The Health Equity Advancement Lab in Ghent (HEALinG) aims at building awareness and fostering understanding of health inequities, as well as offering insights and skills to advance health liberation and equitable (health)care.

The Health Equity Advancement Lab in Ghent investigates diverse psychological processes and interpersonal dynamics (e.g., provider empathy, emotion, biased (implicit) beliefs, injustice appraisals, meaning-making, narrative style and language) underlying health outcomes across a variety of domains, including physical health, mental health, and social well-being. Research is conducted among clinical and non-clinical child and adult populations with a particular focus on understanding and targeting health inequities (most notably within the field of pain care but also within the broader field of mental health care). We employ a multi-method approach (e.g., observational, experimental, qualitative approaches) within lab-based settings, clinical & theraputic encounters, daily and work contexts.

Our research is informed by clinical, social and health psychology and is strongly rooted in an affective-motivational understanding of interpersonal dynamics in human encounters. Our activities are further grounded and guided by engagement from patient and public partners, patient advocates, and community stakeholders. We particularly aim to close the gap between research and practice: (1) by fostering collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and community members, (2) by implementing acquired empirical knowledge into clinical practice, and (3) through performing community services aimed at engaging, informing, and training others (including e.g., students, (health care) professionals and policymakers) in equity-informed research and inclusive care.