Biometrics students get going at CIRO Horn 

The Biometrics programme offered by Zuyd University will continuously be deploying students and graduated students on work placement at CIRO Horn and will participate in research projects at the rehabilitation centre. This is the first specific result from a partnership that both organisations concluded last year. Wednesday 12 March the agreement will be signed that sets out the arrangements for the deployment of Biometrics students.

 Currently, the rehabilitation centre has an excellent chance on a global scale with a new approach to the treatment of patients with chronic heart and lung failure. This approach is based on “chain care” where all internally and externally involved parties work together on a goal set in advance and harmonise treatments based on this. “Our organisation is process driven. Care will continue even if offered by one of our external partners,” explains  Ingrid Vanderhoven (drs.), deputy director. Measurements and tests are performed on the patient after his or her arrival for three days in a row.

 Role of the biometrist

The measurements are performed at the start and the end of the treatment with regard to the patient. Both on a physical level such as the patient’s pulmonary function or muscular strength and on a psychosocial level in the form of questionnaires that provide insight into the quality of life of the patient. CIRO Horn and the Zuyd University Biometrics programme have found one another exactly with regard to this issue. Fredy Welter (drs.), programme coordinator: “Graduates of this programme, that is, biometrists, are trained par excellence in measuring, processing obtained data and translating the technology into care as well as assessing questionnaires to determine their reliability.” The power of the biometrist is that he or she will have learned how to disregard discipline limits whilst following this programme. This ensures that the biometrist will more quickly find relationships between certain measurements and it is this, in particular, that contributes to a successful treatment as has been the experience of the rehabilitation centre in Horn. “This is added value in our view,” said Ingrid Vanderhoven. “A biometrist is eminently suitable to be deployed at multiple functional departments.” 

Future partnership

Vanderhoven and Welter see many opportunities to expand the partnership in the future. It is not inconceivable, for example, that a graduation profile that is tailored to CIRO Horn criteria will be added. Students will also be deployed in the centre’s research projects. This may involve testing new measuring equipment, validating measuring protocols or developing new combinations of measurements. The Kenniskring Technologie in de Zorg (Centre of Expertise for Technology in Care) linked to Zuyd University will also be playing a role within this context. Ingrid Vanderhoven: “We are mainly searching for new measuring forms to ensure we can offer patients made-to-measure treatment options.”

 Biometrists are needed

Ingrid Vanderhoven has also highlighted that the partnership with Biometrics means investing in the future for CIRO Horn. The rehabilitation centre wishes to expand the approach to chronic heart and lung failure to include patients with other chronic organ failure. Everyone is convinced that the working method is also effective for patients who are suffering from diabetes or obesity. The need for medical personnel who can carry out measurements and can process data from research will only increase. “We really need biometrists,” says the deputy director. “The role of this professional group is still very underestimated in the care sector. This is why we wish to contribute to ensure that the added value of biometrics for the healthcare sector becomes transparent.”

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