Health and Society

This field of research is interdisciplinary and involves knowledge, methods, and researchers from various disciplines. The research involves how environmental and social changes affect the development of health at the level of the individual, the group, and society, as well as strategies that are applied by the various actors in a welfare society to promote health and/or help people to experience a sense of physical, mental, and social well-being.

This includes the significance of movement for health and how people with illnesses, injuries, or handicaps can manage their daily lives, their jobs, and their leisure time. Also in focus are nursing and rehabilitation measures as well as the interaction between care providers and care recipients, and the people close to them, throughout the whole chain of care.

Examples of research objectives:

- How social changes affect the development of health
- The level and distribution of health in today’s society
- Factors that can influence health such as stress, strain, social support, job situation and knowledge
- Strategies applied by the various actors in a welfare society to promote health
- The individual’s health conditions, reactions to sickness and ill health, as well as the effects of care and treatment
- Measures that help people experience a sense of hope and safety, as well as physical, mental, and social well-being
- The interaction between care provider and care recipient, and the people close to them
- Changes within health care, medical treatments, and welfare, both within and outside of society’s commitments, with a focus on decision-making processes
- Preventative work against injuries, alcohol, and smoking
- The spread and evaluation of new techniques.

Areas of Research

• CEDER - Center for dementia research
• General medicine
• Industrial and environmental medicine
• Evaluation of capacity to work(Link to project of the Department for Health, Activity, and Caregiving in the Department of Social and Welfare Studies)
• Functional limitations in daily life (Link to project of the Department for Health, Activity, and Caregiving in the Department of Social and Welfare Studies)
• Self-care and learning
• Geriatrics (Link to the geriatrics subject field at the Faculty of Health Sciences)
• Health and caregiving in life(Link to project of the Department for Health, Activity, and Caregiving in the Department of Social and Welfare Studies)
• Health economic evaluations(Link to the Center for Medical Technology Assessment in the Department of Medical and Health Sciences)
• Healthcare decision making(Link to the Center for Medical Technology Assessment in the Department of Medical and Health Sciences)
• Palliative care(Link to project of the Department for Health, Activity, and Caregiving in the Department of Social and Welfare Studies)
• Social medicine and public health science(Link to the subject area of social medicine and public health service in the Department of Medical and Health Sciences)
• Work and rehabilitation (Link to National Centre for Work and Rehabilitation, Department of Medical and Health Sciences)