Life and health of older people
Our research aims to promote participation, well-being, dignity and good living among older people.
We are living longer and many older people are gaining more healthy years of life. At the same time, the number of older people with disabilities and illnesses is increasing. The age group with the largest increase is people aged 80 and over. Among these people there are large variations in terms of health, risk factors, disease, living habits, expectations and needs. Our research aims to promote health, dignity and good living among older people. The research is based on different theories and models of importance for good aging with questions that aim to promote health and contribute to good and close care at the end of life. Through our research, we want to contribute, together with other actors, to a care for the elderly that is person-centered, coherent, proactive and health-promoting, and convey the knowledge in our education at undergraduate and graduate level. Our research also focuses on ethical aspects linked to the demographic challenge with, among other things, studies on ethical conversations in groups based on a model that we have developed together with researchers at Umeå University.
Contact for the research area: Karin Zingmark
Current projects
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The DöBra card game 2.0 - co-creation of a digital tool for end-of-life preparation conversations
The DöBra card game is a conversation tool to stimulate conversations about wishes for future end-of-life care.
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Reasons for seeking healthcare up to 5 years before dementia diagnosis
People with early-stage dementia problems may seek treatment for more non-specific, so-called pre-clinical symptoms, only to return later with memory problems and other more specific dementia symptoms.
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Opportunities to live a good and dignified life for single, older people with high levels of home support needs
National policy documents emphasize that the care of older people should support a dignified life. This research focuses on the possibilities of living a good and dignified life among single people aged 80 or over living at home with the highest level of care (level four).
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Studies in the Silver-MONICA research cohort
Silver-MONICA studies factors in middle age and changes in these factors that may later affect physical and mental health in very old age. It also follows the development of dementia, depression, consumption of health and social care and mortality.
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Ethical challenges - now and in the future
Research into Future Ethical Care Challenges, RiFECC is a research environment that we run together with Umeå University for studies based on ethical aspects of the demographic challenge, with a growing and aging population and where fewer and fewer people have to provide care to more and more peopl...
Completed projects
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Home care and fire safety - from the home care perspective
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Pandemic in the (sub) Arctic North: A supradisciplinary and interdisciplinary data collection on experiences, resilience and social mobilization during the Covid-19 pandemic with a focus on the county of Norrbotten.
Subproject: Experiences of being close to or caring for people with dementia living in nursing homes...
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Welfare technology as support in municipal care for the elderly with a focus on ethical aspects.
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Digital and Inclusive (DioD) - development of a digital platform to promote social inclusion opportunities for older people.