The academic staff of the SW department participates in a number of funded research projects, both national and international.
Archimedes III, project No: 4
Principal investigator – coordinator: Sofia Koukouli
Main research group: Sofia Koukouli (MA/PhD),Nikoleta Ratsika (MA/PhD), Argyroula Kalaitzaki (MSc/PhD), Georgios Kritsotakis (MPH/PhD).
External collaborators: Christos Melas (PhD), Evangelos Kritsotakis (PhD), Kleio Koutra (MPH, PhD©), Katerina Economou (MA, PhD©), Magdalini Pelekidou (MPH), Chryssoula Katsapi (MPH).
Title: “The transition process from youth to adulthood. A study on the young people of Crete”.
The pathway from youth to adulthood is a critical period for young people during which they gradually acquire the ability to live independent and productive lives. A progressive transition is very important for their further development. “Transition” is usually defined as the period during which young people move from a situation where the main activity is education and training to a state dominated by work. However the completion of this course is not only connected to employment and a steady job, but also to the acquisition of autonomy in other areas of their life (independent housing, cohabitation with a partner, creation of a family etc.). Although the integration process of young people into adult society generally follows the traditional route, the non-linearity of this process exacerbated in recent years. Nowadays all those passages are unstable and increasingly characterized by their reversibility. The increasing complexity of this process and its greater duration for contemporary young people compared to those of previous generations are associated with several factors such as: the increasing prolongation of school years (education and training), the growing complexity of living standards, higher rates of women participating in the job market, more flexible forms of employment, but also a general trend towards a more individualistic way of living. Moreover this transition is realized for each young person in a complex system of socio-economic structures, institutional rules and cultural standards that are constantly changing. Within this context policies regulating this transition are very important for the integration process of young people and the prevention of their social exclusion. Additionally, the process of transition from youth to adulthood is influenced by young people’s social status, education, gender, access to education and training, social support networks and personal choices. While the complex social environment and supportive policies for youth are particularly important, personal strategies to develop a life plan are very significant as well.
The central research question of the present proposal is to study the factors affecting the transition from youth to adulthood for the young people of Crete. It is particularly interesting to study this process in the context of Crete to see how it is influenced by the cultural particularities of the place, which itineraries young people follow during this period of their life, within a social context where traditional and modern elements coexist, the dropout rate from school is among the highest in the country and the involvement of young people in the primary sector and tourism begins from early age.
Lab of Health & Road Safety (LaHeRS)
Principal investigators – coordinators: Papadakaki Maria & Chliaoutakis Joannes
Title: REHABIL-AID
REHABIL-AID: a three-year project titled “Reducing the harm and the burden of injuries and human loss caused by road traffic crashes and addressing injury demands through effective interventions” carried out in Greece, Germany and Italy with funding by the DG Mobility and Transport (MOVE/C4/SUB/2011-294/SI2.628846/REHABIL-AID). The project involves a multicenter longitudinal study aiming to assess the psycho-socio-economic costs of RTCs for severely injured people and identify factors that affect the rehabilitation process, one year after the injury. The study involves collection of data from adult patients, hospitalized in intensive care units of selected hospitals in the three participating countries, with injuries sustained in RTC. The results of the study will be used to develop interventions and tools tailored to the needs of the injured people such as recommendations on the care of the severely injured, a map of rehabilitation services and a map of the care pathway following RTCs. (http://rehabil-aid.seyp.teicrete.gr).
Lab of Health & Road Safety (LaHeRS)
Principal investigators – coordinators: Papadakaki Maria & Chliaoutakis Joannes
Title: MOBIHAVE Archimedes III
This research project aims to study the effects of mobile telephone use on driving performance through experimental and observational research methods. The principal goal of this research project is to produce up-to-date knowledge in the wider field of road safety by focusing on the involvement of human factor in the phenomenon of road traffic crashes.
In particular, the project aims to:
1. Explore the effects of mobile phone use on the driving performance of Greek drivers.
2. Compare the effects of mobile phone use on the driving performance of professional and amateur drivers.
3. Identify the human elements that are mostly affected during mobile phone use contributing to the impairment of driving performance.
4. Explore driver background factors that increase the impairment of driving performance when mobile phone is used (among personal characteristics, driving patterns, attitudes, etc.)
5. Develop a multivariate model to predict and interpret the accumulated contribution of mobile phone use and other driver background factors to the impairment of driving performance.
6. Identify factors that contribute more to the impairment of driving performance when mobile phone is used and need to be targeted by future interventions.
Lab of Health & Road Safety (LaHeRS)
Principal investigators – coordinators: Papadakaki Maria & Chliaoutakis Joannes
Title: Rehabil-Aid
The project aims to assess the psycho-socio-economic costs of RTCs for severely injured people and identify factors that affect the rehabilitation process. Among the project’s objectives is to identify areas demonstrating the highest burden as well as design interventions to facilitate the progress of rehabilitation and reduce the long-term socioeconomic burden. The project further seeks to identify factors that minimize the long-term burden in order to introduce alternative support systems with the greatest benefit for the injured people and the national budgets. Special emphasis is placed on informal care (e.g. self-care, community care) which has been identified as being beneficial for 70-80% of people with chronic conditions, and forms part of a wider agenda about public health, health promotion and patient involvement in different health systems across Europe (Department of Health, London, 2006; Hadjiev, Toneva, Short, 2007). The project also seeks to introduce an integrated approach, where all factors are taken into account and all stakeholder groups are participating (patient organizations, hospitals, social service, traffic safety authorities and organizations). (http://rehabil-aid.seyp.teicrete.gr)
Lab of Health & Road Safety (LaHeRS)
Principal investigators – coordinators: Papadakaki Maria & Chliaoutakis Joannes
Title: Commun-AID
“Increasing the capacity of domestic workers of different origins to respond to sexual violence through community-based interventions”
The overall aim of the project is to increase the capacity of migrant domestic workers to respond to sexual violence through developing and testing community-based interventions. Among the project’s objectives are to:(a)describe the problem in the partner countries and assess the victims’ needs, (b)map community resources, allies, interventions and policies addressing sexual violence in migrants, (c)design culturally and linguistically appropriate tools and interventions to address sexual violence in migrant domestic workers, (d)develop a pool of accredited workers and community members who could facilitate community education and long-term community development programs.(http://lahers.seyp.teicrete.gr/commun-aid-2/)
Lab of Health & Road Safety (LaHeRS)
Principal investigators – coordinators: Papadakaki Maria & Chliaoutakis Joannes
Title: Wom-Power
“Empowering women to fight against domestic violence through an integrated model of training, support and counseling (WOM-POWER)”
Violence against women can take different forms in the current societies. It can go from psychological and physical abuse within the family, to forced marriage at small ages and other violent practices. All these forms of violence against women are unacceptable violations of human rights. Around the world, as many as one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some other way – most often by someone she knows, including by her husband or another male family member; one woman in four has been abused during pregnancy.
This project aims at empowering women, victims or possible victims of domestic violence, to protect themselves against domestic violence. In this sense the project will organize training, information and counseling sessions for women with the aim to create a protective environment for them within the family and in the community.
(http://lahers.seyp.teicrete.gr/wom-power-2)
Lab of Health & Road Safety (LaHeRS)
Principal investigators – coordinators: Papadakaki Maria & Chliaoutakis Joannes
Title: Y-SAV
“Understanding and addressing youth sexual coercion and violence as a threat to young people’s sexual health in Europe (Youth Sexual Aggression and Violence)”
The Y-SAV project builds a multidisciplinary network of European experts in various member states, brings together the knowledge on youth sexual aggression and victimization in a state-of-the-art database, develops a more harmonized way of measuring Y-SAV’s prevalence, and provides recommendations for strategic action to address the problem of youth sexual aggression under different circumstances in different EU member states. One of the main goals of the project is to establish a European network of experts to improve the response to youth sexual aggression and victimization in Europe. The network fosters dialogue on youth sexual aggression and victimization and its determinants, develops a standard set of indicators to study and monitor sexual aggression and victimization, and builds a knowledge database to inform effective policy. YSAV aims to establish a multidisciplinary European approach to youth sexual aggression and victimization in Europe. (http://ysav.rutgerswpf.org/)
Lab of Health & Road Safety (LaHeRS)
Principal investigators – coordinators: Papadakaki Maria & Chliaoutakis Joannes
Title: COST Action TU1101
“Towards safer bicycling through optimization of bicycle helmets and usage”
COST Action TU1101 is an expert network focusing on improving bicycle traffic safety with a special focus on helmets. The main objectives of this Action that operates under the acronym “HOPE” (Helmet OPtimization in Europe) are to:
– Increase scientific knowledge about bicycle helmets in regards to traffic safety.
– To disseminate this knowledge to stakeholders, including cyclists, legislators, manufacturers, and the scientific community.
– To stimulate international collaboration in the field of bicycle traffic safety and helmets.
(http://www.bicycle-helmets.eu)