Laura Maenhout

Profile

Laura obtained a Master's degree in Educational Sciences, main subject Special Education, Disability Studies and Behavioural Disorders at Ghent University in 2017. After completing her master's degree, she started working as an educator for deaf and hearing-impaired adolescents at KOC Sint-Gregorius (Ghent) for one year. As of November 2018, she started an interdisciplinary PhD at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Ghent University. In addition, since February she's also involved in an European project "ID@Work" of the Antwerp Management School in co-operation with organisations in Spain and Estonia.

Under supervision of prof. dr. Geert Crombez, prof. dr. Greet Cardon and dr. Ann DeSmet, Laura is involved in the MOV-E-STAR project. This is a project aimed at promoting mental health of adolescents (12-15 years) via healthy lifestyles (more exercise, less sitting, daily breakfast intake and sufficient sleep). By focusing on healthy lifestyles that they can tackle in their daily lives, this project supports the empowerment and social inclusion of youth, without barriers to professional care, and with great social health benefits as a result. The intervention will consist of three integrated components: a storyline or 'health narrative' (Youtube videos), a chatbot and a mobile app that supports self-regulation. Her PhD will focus on special target groups (adolescents from lower family affluence) and via health narratives she will study peripheral routes to behavioral change.