Jasmira Wiersma wins Dutch Caribbean Research Week Best Poster Prize
Jasmira Wiersma has won the Best Poster Prize at the Dutch Caribbean Research Week held by The Dutch Research Council (NWO) in June. Her poster titled ‘Subjective Health, Socioeconomic Status and Descent: pre and amid COVID-19. A case for Curaçao’ was found to be the best by the organizing committee and the conference participants.
Throughout the weeklong conference, researchers from around the world got the opportunity to present their work through oral or poster presentations. Wiersma, a PhD candidate and lecturer at FEB’s department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance, chose to present her research through a poster. At the end of the week, her poster presentation was chosen to receive the prize.
Collaborative effort
Wiersma worked on the research project together with Dr. Tineke Alberts (Curacao Biomedical and Health Research Institute), Dr. Renske Pin (Visiting Research Fellow, University of Groningen) and Prof. Dr. Rob Alessie (department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance, University of Groningen). In the study, the researchers investigated the impact of the pandemic on self-rated health (SRH) by comparing within-group pre and amid COVID-19 measurements of health status. They focused on determinants related to socioeconomic status (SES), place of birth, and financial hardships experienced during the pandemic. Using data from two surveys fielded in the SONORO Community, a panel of households in Curaçao, the researchers confirm previous evidence on the inverse effect of SES on Self Rated Health.
Income and education as driving forces
Wiersma: “Income and education seem to be the main driving forces behind our findings. Strikingly, we find that individuals born in the Netherlands or Latin America are more likely to report better health status than those born in Curaçao. This effect of place of birth on SRH seems to be above that of education. The findings suggest that the observed differences between individuals born in the Netherlands or Latin America and Curaçao may be attributed to healthier lifestyle characteristics, as we observe that these individuals are physically more active and have healthier eating habits than individuals born in Curaçao. Turning to changes in SRH amid COVID-19, the findings indicate that respondents with a college education and those who did not lose their jobs during the pandemic report slightly better health than in the pre- COVID period. On the other hand, economically inactive respondents were more likely to report poorer health amid COVID. These results suggest that interventions to promote healthy lifestyles should focus on health education and making healthy lifestyle choices more accessible. These policies should especially take the indigenous population from Curaçao and those most affected by the pandemic into consideration.”
The Dutch Caribbean Research Week
The Dutch Caribbean Research Week is a conference highlighting scientific research conducted on the Dutch Caribbean islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba). In addition to the research presentations, several panel discussions are held focusing on how to improve the scientific research agenda on the islands.
Last modified: | 30 January 2023 11.31 a.m. |
More news
-
08 May 2024
Juliette de Wit, Femke Cnossen and Maite Laméris receive YAG grant
Juliette de Wit, Femke Cnossen and Maite Laméris have received a YAG Grant of € 6,000 for an interdisciplinary project on the long-lasting socio-economic consequences of the ‘Arbeitseinsatz’ in the Netherlands. The grant enables them to explore...
-
02 May 2024
Johan Remkes te gast in podcast Leiderschap in Onzekere Tijden Live
Oud-minister en oud-informateur Johan Remkes is op 15 mei te gast in de Podcast Leiderschap In Onzekere Tijden. In de liveopname van de podcastaflevering gaat hij met FEB-hoogleraren Janka Stoker en Harry Garretsen in gesprek over de huidige...
-
29 April 2024
The Maddison Project: New 2023 Update Illuminates Origins of Modern Economic Growth
In a new update of the renowned Maddison Project Database, economic historians shed new light on the genesis of modern economic growth.