The Laboratory of Health and Road Safety (LaHeRS) is affiliated to the Department of Social Work at the Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece (HMU). LaHeRS aims at promoting research and intervention in social and public health problems. Main fields of interest are family and interpersonal violence, health needs assessment in vulnerable population groups, social determinants of health and driving performance.
LaHeRS is active in conducting basic research in various areas of interest, developing research proposals under national and European funding schemes, seeking research and academic collaboration with educational and research institutions in Greece and abroad, designing and implementing community interventions on various topics relevant to its interests, developing scientific tools and material for use by academic and public organisations and more.
LaHeRS is dedicated to exploring high-risk behaviours and has a special focus on the impact of a wide range of lifestyle factors on human performance and risk behaviours. The Laboratory has a long experience and involvement in research projects under state funding such as Archimedes I and Archimedes III as well as in collaborative research projects under European funding from the European Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC) under the “Health Programme” (Y-SAV 2009-12-22), Leonardo da Vinci/Partnerships (LdV “LLP-LdV-TOI-2007-TR-008”), Directorate General for Transport and Mobility/DG-MOVE (MOVE/C4/SUB/2011-294/SI2.628846/REHABIL-AID), the Directorate General for Justice and the “DAPHNE III” programme such as the COMMUN-AID (JUST/2011-2012/DAP/AG/3272) and the WOM-POWER (JUST/2011-2012/DAP/AG/3008).
The Laboratory participates in ERASMUS Lifelong Learning Programme (Intensive Programmes 2012 (IP)/International education for training traffic accident reconstruction specialists) and is also a member of large European networks funded under the COST programme such as “COST Action 357” and “COST Action TU1101”.
Most of the work produced in the laboratory is published in well-established international scientific journals (Social Sciences Citation Index, Scopus, Medline).
1. Guidelines for managing social problems for vulnerable social groups
- Guidelines for save and free life for women suffering from intimate partner violence
- Guidelines for trauma and rehabilitation psychological rehabilitation after severe road injury
- Guidelines for trauma and rehabilitation judicial and insurance pathway after severe road injury
2. Guidelines for managing social problems for health and social care professionals
3. Recommendations for the development of policies to prevent and manage social problems
- Recommendations for the Prevention and Management of Sexual Violence Against Female Migrant Domestic Workers
- Recommendations for the prevention and management of gender-based violence
- Recoomendations for policy and action, based on face-to-face interviews with people sustaining severe injuries in road traffic
4. Educational manuals for team coordinators
5. Online tool to support victims of sexual harassment
- Domestic Worker Support: Stop sexual violence in domestic work
6. Reports on Major Social Issues / Results of European Works
- Study of sexual aggression and victimization of young people in the countries of the European Union (YSAV project)
- European Road Accident Study and Statistics (COST TU1101)
7. TV / Radio (interviews)
8. Leaflets / informative material
