How do long-term care organizations and their staff need to prepare themselves to change and innovate, in order to better meet the needs and demands of future older people and their families? That is the key question within the Living Lab in Ageing and Long-Term Care of Maastricht University to answer for our new colleague. We seek an enthusiastic and highly motivated Assistant Professor specialized in Innovation and/or Change Management, who can strengthen our interdisciplinary research group, including nursing science, social gerontology, old age medicine, psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and customer-centric service design. We use a team science approach, i.e. a collaborative effort to address the scientific challenges in long-term care building on strengths and expertise of researchers trained in different fields. 

The mission of our Living Lab is to contribute with scientific research to improve i) quality of life of older people and their families; ii) quality of care and iii) quality of work of those working in long-term care. The Living Lab is not a physical space, but a virtual network in the southern part of the Netherlands in which researchers collaborate through continuous dialogue with end-users such as older persons and their families, client representatives, professionals, health care directors, policy makers and teachers. The Living Lab takes an international leading position for its model (Verbeek et al. (2013). Keys to successfully embedding scientific research in nursing homes: a win-win perspective. J Am Med Dir Assoc,14:855-7).   

The Assistant Professor will be based at the Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science. The research will be positioned within research school CAPHRI, research line Ageing and Long-Term Care.  

The tasks include:

- Developing a research line within the area of innovation / change management within long-term care;

- Acquiring external research funds, including personal, international (e.g. EU) and national funds;

- Supervising PhD students;

- Publishing in (high impact) international peer-reviewed journals;

- Teaching in innovative educational programs (e.g. Bachelor Health Sciences, Master Healtcare, Policy, Innovation and Management, Medicine);

- Full filling a Linking Pin role within our Living Lab: being positioned within one of the care organizations for one day a week, linking scientific research to long-term care policy and practice.  

Maastricht University provides an attractive, internationally-oriented academic environment where young people receive an advanced education and scholars conduct first-rate research.  

The ideal candidate meets the following criteria:

-          Should display outstanding quality in research and be open to an interdisciplinary approach;

-          Have a relevant international network and track record of potential for grant acquisition;

-          International peer-reviewed academic publications are imperative;

-          Hold a PhD in health care management, innovation or change management, health care sciences or related field;

-          Be an experienced and enthusiastic teacher and have demonstrated ability in thesis supervision and teaching coordination roles. Experience with course development is an asset.

-          Is able to stimulate student learning and to maximize student participation in our system of small-scale problem-based learning (PBL). 

The candidate is expected to be a team player, to have an open, effective management style, and to be eager to work on both scientific as well as societal impact of his/her research. The candidate needs to speak and write fluently in Dutch. There is the opportunity to obtain the “Basiskwalificatie Onderwijs (BKO)” and receive training in supervision of PhD students. 

Initially, candidates are employed on a temporary contract as assistant professor (level 1 or  2, depending on experience) and agree to specific development goals. Four years into the appointment, candidates will be evaluated and if the development goals have been met, promoted to Assistant Professor (level 1) on a permanent contract. The evaluation can be brought forward if criteria are met earlier. On the candidate’s request, the evaluation can be deferred in case of special personal circumstances, such as pregnancy leave, parental leave or chronic illness. To encourage the candidate’s own research line, the candidate will be given the opportunity to submit a proposal for an internally funded PhD project, contributing to the Living Lab’s goal and mission. 

The workload will be the normal workload for the position of an Assistant Professor. Currently this implies 50% research activities and 50% teaching activities. If the candidate will take on a role as Linking Pin, If the candidate will take on a role as Linking Pin, teaching activities will be reduced to 30%.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years, with the possibility for indefinite period of time.

Initially, candidates are employed on a temporary contract as assistant professor (level 1 or 2, depending on experience) and agree to specific development goals. Four years into the appointment, candidates will be evaluated and if the development goals have been met, promoted to Assistant Professor (level 1) on a permanent contract. The evaluation can be brought forward if criteria are met earlier. On the candidate’s request the evaluation can be deferred in case of special personal circumstances, such as pregnancy leave, parental leave or chronic illness.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterized by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterized by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 16,300 students and 4,300 employees. Reflecting the university's strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The university hosts 6 faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/

Health Services Research

The mission of the Department of Health Services Research is to improve quality of life, quality and efficiency of chronic care and care of older people. We do this by studying and teaching innovations in a multidisciplinary way addressing the broad spectrum from prevention to palliative care.

The department of Health Services Research is part of the School for Public Health and Primary Care (Caphri) of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences: https://www.caphri.nl/care-and-public-health-research-institute 

Living Lab in Ageing and Long-Term Care

The Living Lab on Ageing and Long-Term Care (www.academischewerkplaatsouderenzorg.nl ) is a formal and structural collaboration between  Maastricht, 7 long-term care organizations (Meandergroep Zuid-Limburg, Sevagram, Envida, Cicero Zorggroep, Zuyderland, Vivantes, MosaeGroep), Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and vocational training institute en MBO Gilde Zorgcollege. The Living Lab is not a physical space, but a virtual network in the southern part of the Netherlands in which researchers collaborate through continuous dialogue with end-users such as older persons and their families, client representatives, professionals, health care directors, policy makers and teachers. It covers approximately 110 long-term care facilities (nursing homes, assisted and group living facilities) and (professional) home care, including about 30.000 clients and more than 15.000 staff. The mission of our Living Lab is to contribute with scientific research to improve i) quality of life of older people and their families; ii) quality of care and iii) quality of work of those working in long-term care. The Living Lab primarily targets long-term care service delivery for older people, including home care, institutional care, palliative care and geriatric rehabilitation. In research projects, we collaborate closely with relevant stakeholders such as primary care, hospital, mental health, local municipalities and businesses. Older people, their family and representatives have a prominent role within our Living Lab.  

The Living Lab model has two vital characteristics (Verbeek et al., 2013). First, the main force behind the Living Lab are our Linking Pins, who hold joint appointments at the University and long-term care organizations or educational institutes. Scientific linking pins are senior researchers who work for one or two days a week in the long-term care organization. Here, they coordinate scientific research and teaching activities, lead a multidisciplinary working group of long-term care professionals. Second, the Living Lab is an interdisciplinary partnership. Collaborating partners include older people and their families, a variety of health care professionals, policy makers, service designers, companies, educators and funding agencies (e.g. health care insurer). Scientific disciplines working in the Living Lab are nursing science, old age medicine, social gerontology, psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, health sciences and customer-centric service design.

https://hsr.mumc.maastrichtuniversity.nl/health-services-research-hsr