Research within Health and Welfare
Health and Welfare is one of Mälardalen University's six prioritized research and educational areas. Health and Welfare focus on a field of knowledge in which research in Health and Welfare meet. In this multidisciplinary field of knowledge several different professions from different subjects interact.
Research targeting health and welfare is multifaceted and carried out with the help of various scientific methods. Cooperation with the surrounding society, e.g. counties, municipalities, private participants, patient organizations, as well as other educational institutions (both national and international), is considered important in the research since it often takes place with a patient, user or professional perspective in mind.
Within the Health and Welfare area there are different research environments under revision. The researchers have different scientific backgrounds, such as caring sciences/nursing sciences, public health sciences, physiotherapy, medicine, health care education, social work, psychology, education, special education, sociology, and work life studies. Our experience is that collaboration in the form of joint studies, postgraduate students, and research applications from researchers across disciplinary boundaries enrich research and create synergies.
Research is conducted on the mental, physical and social aspects of the environments and cultures where humans are situated, and within individual, group and population perspectives. In the empirically based research, both the patient/user/client perspective and the professional perspective are adopted. Different concepts such as health care relationship, rest and activity have been studied with a view to theory development. Local as well as national and international contexts are included.
For the moment there are eight professors, 40 senior lecturers of which 11 are docents/associate professors, and about 40 postgraduate students working at the School of Health, Care and Social Welfare. In addition to these, there are a number of researchers associated with the Health and Welfare area.
