Professor Susanne Iwarsson, PhD, Faculty of Medicine, Registered Occupational Therapist,
Pro-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University

Depertment of Health Sciences, Lund University
Vårdvetenskapens Hus, Baravägen 3
Box 157, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
Tel. +46-46-222 19 40, mobile +46-703 17 31 11
Fax. +46-46-222 19 34
E-mail: susanne.iwarsson@med.lu.se

Research on Older People and their Environments -
Supportive Environments for Activity and Health

The group that I head is pursuing research in gerontology and geriatric care. From the gerontological perspective, the work we carry out can be characterised as environmental gerontology, focusing on housing, the outdoor environment, public facilities and public transport as means of support in promoting the activity and health of older people. The geriatric care perspective is characterised by research on community-based rehabilitation, especially occupational therapy and health-promoting and preventive measures for older people in the local community.

Our research is based on my many years of practical experience as a district occupational therapist, and includes studies on the person, the environment, activity and health, focusing on accessibility and usability in physical environments. The group is especially interested in the opportunities for the aging population to be active and participate in society. One of the important starting points for our research is the development of methods that are important for housing adaptations and the planning of a society accessible to all, based mainly on the Enabler Concept and Housing Enabler. Several of our ongoing projects involve issues connected with housing, activity, participation and health among old and very old people, in Sweden as well as in other European countries. We are also interested in the importance of assistive technology (especially mobility devices) in the everyday activities of older people. Some members of the group are interested in social gerontological projects, or projects based on common diagnoses such as stroke and multiple sclerosis (MS). We are working consciously and actively to convert our research findings into practical health care measures (chiefly in primary health care, including municipality health care responsibilities), as well as measures useful for organisations providing housing and those responsible for the design of the physical environment.

The group includes ten PhD students, and I am also supervising PhD students in Latvia and Finland. Another senior researcher is engaged in the group together with four post-doctoral fellows, all of which are project leaders and/or supervisors for PhD students within or outside the group. Apart from these, the group also includes technical staff with high levels of competence in, for example, statistics and data management, and a research administrator. Our activities are highly integrated with those of Professor Agneta Ståhl's research group at the Department of Technology and Society in the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University. We also collaborate with several other research groups, both nationally and internationally, and have regular exchanges in the form of visiting researchers from Germany, the U.S. and the other Nordic countries. Currently, we have good external funding from all the Swedish research councils, several health sector authorities and a number of smaller research financiers.

Ongoing projects

The significance of the physical housing environment for dependence in activities of daily living - The Hässleholm home and Health study
S. Iwarsson, C. Nygren, G. Carlsson, & M. Werngren-Elgström

The ENABLE-AGE project
S. Iwarsson, C. Nygren, A. Fänge, M. Haak, S. Dahlin Ivanoff, J. Sixsmith, S. Tomsone, G. Carlsson, P. Hovbrandt, C. Löfqvist, Å. Brandt, O. Schilling, B. Slaug, & V. Horstmann.

Housing adaptation planning - Implementing research based methodology in community praxis
S. Iwarsson, A. Fänge, B. Slaug, R. Risser, & A. Johannisson.

Evidence-based housing adaptations 
S. Iwarsson, A. Fänge, B. Slaug, & R. Risser.

Housing Enabler - A method for assessing and analysing accessibility problems in the physical environment 
S. Iwarsson, B. Slaug, A. Fänge, G. Carlsson, C. Nygren, & A. Johannisson.

Towards environments supportive for activity and health - Development of physical accessibility assessment instrument
S. Iwarsson, G. Carlsson, A. Ståhl, A. Fänge, C. Nygren, O. Schilling, & B. Slaug.

The elderly in the local environment, demonstration project in Kristianstad ("Let's go for a walk!") 
A. Ståhl, S. Iwarsson, G. Carlsson, & P. Hovbrandt

Problems for visually impaired people in the built outdoor environment
A. Ståhl, E. Jansson, S. Dahlin Ivanoff, J. Ahl, & S. Iwarsson

Accessibility in public transport for people with cognitive functional impairments - survey, method development and innovative IT solutions (REKO)
A. Ståhl,  S. Iwarsson,  G. Johansson,  J. Rosenkvist,  K. Wendel,  M. Wallergård,  B. Slaug,
R. Risser, J. Risberg, J. Lexell, & H. Pessah-Rasmussen.

Older people's perception of participation in the prescription process and use of mobility aids
E. Hedberg-Kristensson, S. Dahlin Ivanoff, & S. Iwarsson

NAME - An instrument for studies of the effect of using mobility aids
Å. Brandt,  C. Löfqvist,  K. Samuelsson,  A-L. Salminen,  M. Werngren-Elgström, T. Hurnasti, T. Sund,  I. Jonsdottir, & S. Iwarsson.

Activities of daily living - importance and ability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS)
E. Månsson-Lexell, J. Lexell, & S. Iwarsson

Back to work after stroke
M. Vestling, E. Ramel, & S. Iwarsson

Nordic Housing Enabler
S. Iwarsson, T. Helle, A.Pikkarainen, G. Gregersen, A-G Hansen, B. Slaug & A. Johannisson

Previous and present work

Upon graduating as an occupational therapist in 1979, I worked at the Kristianstad Hospital while studying gerontology and English at Lund University. In 1985 I was engaged as a district occupational therapist in Vinslöv/Sösdala by the Primary Health Care Authority in Hässleholm. I held this position until March 1998, but was on leave of absence from September 1994 to work on a project at the Developmental Department of the County Council Administration in Kristianstad. In this capacity I was responsible for the county's development funding and measures in the area of habilitation and rehabilitation.

From 1987 I was also engaged as an hourly paid teacher at Malmö University, and at Lund University. I successively started my postgraduate studies during this time and obtained my Doctorate in Community Health Sciences in 1997. In 1998, I gained a position as senior lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, and in 1999 was appointed associate professor (docent) in occupational therapy.

During the period 1999-2004 I was head of the Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, and was responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and research in occupational therapy. During this time I led the development and establishment of occupational therapy as an independent, academic discipline at Lund University. I was simultaneously a member of the board for the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, and deputy head of department during 2004.

I was promoted to professor in occupational therapy in December 2003. Over time my interest in gerontology has increased, and I have successively broadened and deepened my knowledge in this field. In April 2005 I took up my current position of Professor in Gerontology and Geriatric Care. The position is financed by a donation from the Ribbing's Nursing Home Memorial Fund and the Association for Geriatric Care and Gerontology in Lund.

Apart from my academic activities at Lund University, I run a small trading company, together with my husband, called Veten & Skapen HB, which supplies products (literature & PC software) and services (courses and advisory services) for the evaluation and analysis of the accessibility of physical environments, mainly housing.

Commissions at Lund University

• 1997-01-01 – 2005-12-31: Member of the board for HAREC (Centre for Handicap and Rehabilitation Research)
• 1999-01-01 – 2004-12-31: Head of the Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Clinical Neuroscience
• 1999-01-01 – 2004-12-31: Member of the board for the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
• 2904-01-01 – 2004-12-31: Deputy Head of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience
• 2005-01-01 – 2005-12-31: Chairperson for the Undergraduate Programme Board for Occupational Therapy and the Master’s Programme in Occupational Therapy, etc., Faculty of Medicine
• 2005-01-01 – 2007-12-31: Substitute on the appointments board for the Faculty of Medicine
• 2005-11-01 – : Mentor in the Faculty of Medicine’s mentor programme
• 2006-01-01 – 2008-12-31: Pro-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine

Examples of other commissions

• Extensive involvement in examination at postgraduate level, both in Sweden and internationally
• Regular reviewer of scientific articles for ten international journals
• Regular assignments as an expert in the evaluation of merits for appointments to senior lecturer and professorships, other promotions and appointments to academic institutes, both nationally and internationally
• Regular invitations to be a speaker/chairperson at national and international conferences and workshops, etc.
• 1999-05-01 – : Member of the board for the Åke Isacsson Memorial Fund
• 2006-01-01 – 2008-12-31: Substitute member of the board for the Segerfalk Foundation
• Regular international teaching assignments (Latvia, Russia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Finland, etc.)
• 1996-09-01 – 2002-12-31: External expert on the project board for the Danish Schools of Occupational Therapy
• 1998-01-01 – 2002-06-28: Chairperson of the programme committee for the World Federation of Occupational Therapists’ 13^th World Congress, Stockholm, 2002
• 2002-11-14 – 2004-01-16: Expert for WHO Europe (Housing & Health)
• 2003-08-01 – : Member of the WFOT’s International Advisory Group for Health Policy Development, under the WHO
• December 2003: Member of the committee for the evaluation of the European Master of Science in Occupational Therapy, Dutch Validation Council, the Netherlands
• 2006-01-01: Member of the executive committee for the postgraduate course, "Theory and Methods in Home and Community Care Research", Stockholm, September 2006, Financed by NordForsk

Publications

Doctoral thesis

Iwarsson, S. (1997). Functional Capacity and Physical Environmental Demand. Exploration of Factors Influencing Everyday Activity and Health in the Elderly Population. ISBN 91-628-2351-5. Doktorsavhandling. Institutionen för Samhällsmedicinska vetenskaper Dalby/Lund, Lunds Universitet. Lund, Sverige.