Getting everyday life to work

In different ways, all appointments of me have to do with getting everyday life to work. As head of Division of Occupational Therapy division (abbreviated AT in Swedish), my role is to ensure that the working day of the division’s employee’s functions in the best possible way. 

My research interest is in the oldest old people in society, their everyday life and their use of technology. To get their clients’ everyday life to work is the goal of occupational therapists, and it is within the Occupational therapist programme that I teach.

Appointment as head of division

I am the head of Division Occupational Therapy since 1 January 2016. Before that, 2008-2015, I had the assignment as the head of Division Health, Activity, and Care (HAV).

The position includes personnel, finance and operational responsibilities.

The division’s employees teach primarily on the Occupational therapist programme, and is part of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in Norrköping. As head of division I am a member of the advisory council to the Department for Social and Welfare Studies (ISV).

Everyday life of the oldest old

My research interest concerns the oldest old people in society and various aspects of their everyday lives. My PhD thesis in 2009 was entitled Everyday life amongst the oldest old - descriptions of doings and possession and use of technology.

Issues to do with everyday life, technology and remaining at home have continued to be areas of research after the PhD as well. The research is mainly qualitative, in order to raise the elderly’s own perspectives on these issues. Technology is seen as a mediator for remaining at home and the daily activities of older people, and is expected to contribute to maintaining health, and thus to healthy and active ageing.

Disbandment of home

The project “Att skingra hemmet. Tingens förändrade betydelse under livets sena skeden och övergångar” (“Disbandment of home. The changing meaning of possessions in later life transitions”), was carried out in collaboration with researchers from the National Institute for the Study of Ageing and Later Life (NISAL). The overall aim of this project was to study the changing meaning of personal possessions in later life transitions. These later life transitions is linked to the ageing process and can be caused by the onset of illness, by the death of a partner, a move to a care home, or by another changed life situation.

The starting point of the project was that such life transitions bring to fore a change of the personal objects in the home, i.e. that the old person has to divest or disband the home and the personal objects that once was created.

In collaboration with associate professor Jan-Erik Hagberg of NISAL (now ASC) a sub study aiming at studying the divestiture behaviours among older persons over the age of 85 still living in their own home was carried out with in the project.

Teaching

The teaching is mostly within the Occupational Therapy programme on Campus Norrköping. I am for example course coordinator of the second-cycle course “Occupational therapy for older people”, work as examiner on semester 2 of the first cycle, and supervises and examines degree projects.

About me

Academic qualifications

  • Registered occupational therapist 1989
  • MA 1998
  • Doctor of Medical Science 2009

Appointments

  • Vice-chair of the course syllabus committee at the Department of Social and Welfare Studies (ISV)
  • Member of the Elderly Committee of the Association of Swedish Occupational Therapists since 2011
  • Member of the Register of Experts of COTEC (Council of Occupational Therapists for the European Countries), 2015

Publications

2023

2022

2021

Research

Collaboration with Testmiljö Norrköping

I am currently working together with Professor Katarina Hjelm and Senior Lecturer Annika Öhman on a project called “Can I manage this? Technology, health and ageing among the oldest old”.

The project is in collaboration with the project Testmiljö Norrköping and its project coordinator Ann-Christine Larsson. The aim of the project is to study the expectations on and use of technology of oldest old people (80+) still living in their homes, and how it might facilitate remaining at home and daily life/activities.

In the test environment set up by Testmiljö Norrköping, a number of old people are trained to use/get to test tablet computers and applications. This technology is intended to contribute to increased safety and social communication, and to promote independence.

Coworkers

Organisation

News