Speakers

Hans Hobbelen (PhD, PT) started his career as a physiotherapist in a nursing home in the city of Eindhoven the Netherlands and stayed at this job for 22 years. In 2001 he received his master degree in human movement sciences. He received his PhD in 2010 on the topic of paratonia, a distinctive form of hypertonia in dementia.  This made him a leading scientist in the field of paratonia and movement disorders in dementia. He is currently professor in Healthy Lifestyle, Ageing and Health Care at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, The Netherlands. Besides movement disorders in dementia his main field of interest is frailty, in specific the prevention of frailty.  Hans is since 2010 board member of the Dutch association of geriatric physiotherapists (NVFG) and since 2015 Vice President of the International association of Physical Therapists working with Older People (IPTOP, an official subgroup of WCPT). Furthermore, dr. Hobbelen is Program Leader of the Living Lab Active Ageing Elderly, which is part of the national Centre of Expertise on Healthy Ageing and funded by the Dutch government and Front man of the master study Healthy Ageing Professional at the Hanze University of Applied sciences Groningen.