In 2016, Prof Ivan Bautmans (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Dr Hans Hobbelen (Hanzehogeschool Groningen) and Prof Sytse Zuidema (in memory of †)(UMCG Groningen) took the initiative to establish an International Research Group to further shape the research on movement disorders in ageing and in particular paratonia. This International Joint Research Group (IJRG) ‘Move in Age’ has since written 8 scientific articles on this theme and has resulted in a double doctorate (on paratonia and Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs)) of Dr. Hans Drenth at both the Free University of Brussels and the University of Groningen.
The international research project Movement-Related Impairment in Ageing, in short ‘Move in Age’, contributes to a broad and interdisciplinary approach to movement disorders in the elderly. In the first 3-5 years, the focus was on the movement-related limitations that occur in patients with dementia. The programme will be extended to include movement-related disorders in the context of other geriatric syndromes. The first line of research will focus on underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, their consequences in functional decline and the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies to counteract paratonia in patients.
Research on paratonia should bridge different research questions, areas, techniques and disciplines. To improve the quality of life of people with dementia, intensive cooperation between different research areas is necessary.
Contributing to the knowledge of the cause, the reliable measurement and thus research into effective interventions with regard to paratonia. At present, this project has resulted in seven international publications in the field of paratonia.
Despite the fact that paratonia ultimately affects almost all people with dementia and leads to devastating health consequences and poor quality of life, this disorder is not well known among clinicians and researchers. Moreover, research-based data is scarce and clinical guidelines are lacking. With this project, we are sustaining research into motor disorders in ageing, dementia and specifically paratonia, so that effective interventions can be developed that contribute to improving the quality of life of patients and carers and reducing the burden of care for professionals.
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 since 2012 professor (Lector) in Ageing and Allied 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 multi-dimensionality of Frailty.
Furthermore Hans is member of the scientific board of the Dutch physiotherapy association (WCF, KNGF), member of the Clinical Consortium on Healthy Ageing of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and since May 2019 President of The International association of Physiotherapists working with Older People (IPTOP, official subgroup of World Physiotherapy).
Hans Drenth (PhD) is a professor (lector) of “Geriatric Care in Transition” in the research group “Healthy Ageing, Allied Health Care and Nursing” at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen. His research focuses on effective strategies for short-term admission, such as geriatric rehabilitation care and/or specialized care from the nursing home for older people living at home. The aim of this is to allow (pre) frail older people to continue living at home longer and, above all, better while retaining functional capacity and autonomy. Measures in the field of exercise, nutrition and in the psychosocial domain are important strategies to influence the process of frailty. A broad, integrated approach and interprofessional collaboration is essential.
Hans is specialized in motor function of older people and people with dementia and paratonia in particular. He obtained a double doctorate at the RU Groningen and the VU Brussels with the thesis “Motor function, paratonia and glycation cross-linked in older people”. From this PhD project the international joint research group ‘Movement-Related impairment in Ageing’, in short ‘Move in Age’ was emerged.
Hans is a gerontologist and has a background as a geriatric physiotherapist and is science and research director at ZuidOostZorg, a care and knowledge center for geriatric care in Friesland, the Netherlands.
We honour the contribution of Prof. Dr. Systse Zuidema, one of the founding initiators of this initiative, who passed away in 2025. His work continues to inspire our mission.
Prof. Dr. Sytse Zuidema was an elderly care physician and appointed professor of elderly care medicine and dementia at the University Medical Center Groningen. His research focused on dementia in nursing homes and, more specifically, on challenging behavior, pain, and motor systems of dementia.
He has published more than 100 papers on dementia. His research mainly took place at 20 nursing homes within the University Network of Nursing homes (UNO-UMCG) in the Northern and Eastern part of the Netherlands.
Prof. Dr. Ivan Bautmans graduated as a physiotherapist (University Master’s degree at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel) in 1995 and immediately started working part-time as a physiotherapist in a nursing home. In 1997, he obtained a Master-after-Master degree in Manual Therapy at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and established his own manual therapy practice in Brussels. In addition, he began working as a scientific researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1999, and in 2004 he obtained a PhD in Medical Sciences. Since 2010, he has been fully dedicated to scientific research and academic teaching. He is currently a full professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in the field of Gerontology, where he leads both the Department of Gerontology and the research group Frailty in Ageing.
In addition to his position at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ivan is a scientific advisor at SOMT University of Physiotherapy, where he serves as Principal Investigator of the Fatigue Resistance Amersfoort (FRAME) study and the Amersfoort Cohort Study on Functional Decline, Healthy Ageing & Frailty (AMCOHF). He is a board member of the Belgian Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics and a founding board member of the Belgian Ageing Muscle Society. Ivan is also a member-elect of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium.
Ivan is an expert in bio-gerontological research, with a focus on sarcopenia, inflammation, and physical training in older adults. His research on muscle fatigability and frailty has been awarded six scientific prizes, including the three most prestigious gerontological awards in Belgium. He has secured national and international research funding from, among others, the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), the European Union (FP7, AAL), the Willy Gepts Foundation, and the WCF. At the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, he leads an interdisciplinary research program on Active & Healthy Ageing, as well as a strategic research program on the anti-inflammatory effects of physical exercise in older adults. He has published 137 articles in international peer-reviewed journals (ISI WoS H-index = 38) and has supervised 15 successfully completed and 9 ongoing PhD projects.