Pharos (Dutch Centre of Expertise on Health Disparities) is a national centre of expertise on health disparities that focuses on the principle of “health and care of quality for everyone”, whose goal is to support healthcare professional services, and organizations working with migrants and vulnerable people. Pharos’ activities include:
- personalized advice to municipalities and care organizations
- training of professionals, including ineffective communication
- the development of information material.
Pharos is currently working on several projects related to the well-being of vulnerable children in schools (primary and secondary) and in cooperation between education, municipal care, particularly with unaccompanied minors and refugee children (and their families), but also with other vulnerable children. An important aspect of their work is the early identification of psychosocial problems and the role of the school in promoting children’s well-being and positive collaboration with health care and other organizations and connected services in the lives of these groups.
Anna de Haan (PhD) is a psychologist and researcher, and she works as a project manager and advisor with Pharos, the Dutch Centre of Expertise on Health Disparities. She works within both nationwide and local projects focusing on refugee children, refugee families and unaccompanied refugee minors. Specifically, many of her projects concern ‘wellbeing at school’, in these projects she works together with primary and secondary schools all over the country. Her PhD study “Ethnic minority youth in youth mental health care: utilization and dropout” focused on the disparities in the accessibility of youth care between various ethnic groups.
Marjolein Keij (MSc Nursing Science) is a researcher, senior advisor and trainer at Pharos, the Dutch Centre of Expertise on Health Disparities. Her field of interest is a health and socio-emotional development of children in the public context and integral policies on youth health. She worked for several years in the public field as a community youth Nurse in deprived neighbourhoods and on the program Family Nurse Partnership with traumatized pregnant women. As a project leader of the program “Starting Together” she collaborated with different field partners on the improvement of integrated family-support.