Research
In my professional journey, I have contributed to various research outputs, delving into qualitative, primary, and secondary data analysis, focusing on public health in development and humanitarian settings.
Now, I'm diving into experimental studies, focusing on a project in collaboration with a microfinance organization in Vietnam, aimed at improving women's economic and social outcomes.
Published papers
Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen NCD care and policy in humanitarian settings: a mixed methods study exploring humanitarian actors’ experiences, BMC Health Services Research (2024) with Eimhin Ansbro, Olivia Heller, Lavanya Vijayasingham, Caroline Favas, Jacqueline Rintjema, Alyssa Chase-Vilchez, Rita Issa, Lea Sanga, Adrianna Murphy, Papol Perel.
Knowledge on hypertension in Myanmar: levels and groups at risk, Open research Europe (2023) with Zinzi Pardoel, Robert Lensink, Maarten Postma, Hla Hla Win, Khin Hnin Swe, Raith Febrinasari, Hoang My Hanh, Jaap Koot, Johanna Landsman, & Sijmen Reijneveld
Core health-components, contextual factors and program elements of community-based interventions in Southeast Asia – a realist synthesis regarding hypertension and diabetes, BMC Public Health (2021), with Zinzi Pardoel, Sijmen Reijneveld, Robert Lensink, Vitri Widyaningsih, Ari Probandari, Giang Nguyen Hoang, Jaap Koot, Christine Fenenga, Marteen Postma & Johanna Landsman
Working papers
Culture, agency and the willingness to compete: Evidence from a randomized field experiment, with Mark Treurniet, Robert Lensink & Travis Lybbert
Abstract: Competition directly shapes the distribution of resources and rewards. Willingness to compete, which often reflects dominant cultural norms, can therefore have outsized impacts on individual outcomes. We introduced two distinct models of agency, highlighting either independent or interdependent traits, into a multi-session psychosocial and personal finance training among women in Vietnam. We show that women randomly assigned to the independent traits are subsequently more likely to compete in an incentive-compatible lab experiment than women assigned to the interdependent traits. A significant effect remains after controlling for confidence and risk preference as potential mediators. We do not detect heterogeneous treatment effects.
Cost-effectiveness of an intervention aimed at improving HIV testing services to prevent transmissions in northern Thailand, 2015-2019, with Nicolas Salvadori, Jullapong Achalapong, Surachet Arunothong, Nicole Ngo-Giang-Huong, Woottichai Khamduang, Sakorn Pornprasert, Wasna Sirirungsi, Sumet Ongwandee, Gonzague Jourdain
Abstract: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence in Thailand remains one of the highest in the Asia-Pacific region; transmission persists especially among key affected populations (sex-workers, men-who-have-sex-with-men, transgender women, people who inject drugs), and many remain unaware of their HIV infection. This study aims at assessing the cost-effectiveness of an intervention in line with the World Health Organization (WHO)’s "Test and Treat" strategy, focusing on averted infections due to earlier diagnosis of infected individuals. Rapid testing and counseling for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C was offered free of charge in a friendly professional environment in four settings in northern Thailand (NCT04585165). Individuals found infected with HIV were immediately referred for ART. Outreach activities focusing on individuals at risk of HIV were conducted to encourage testing. Standard methods of cost-effectiveness analysis were used with a societal perspective, comparing this intervention to “no active intervention”. The major analytic steps were a retrospective estimation of the intervention's cost, mathematical modelling to estimate the number of HIV infections averted (a Bernoulli process model) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted, and an estimation of the cost per DALY averted by the intervention. We assessed the costs and effectiveness of this intervention between 1 May 2015 and 31 January 2019: 7,115 counselling and testing sessions were conducted in 5,733 individual clients. A total of 98 individuals were newly diagnosed with HIV. We estimated that between 12.11 and 19.37 secondary infections and 125.20 to 200.30 total DALYs were averted, depending on the speed of HIV progression. The final cost per DALY averted ranged between $1,371 and $3,137, clearly below the WHO threshold criterion of incremental cost per DALY averted; below the gross domestic product per capita of $7,159 in Thailand. Increasing access to HIV testing for at-risk individuals through intensive outreach activities and easily accessible services appeared highly cost-effective in terms of secondary infections averted, in addition to the individual benefits for those testing positive. Such analyses may provide crucial information to guide resource allocation.
Work in progress
Independent models of agency might not lead to a distaste for redistribution, with Robert Lensink, Mark Treurniet & Nhung Vu
Embedding independent and interdependent agency within a psychosocial training improves economic and relational outcomes for women microentrepreneurs, with Nina Hansen, Robert Lensink, Travis Lybbert, Mark Treurniet & Nhung Vu
Other research outputs
In the context of a European-Union-funded project entitled SUNI-SEA (for more information on the project, refer to the Development Work section), I developed a poster for the GACD Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) 2020, highlighting contextual factors for Non-Communicable Diseases in the targeted implementation areas in Myanmar.
I contributed to a policy brief which explored perceptions of mental health in Myanmar, and how these perceptions could be overcome to support diagnosis and treatment.
In the context of a collaboration project between the University of Groningen and TYM Microfinance in Vietnam, I developed a training focused on goal-setting, self-efficacy and communication, aimed at empowering women of the microfinance to effectively save and achieve their goals.