Interview NPO Radio 1 on December 26th

In the early morning of December 26th, Marijke Gordijn from Chrono@Work gave an interview on NPO Radio 1 about the role of light for well being and health. This item is especially interesting in the dark winter days around Christmas in our region. The focus of the interview was on the new study we do…

Tips to improve the regularity of daily routines, even when nothing about your life feels regular!

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious health threat to the world population. In response, governments are implementing a variety of new policies including self-quarantine, self-isolation and social distancing. While medically necessary to limit spread, these new social policies can disrupt many of the stabilizing factors in our lives which support mental health. In close collaboration,…

Working from home? Take care you see enough daylight!

The policies to limit spreading of COVID-19 is ‘stay home’ and ‘work from home’. The consequence is that most people see very little daylight. While it is very important to stay home as much as possible and keep ‘social distance’ all the time, in the Netherlands it is not forbidden to go outside. The Dutch…

Upcoming lectures on sleep-wake rhythms disturbances and melatonin

Chrono@Work will be present at several symposia, classes and congresses in the upcoming period. Please have a look and subscribe if you are interested in the topic. 16th April 20:00h in Leeuwarden: Studium Generale Het Einde van de Zomertijd en Dan? 18th April whole day in Zeist: Medilex symposium on ‘Slaapproblemen en -stoornissen bij mensen met…

TV program FOCUS on health risks of night work

On November 7th, NTR presented a documentary FOCUS on the health risks of working at night and discusses possible solutions. In accordance with the reports of the Dutch Health Council 2015 and 2017, the most important point is to avoid working at night as much as possible. Roelof Hut from the University of Groningen and…

Plea for Central European Time in the Netherlands

Last weekend Daylight saving time 2018 ended and Europe went back to Central European Time. In a short movie commissioned by the University of Groningen, Marijke Gordijn explained once more why for us, in the Netherlands, the current time we have in winter is the most optimal choice. In fact, The Netherlands should even be…

Health risks of night shift work

As a member of the Committee Nightwork, Marijke Gordijn contributed to a new publication of the Health Council of the Netherlands: Health Risks of night shift work. In the Netherlands about 1.3 million people sometimes or regularly work at night. Night shift work disrupts the day-night rhythm of the body, which may lead to adverse…

Radio Noord interview in response to a news report about the fact that 1 out of 6 dutch workers are sleep deprived

On September 12 several media reported that according to a TNS Nipo survey among 3,400 Dutch, that one out of six workers has sleeping problems. In a radio interview with Radio North on September 12 at 13: 40h Marijke Gordijn CEO of Chrono@Work explained what the risks are of sleep deprivation (http://radio.rtvnoord.nl/ipad/index.asp?actie=radiogemist). We should distinguish…

Radio interview in Morad & Shay program

On July 19th  at 17: 15h Marijke Gordijn CEO of Chrono@Work was interviewed by Morad & Shay for the local youth radio station Funx. Following up on a British study from 2015 that discussed the optimal bed-times, times of getting up and working times for young and elderly people. Professor Kelley and colleagues published an…

Shift work and health risks: possibilities for prevention

Roughly 16% of the Dutch labor force works during the nightly hours on a regular basis. Signals arise from scientific literature that this might not always be healthy. Research does not yet have a decisive answer to which preventive measures protect employees best. A forward rotating schedule or a short bout of sleep during night…

Sleep and need for recovery in shift workers: do chronotype and age matter?

This study examined associations of chronotype and age with shift-specific assessments of main sleep duration, sleep quality and need for recovery in a cross-sectional study among N ¼ 261 industrial shift workers (96.6% male). Logistic regression analyses were used, adjusted for gender, lifestyle, health, nap behaviour, season of assessment and shift schedule. Shift workers with latest versus earliest…

‘The optimal working schedule is different for everyone.’

‘The optimal working schedule is different for everyone.’ Increasingly, Dutch businesses are looking for ways to increase health of their shift workers, according to chronobiologist Marijke Gordijn of the Univerity of Groningen. Her company Chrono@Work increasingly gets asked about what to do concerning workplace lighting, food patterns and the right way to schedule personnel. Gordijn…