prof. Koen Ponnet (PhD)

Koen Ponnet


Faculty of Social Sciences - Research Group for Media, Innovation and Communication Technologies (MICT)
 

Societal outreach

Keywords:

Public health – social psychology – questionnaire development – determinants of online and offline health and risk behaviors 

Experience & expertise:

You can contact me for questions around:

  • scale development
  • questionnaire design
  • data collection strategies
  • structural equation modelling
  • examining determinants of health (healthy lifestyle behaviors)

I deliberately conduct research that has implications for theory-building as well as relevance for practice and policy. My research on online/offline health and risk problems -for example-  is a hot topic in society that often leads to questions and concerns from parents, school personnel and youngsters. My team collaborates with national stakeholders (including, but not limited to the ones listed in the section ‘relevant stakeholder connections’) to integrate the findings of our research in their current educational campaigns. Also, my team has been invited several times to present our results on meetings, conferences and workshops they organize. Given the societal relevance of our research, we also write articles and reports for practitioner-oriented peer-reviewed journals (e.g. NASN School Nurse, TOKK, and Pedagogiek, 4W). 

Projects with a clear MOKA-link include:

  • Development and psychometric testing of a new instrument to measure factors influencing women’s breast cancer prevention behaviors (ASSISTS) (DOI 10.1186/s12905-016-0318-2)
  • Exploring breast cancer preventive lifestyle and social support of Iranian women: a study protocol for a mixed-methods approach (DOI 10.1186/s12939-017-0592-0)
  • New Educational Model to Promote Breast Cancer-Preventive Behaviors (ASSISTS): Development and First Evaluation (DOI: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000560.)
  • Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Cancer attitude inventory (doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7756-3)

Relevant stakeholder connections:

Our team collaborates with national stakeholders, like (amongst others but not solely) the Flemish Center on Media Literacy (Mediawijs), Mediaraven (Apestaartjaren), Child Focus, De Gezinsbond, Missing Children Europe, VAD, Modus Vivendi… 

Contact:

  • koen.ponnet@ugent.be
  • +32 484 147 972