Associated Professor in Social Work, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, trained Social Worker.

Research interests: My research focuses on eldercare in Sweden - with emphasis on the daily work, tasks and working conditions of care workers, unit managers and needs assessors, and on the life situation of people in later life.

Ongoing research projects

I have been a researcher at Skärholmen County Council in Stockholm since 2020. In the fall of 2024, the research study "Social work with older persons - an ongoing research project in Skärholmen" will start. The research study has a two-part purpose: 1) to investigate and contribute with knowledge about the life situation of older persons in Skärholmen and their needs and wishes related to care issues, 2) to investigate and contribute with knowledge about the social work in Skärholmen with a focus on experiences, knowledge needs and lessons learned about the life situation of older persons, their needs and wishes related to care issues and the conditions described as necessary for social work. The purpose includes different levels of the organization such as administration, assessment, and management of care as well as different functions such as unit managers, employees and organization developers.

Since the fall of 2021, a Forte-funded research project on moral stress and moral agency in Swedish care for the elderly has been carried out in collaboration with Sara Hultqvist (project leader) at Lund University and Katarina Hollertz at the University of Gothenburg. An article about the project can be read here: https://forskarskolanfys.se/2021/06/11/unikt-samarbete-i-forskningsprojekt-om-moralisk-stress-och-aktorskap-i-svensk-aldreomsorg/.

In the research project we collaborate with three municipalities: Kalmar, Helsingborg and Vänersborg, and three professional categories are in focus: unit managers, assistance assessors and care staff. A description of the study design can be downloaded here: http://journals.ed.ac.uk/social-science-protocols/article/view/6618.

If you have any questions, please contact me: magdalena.elmersjo@sh.se