Dagje Boeykens, PhD (candidate)
Ghent University (Belgium)/University of Ottawa (Ontario)
Dagje obtained her bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy and a master’s degree in health promotion. In 2019 she started a PhD entitled ‘Goal-oriented: from a theoretical concept to a practice-based intervention for primary care’ at Ghent University. This PhD is embedded in the consortium of the Primary Care Academy that aims to strengthen primary care in Flanders, Belgium based on research and education. During this PhD a close connection with stakeholders in primary care (e.g., patients, primary healthcare professionals, etc.) is maintained to guarantee sustainable implementation of the intervention on the long term. For her master thesis, Dagje contributed to the project of community health workers (CHWs) established by the city of Ghent and OCMW Ghent. For this thesis she developed a training package and educational program to prepare potential CHWs to become a partner in primary care. This project was based in a co-creation process with either potential CHWs as local policy makers.
