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Steering group and members

Steering group

Julia Dratva

Porträt Julia Dratva

“Better health is the aim – for this we need to know how healthy children and adolescents grow up today and what the future challenges will be”

Julia Dratva leads research at the Department of Health's Institute for Public Health.

She researches health determinants and health endpoints from a life course perspective.  The Institute's research focus "Child and Adolescent Health" deals with early determinants of health and chronic diseases, mental health in different settings, and (digital) health literacy. Julia Dratva has been a key contributor to the first National Health Report on "Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Health" (2020) and advocates, among other things, for improved data on childhood and adolescent health and data-based practice and policy.

 

Agnes von Wyl

Porträt Agnes von Wyl

“During the corona pandemic, children’s and adolescents’ mental health has become a prominent theme. It is a matter of concern for me that their mental health is supported in a sustainable way.”

Agnes von Wyl heads the Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology Division at the Psychology Institute of the Department of Applied Psychology.

The Department of Applied Psychology covers the whole range of psychology in all service areas. For the Clinical Psychology and Health Psychology Group, the focus is on mental health in childhood and adolescence. In the study of risk and protective factors of mental health, one focus is the use of digital media. In research on prevention and treatment of mental illness, we have made a name for ourselves with peer approaches, carefully tailored to the developmental stage of the child or adolescent. In research and practice, the transition from school to work is becoming increasingly important. In several longitudinal studies, we investigate which psychological and social protective factors contribute to the mental health of children and adolescents and how preventive and curative approaches can contribute to mental health and well-being.

 

David Lätsch

Porträt David Lätsch

“Children and young people’s health is not only a biological and psychological phenomenon, but a social one as well. That's why interdisciplinary research is needed—and why our competence network means such added value.”

David Lätsch heads the focus group Child and Adult Protection at the Institute for Childhood, Youth and Family of the Department of Social Work.

In its research and service projects, the Institute addresses how social conditions and aversive life experiences affect the development of children and adolescents and with which interventions the actors of child and youth welfare and child protection can positively influence these trajectories. Child and adolescent health - understood in a comprehensive sense that includes the social quality of life and the subject position of children - is of particular importance as a target variable. Public health as a systemic approach has great potential in this field.

 

Marc Höglinger

Portät Marc Höglinger

“Effective health promotion and prevention for children and adolescents pays off in every respect. Identifying where there is a need and which measures really work is challenging, but an essential task for research and society.”

Marc Höglinger is Head of the Health Services Research Group of the Winterthur Institute of Health Economics (WIG) at the School of Management and Law.

In its research, the WIG examines the direct and indirect consequences and costs of diseases, inadequate health care and health-damaging behavior such as lack of exercise or smoking. Children and adolescents are central to this research, as the early stages of life have a decisive impact on health throughout life. Failure to intervene and inadequate care often leads to long-term health problems and costs - both for those affected and for society.

 

Members