Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine

Team

Dr. phil. Vica Tomberge

Research Associate

Phone: +41 31 684 47 23
E-Mail: vica.tomberge@unibe.ch
E-Mail2: studienberatung-gpv@psy.unibe.ch
Office: A 255

Research

Research Interests

Global health & gender justice
Social support
Psychological ownership in community development
Multilevel modeling & dyadic data analysis
Resource-oriented research & stresssensitive interviewing

Projects

“Consequences of water carrying and uterine prolapse prevention: Behavior support and change for women’s health in Nepal” in cooperation with Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (ETH) and the Kathmandu University Hospital Dhulikhel
“Psychological Ownership in safe drinking water use and sustainable handling of water related infrastructure in Nepal” as part of an Eawag Project.
“Psychological Ownership in community-led total sanitation (CLTS) in Ghana” as part of an Eawag Project.

Publications

Tomberge, V. M. J., Shrestha, A., Meierhofer, R., & Inauen, J. (2021). Understanding safe water‐carrying practices during pregnancy and postpartum: A mixed‐methods study in Nepal. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, aphw.12325. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12325
Tomberge*, V. M. J., Bischof*, J. S., Meierhofer, R., Shrestha, A., & Inauen, J. (2021). The Physical Burden of Water Carrying and Women’s Psychosocial Well-Being: Evidence from Rural Nepal. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15), 7908. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157908 (* shared first authorship)
Ambuehl*, B., Tomberge*, V. M. J., Kunwar, B. M., Schertenleib, A., Marks, S. J., & Inauen, J. (2021). The role of psychological ownership in safe water management: A mixed-methods study in Nepal. . Water, 13(5), 589. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13050589 (* shared first authorship)
Tomberge, V. M. J., Harter, M., & Inauen, J. (2021). The importance of collective and individual psychological ownership for safe sanitation. A multilevel analysis in rural Ghana. Global Public Health, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1928260

The importance of collective and individual psychological ownership for safe sanitation (PDF, 456KB)

Teaching

Module for Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS Sexual Health): Risk groups, conditions for sexual health and sexual disorders
Seminar: Psychology and International Development: Health behavior change in low-resource populations (spring semester 22)
Seminar: Global Health: Approaches of Health Psychology in International Development Cooperation (spring semester 20)
Seminar: Transdisciplinary development of interventions to support women’s health in Nepal for Master Psychology, Sport Science, Gender Studies & Sustainable Development Studies (autumn semester 20)
Transfer module: «Ergonomic lifting, carrying and lowering techniques when carrying water in Nepal” for Master of Science Physiotherapy, Bern University of Applied Sciences (autumn semester 20)
Individual lecture on field research in psychology (autumn semester 19)

Curriculum Vitae

Education

since 08/2019 Doctorate Psychology – University of Bern, Switzerland

2019 Master of Science Psychology – Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

2015 Bachelor of Science Psychology, Minor: Spanish Literature - Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

Award

Gert-Sommer-Award for Peace Psychology for Master’s Thesis The role of psychological ownership and gender in community-led total sanitation (CLTS): Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Ghana. (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Jennifer Inauen)

Memberships

Young representative of the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) at the Psychology Coalition of the United Nations (PCUN)
Board member at the German Panel of Peace Psychology (FFP)

Career Stages

Since 08/19 Assistant/ PhD student, Department of Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, University of Bern

11/18-07/19 Student research assistant, Department of Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, University of Bern

01/2019-07/2019 Research Officer Evaluation & Quality Evaluation & Qualität, regional focus: Iraq, medica mondiale e.V., Köln

10/2016 – 12/2017 Assistant Evaluation & Quality, evaluations and studies in the field of conflict-related sexualised violence, regional focus: Great Lakes Region & Germany, medica mondiale e.V., Köln

01/2018 – 04/2018 Intern, Environmental and Health Psychology (EHPsy) at Eawag- Swiss Institute of Aquatic Research, Project Location: Ghana

09/2015 –03/2016 Volunteer, Centre de protection de l‘ enfant Kekeli, Équipe medico-sociale, Lomé, Togo

02/2015-08/2015 Student assistant, LVR-Klinik Düsseldorf, Abteilung für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Düsseldorf