Editor of the Year Award for Health and Quality of Life Outcomes: Winner Q&A with Dr Janine Verstraeteš
Published in Healthcare & Nursing, Social Sciences, and Biomedical Research
The Editors-in-Chief of Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, Professors Mark Oremus and Fanni Rencz, are excited to announce the Editor of the Year Award for Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. The award recognises excellence in manuscript handling by Associate and Guest Editors.Ā Apply to be an Associate Editor here.
2025 Editor of the Year for Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Winner: Dr Janine Verstraete
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Award:
Dr Janine VerstraeteĀ will receive a certificate and one 100% APC waiver to publish an article in Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. The journal greatly appreciates Dr Verstraete's editorial efforts.
Q&A:
Congratulations on winning the 2025 Editor of the Year Award for Health and Quality of Life Outcomes! Were you pleased to accept the award?
I am deeply honoured to receive this award and be recognised by Health and Quality of Life Outcomes for my contribution. I look forward to further advancing scientific research in my role as associate editor.
Please tell us about yourself and your research.
Thank you for asking! My research journey began with an interest in standardised health outcome measurements for infants and toddlers. Specifically, I wanted to understand how chronic and acute health conditions impact the daily lives of these very young children and their caregivers. Since transitioning from clinical physiotherapy, my work has evolved to focus on measuring and valuing Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) across infancy, toddlerhood, and school-aged children. Itās been a rewarding path of constant learning, and Iām excited to see where the next phase of my work in health outcomes leads.
Do you find it rewarding to handle manuscripts submitted to Health and Quality of Life Outcomes?
Absolutely! I find it rewarding to foster scholarly output and help researchers disseminate their work to advance the field of health and quality of life research.
Thank you again for your contributions to HQLO. Where can people read more about your research?
I am pleased to share that latest research and publications are available on ResearchGate. I would welcome the opportunity to connect with colleagues in the Health Outcomes community to stay updated on our collective work. You can follow my updates here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Janine-Verstraete
Participation in the 2026 Editor of the Year Award for Health and Quality of Life Outcomes is now open!
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes greatly appreciates the contributions of every editor. We thank you all for your efforts.
To be considered for the 2026 awards, complete this short form to apply to become an Associate Editor with Health and Quality of Life Outcomes.
We look forward to announcing the 2026 winner in early 2027.
If you are interested in the following journals or in contributing to Springer Nature's SDG 3 Newsletter, please email me. Looking forward to connecting!
Injury Epidemiology, International Journal of Health Geographics, Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health, Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, Population Health Metrics
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Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
This is an open access, peer-reviewed journal offering rapid publication and wide diffusion in the public domain of high-quality articles in the field of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL).
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Refining the EQ-HWB instrument: psychometric evidence and methodological advances
The EQ Health and Wellbeing (EQ-HWB) tool is a new, experimental instrument by the EuroQol Group designed to capture a broader range of outcomes beyond traditional health-related quality of life measures. Designed for use in patients, social care users and caregivers, the EQ-HWB has two versions: a long-form profile measure and a 9-item short form (EQ-HWB-9), which is a preference-based measure, suitable for the evaluation of health, public health and social care interventions. Since the publication of the EQ-HWB in 2022, several smaller refinements have been proposed to improve the instrumentās usability and performance. These include modifications to item order, wording, response levels and layout. This special collection at Health and Quality of Life Outcomes offers a timely opportunity to share scientific evidence on the impact of these modifications, contributing to the finalisation of the instrument. The collection will be of broad interest to the health outcomes research community, particularly those involved in the development and validation of measures for health and caregiving.
We invite submissions on a wide range of topics, including:
-Qualitative and quantitative psychometric testing of EQ-HWB and EQ-HWB-9 modifications across diverse settings, populations and languages, including general population samples, social care users, caregivers and patients with long-term conditions.
-Methodological studies comparing the psychometric performance of proposed EQ-HWB and EQ-HWB-9 modifications (e.g. item order, wording, response scales, layout).
-Empirical studies supporting the evidence base for the EQ-HWB and EQ-HWB-9 and informing future instrument development.
Please contact the special collection editors directly to determine whether your topic idea is suitable for the collection.
We welcome contributions from researchers, clinicians and methodologists working across all medical fields, as well as in health outcomes research, social care and psychometrics.
This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3, Good Health and Well-Being.
All submissions in this collection undergo the journalās standard peer review process. Similarly, all manuscripts authored by a Guest Editor(s) will be handled by the Editor-in-Chief. As an open access publication, this journal levies an article processing fee (details here). We recognize that many key stakeholders may not have access to such resources and are committed to supporting participation in this issue wherever resources are a barrier. For more information about what support may be available, please visit OA funding and support, or email OAfundingpolicy@springernature.com or the Editor-in-Chief.
Publishing Model: Open Access
Deadline: Jun 30, 2026
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