life.” The narratives suggest that the journey towards a better life is highly individual, and may unfold via multiple pathways characterized by an…
Culturally adapting a mindfulness and acceptance-based intervention to support the mental health of adolescents on antiretroviral therapy in Uganda
The dual burden of living with HIV and negotiating life stage changes has been identified as a contributing factor to lapsed adherence among adolescents with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. While psychosocial support can promote medication adherence, most interventions in use with adolescents were originally developed for the general population creating a gap in appropriate support. Life-stage-appropriate, evidence-based psychosocial support intervent…
Tailoring the continuum of care for substance use problems to persons with an Islamic migration background
We discuss the need for tailored interventions that are able to overcome structural inequities and address ethnocultural sensitivities, needs and strengths. Intermediary community organizations, cultural competence of treatment and recovery-oriented systems of care may bridge the gaps between what is needed and what is available. However, it is important to be conscious that hands-on solutions at the personal level do not absolve the responsibili…
A Tool for Assessing the Quality of Life of Adolescents in Youth Care
Quality of life (QOL) has gained increased interest as a critical pathway to better understanding the lives and circumstances of children and adolescents in both the general population and among specific populations. Yet, QOL assessment among youngsters in youth care services remains a highly under-researched topic. This study examines the suitability and psychometric properties of a new QOL self-report scale for adolescents between 12 and 18 yea…
Drug use and access to drug dependency services for vulnerable migrants who use drugs in the European Union
Policy action and increased collaboration are required by the EU as a whole and by individual EU member states, in addition to collaboration among healthcare providers and social welfare services, to increase access to healthcare services for migrants who use drugs
Quality of Life Outcomes for Adolescents in Youth Care
The Role of Personal Resilience and Interpersonal Support in Building Fulfilling and Prosocial Lives
Despite growing interest in strength-based rehabilitation frameworks, relevant internal/external resources that are likely to facilitate the rehabilitation of detained female adolescents (DFA) have been understudied. This study aims to fill this gap by studying the role of young women’s personal resilience and interpersonal support in building fulfilling and prosocial lives 4 years after youth detention, thereby examining the strength-based good …
Treatment providers' perspectives on a gender-responsive approach in alcohol and drug treatment for women in Belgium
Study findings show that the field of alcohol and drug prevention and treatment is being looked at through the lens of gender-responsiveness. However, to achieve improvement in the lives of both women and men, and hence creating more equal chances and opportunities in substance abuse treatment, the gender-transformative approach in addiction care needs to be further explored, criticized and established in practice and future research
Voices to be heard
These findings tie in with procedural justice theory as a precondition for family support and family recovery within forensic psychiatric care
I Grew Up Amidst Alcohol and Drugs
Experiencing parental substance use (PSU) has been associated with a heightened risk of developing substance use disorders (SUDs) in offspring. The primary goal of this study was to explore perspectives of adult children with lived experience of PSU who also developed SUDs themselves through first-hand experience. This study was conducted in Flanders (Belgium). A qualitative exploratory research design was applied. Seventeen semi-structured inter…
Differences in Offending Behaviors, Aggression, Substance Use, and Mental Health Problems between Male Drug Dealers and Non-Drug Dealers in Belgian Youth Detention Centers
This study investigated whether drug dealing juvenile offenders in Belgium differ from non-drug dealers in levels of violent and non-violent offending behaviors, aggression, substance use, and mental health needs. The current study examined data from 226 16- to 17-year-old male juvenile offenders. Information relating to drug dealing, substance use, and mental health needs were collected through self-report questionnaires. A structured diagnostic…
Turning points toward drug addiction recovery
Background A life course approach recognizes the role of turning points in adding twists and turns in individuals’ addiction recovery processes. The notion of certain key life events that trigger turning point experiences offers a valuable theoretical construct for understanding processes of change. The current study aimed to identify turning points and assess the role of contextual dynamics in generating long-term changes, based on lived experie…
Recovery and Substitute Addictions
Substitute addictions – addictions that replace terminated substance use disorders ( sud s) – involving addictive behaviours such as a new substance, food/eating, gambling, shopping, or sex, have implications for recovery but remain poorly understood. While extant studies suggest a multifaceted aetiology, research is needed to illuminate the nature, dynamics/mechanisms, motives and risk factors of substitute addictions. This multiple-methods stud…
Uncertainty in situations of forced displacement
References to uncertainty are omnipresent in literature on forced displacement. This article presents a critical interpretative synthesis of literature about uncertainty in refugee situations and explores common assumptions that underlie the narrative of uncertainty. The analysis of the literature shows that uncertainty appears to be inherent to refugee situations. Also, uncertainty is mainly seen as a constraining and abnormal experience. We cri…
One size fits all? The social construction of dis-employ-abled women
This article is based on an evaluation of a labour-market training programme for women with ‘mental health problems’ in a social workplace in Belgium. The research team explored the retrospective insider perspectives on the work aspirations of the women involved in the programme to identify critical dynamics in their high drop-out from the social workplace. The central findings provide evidence of a prevalent one-size-fits-all discourse in these …
Living through exposure to toxic psychiatric orthodoxies
This article explores lived experiences and insights of five people with long‐term ‘mental health problems’, focusing on their search for employment in a disabling society. In our qualitative, inductive analysis we investigate why it seems almost impossible to attain a status as respected adult workers. We present five central findings: (1) losing the game before it starts; (2) internalizing the vicious circle of victim blaming; (3) from control …
Studying ethnicity, problem substance use and treatment
In this paper, we elaborate on the premises of studying problem substance use and treatment disparities among migrants and ethnic minorities. Due to the growing medicalisation of research on problem substance use and disparities in this group, policy makers, health researchers and practitioners often feel compelled to rely on epidemiological studies when grounding and understanding the link between ethnicity, problem substance use and treatment d…
Reinventing the Employable Citizen
In workfare-as-welfare regimes, welfare states attempt to increase efforts to employ economically inactive individuals, such as people with chronic ‘mental health problems’, through a wide range of activation strategies. In this article, we draw upon insights obtained from a recent research project in Belgium, in which social workers are charged with managing labour market training programmes. In the project, we explored the experiences of people…
Quality of Life Outcomes for Adolescents in Youth Care
Exploratory Study on Drug Users' Perspectives on Quality of Life
Watch out for the boogieman”
People with a migration background and ethnic minorities (MEM) with substance use problems are confronted with stigma due to their ethnicity and substance use. This study explores how living with multiple stigmatized identities impacts substance use recovery among MEM. We conducted 34 in‐depth interviews with a diverse sample of MEM with substance use problems in Flanders, Belgium. A Qualitative Content Analysis using Earnshaw's stigma framework …
Youngsters’ Perspectives on Continuity in Their Contacts with Youth-Care Services
Continuity is seen as an important aim for the quality of youth-care services. However, views on continuity are predominantly guided by experts, without much attention to user perspectives. This paper focuses on youngsters’ experienced continuity in relation to youth-care services. Twenty-five youngsters, who were in residential care or reached by low-threshold youth services, were interviewed about their experiences in and out of care. In themat…
Relationships Between Global and Domain-Specific Self-Evaluations and Types of Offending in Community Boys and Girls
This study investigates age- and gender-specific relationships between global and domain-specific self-evaluations and types of offending in school-going adolescents. A self-report survey was administered to 710 boys and girls, using the Dutch version of the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents and an offending questionnaire. Property-only (vs. non-) offending is related to low perceived behavioral conduct. Violent-only (vs. non-) offending is…
Cultural responsiveness in substance‐abuse treatment
As a result of the growing number of ethnic and cultural minority clients in substance‐abuse treatment during the last decades, a culturally responsive approach has become more and more imperative. In this article the statements (n = 1330) of professionals (n = 11) and clients (n = 11) representing the substance‐abuse treatment centres in the region of Ghent and its suburbs (Belgium) are analysed. In focus are the specific treatment needs of ethn…
Retrospective Study of Similarities and Relations Between American Drug-Free and European Therapeutic Conmmnities for Children and Adults
This article focuses on the similarities and relations between the European therapeutic community for children and adults on the one hand and the American drug-free "concept" therapeutic community on the other. Both approaches are reviewed in a historical and comparative perspective with special attention to several critical issues: democracy versus hierarchy, self-help versus professionalism, psychoanalysis versus behaviorism and concept versus …
Towards the Integration of Treatment Systems for Substance Abusers
The central ideas of this article are the result of intensive discussions during a symposium that was organized following structural changes in European substance abuse treatment. Therapeutic communities were concerned about their approach being replaced by other treatment modalities. Participants focused on the question of whether the emerging harm reduction paradigm could be combined with the principle of recovery and how its integration in a c…
Cultural responsiveness in substance‐abuse treatment
As a result of the growing number of ethnic and cultural minority clients in substance‐abuse treatment during the last decades, a culturally responsive approach has become more and more imperative. In this article the statements (n = 1330) of professionals (n = 11) and clients (n = 11) representing the substance‐abuse treatment centres in the region of Ghent and its suburbs (Belgium) are analysed. In focus are the specific treatment needs of ethn…
Implementation and evaluation of case management for substance abusers with complex and multiple problems
Substance abuse is increasingly recognized as a multi-faceted, complex and chronic problem that requires a comprehensive approach and ongoing support services. In this dissertation, we focused on the organisation and quality of substance abuse treatment in a clear-cut region (Ghent, Belgium) and on an alternative approach to optimise treatment and delivery of service for substance abusers. First, various indicators of coordination and continuity …
Effectiveness of Different Models of Case Management for Substance-Abusing Populations
Case management has been implemented in substance abuse treatment to improve (cost-) effectiveness, but controversy exists about its potential to realize this objective. A systematic and comprehensive review of peer-reviewed articles (n = 48) published between 1993 and 2003 is presented, focusing on the effects of different models of case management among various substance-abusing populations. Results show that several studies have reported posit…
Living through exposure to toxic psychiatric orthodoxies
This article explores lived experiences and insights of five people with long‐term ‘mental health problems’, focusing on their search for employment in a disabling society. In our qualitative, inductive analysis we investigate why it seems almost impossible to attain a status as respected adult workers. We present five central findings: (1) losing the game before it starts; (2) internalizing the vicious circle of victim blaming; (3) from control …
Dilemmas when working with substance abusers with multiple and complex problems
Since the 1990s, case management has been implemented in the USA and Canada – and recently also in various European countries – to support substance abusers with multiple and complex needs. Although this intervention is often presented as a set of standardised functions, its application is often a subjective task involving various dilemmas, which may influence case management outcomes significantly. Based on a comparison of case managers’ experie…
Exploratory Study on Drug Users' Perspectives on Quality of Life
Current quality of life and its determinants among opiate-dependent individuals five years after starting methadone treatment
Opiate-dependent individuals' QoL is mainly determined by their psychological well-being and a number of psychosocial variables. These findings highlight the importance of a holistic approach to treatment and support in methadone maintenance treatment, which goes beyond fixing the negative physical consequences of opiate dependence
Quality of life among opiate-dependent individuals
One size fits all? The social construction of dis-employ-abled women
This article is based on an evaluation of a labour-market training programme for women with ‘mental health problems’ in a social workplace in Belgium. The research team explored the retrospective insider perspectives on the work aspirations of the women involved in the programme to identify critical dynamics in their high drop-out from the social workplace. The central findings provide evidence of a prevalent one-size-fits-all discourse in these …
Reinventing the Employable Citizen
In workfare-as-welfare regimes, welfare states attempt to increase efforts to employ economically inactive individuals, such as people with chronic ‘mental health problems’, through a wide range of activation strategies. In this article, we draw upon insights obtained from a recent research project in Belgium, in which social workers are charged with managing labour market training programmes. In the project, we explored the experiences of people…
Disadvantageous Decision-Making as a Predictor of Drop-Out among Cocaine-Dependent Individuals in Long-Term Residential Treatment
Our findings suggest that neurocognitive rehabilitation of disadvantageous decision-making may have clinical benefits in CDI admitted to long-term residential treatment programs
Profiles of quality of life in opiate-dependent individuals after starting methadone treatment
Effectiveness of Case Management for Homeless Persons
We reviewed the literature on standard case management (SCM), intensive case management (ICM), assertive community treatment (ACT), and critical time intervention (CTI) for homeless adults. We searched databases for peer-reviewed English articles published from 1985 to 2011 and found 21 randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies comparing case management to other services. We found little evidence for the effectiveness of ICM. SCM…
Girls’ quality of life prior to detention in relation to psychiatric disorders, trauma exposure and socioeconomic status
Insufficient access to harm reduction measures in prisons in 5 countries (PRIDE Europe)
Using a score of adherence to WHO/UNODC recommendations, the estimated environmental infectious risk remains extremely high in the prisons of the 5 European countries assessed. Public health strategies should be adjusted to comply with the principle of equivalence of care and prevention with the general community
Detained girls' treatment engagement over time
Relationships Between Global and Domain-Specific Self-Evaluations and Types of Offending in Community Boys and Girls
This study investigates age- and gender-specific relationships between global and domain-specific self-evaluations and types of offending in school-going adolescents. A self-report survey was administered to 710 boys and girls, using the Dutch version of the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents and an offending questionnaire. Property-only (vs. non-) offending is related to low perceived behavioral conduct. Violent-only (vs. non-) offending is…
The role of religion in alcohol consumption and demand reduction in Muslim majority countries (MMC)
Commentary to: Extent of alcohol prohibition in civil policy in Muslim majority countries: the impact of globalization
Continuity of care in youth services
Studying ethnicity, problem substance use and treatment
In this paper, we elaborate on the premises of studying problem substance use and treatment disparities among migrants and ethnic minorities. Due to the growing medicalisation of research on problem substance use and disparities in this group, policy makers, health researchers and practitioners often feel compelled to rely on epidemiological studies when grounding and understanding the link between ethnicity, problem substance use and treatment d…
Conceptualisation and Measurement of Quality of Life Based on Schalock and Verdugo’s Model
Uncertainty in situations of forced displacement
References to uncertainty are omnipresent in literature on forced displacement. This article presents a critical interpretative synthesis of literature about uncertainty in refugee situations and explores common assumptions that underlie the narrative of uncertainty. The analysis of the literature shows that uncertainty appears to be inherent to refugee situations. Also, uncertainty is mainly seen as a constraining and abnormal experience. We cri…
Mothering, Substance Use Disorders and Intergenerational Trauma Transmission
Background: A growing body of research underlines that interpersonal trauma in childhood leads to heightened susceptibility for substance use disorders (SUDs) in later life. Little research has been conducted on parenting experiences of mothers in recovery from substance use, taking into account their own upbringing as a child and the potential aftermath of interpersonal childhood trauma. Methods: Through in-depth qualitative interviews, 23 mothe…
Psychology (55 obras) · Psychiatry (38 obras) · Medicine (31 obras) · Sociology (25 obras) · Social Psychology (24 obras) · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes (24 obras) · Clinical Psychology (23 obras) · Political science (19 obras) · Mental Health and Patient Involvement (17 obras) · Psychotherapist (17 obras)