Ann Liljas

Ann Liljas

Assistant Professor | Docent
Telephone: +46852480161
Visiting address: Solnavägen 1 E, 11365 Stockholm
Postal address: K9 Global folkhälsa, K9 GPH Liljas, 171 77 Stockholm
Part of:

About me

  • Associate Professor in Public Health at the Department of Global Public Health where I lead the research group Equity and Health Policy, and teach at the Master programme in Public Health.

    Grants:

    KI Research School in Health Science (FiH) grant to supervise a doctoral student 2023-2027 How to tackle moral distress among healthcare 
    professionals at emergency departments?

    FORTE co-applicant 2022-00588 Exploring older people's prerequisites for understanding health information and making informed health choices

    FORTE principal applicant health and social care coordination grant 2021-01784 Risk factors for infection in older adults who receive home healthcare and/or home help: a systematic review

    FORTE co-applicant 2021-00273 Ageing in place – from policy to practice. Consequences of the de-institutionalisation of Swedish eldercare for older people and their family members

    FORTE share principal applicant 2021-01830 In the wake of Covid-19: How can the structure and quality of health and social care for older people with complex care needs in Sweden be improved?

    FORTE postdoctoral grant 2019-01101/ How do healthcare professionals perceive the hospital discharge process of older adults with complex needs? A comparative study of potential inequity in the care of these patients in Nordic countries

    Background:
    PhD in Epidemiology, University College London (UCL), 2017
    Master of Public Health, King's College London, 2009
    Bachelor of Social Science in Education, Linköping University, 2008
    Bachelor of Social Science in Public Health, Linköping University, 2007

Research

  • My research interests lie in the areas of social inequalities in health, and, health and social care services and organisations with a particular focus on older adults with complex care needs.

    I have extensive experience of conducting both quantitative and qualitative research. Currently I co-lead a project exploring insights from other Nordic countries on how to organise services to improve health and social care among older adults. Additional current collaborative projects cover topics such as healthy ageing, health literacy, the de-institutionalisation of Swedish eldercare (the 'ageing in place' policy), and municipalities' communication and response to Covid-19 in Stockholm. Recently I completed the work of a systematic review on risk factors for infection in older adults who receive home care, for which I acted as the principal investigator.

    For my postdoctoral research project I examined how healthcare professionals perceive the hospital discharge process of older adults with
    complex needs. Data from Sweden, Denmark and Finland were compared to examine potential inequity in the care of these patients in Nordic countries. For my PhD I examined the relationship of sensory impairments with cardiovascular disease and mortality, disability and frailty in older age using data from two longitudinal cohort studies: the British Regional Heart Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. I have also been involved in the development and testing of a feasibility study of an home-based health promotion intervention for pre-frail older adults.

Teaching

  • My main teaching areas are health promotion, disease prevention, and evaluation of health interventions. I lead the 10 hp/credit course Applied
    health promotion and prevention part of the Master programme in Public Health. I also give lectures and facilitate seminars in health promotion and
    prevention at other graduate courses at KI.

    I am the main supervisor of two PhD candidates: Farzana Rahman whose project focuses on the contents and quality of health and social care for older adults, and Clara Brune who works on a project on moral distress among healthcare professionals in emergency departments.

    Most terms I also supervise a master/medical student in their degree project.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • How to tackle moral distress among healthcare professionals in the emergency department?
    AFA Försäkring
    1 September 2023 - 31 August 2026
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    Research problems: The Swedish healthcare system has become very specialised and is often experienced as fragmented and lacking coordination between caregivers. Advanced age is associated with multi-morbidity, which usually requires care from several different caregivers. This makes older people vulnerable to fragmentated care and lack of care coordination. Health literacy (HL) is an essential component of an individual’s ability to gain access to, understand and use information to improve and maintain good health and is an important prerequisite for managing health and care needs. Therefore, knowledge on older people’s HL is vital to efficiently and equitably meet the care needs of the rapidly aging population.Specific questions: The project aim is to gain knowledge on HL in the older population. In this project we will assess to what degree the older population in Sweden is health literate, identify groups that might face challenges due to inadequate HL and explore what older people experience as prerequisites for understanding health information and managing their health and care needs as well as communicate with caregivers.Data and Methods: This project combines both qualitative and quantitative data. The Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old (SWEOLD), linked with register data on healthcare utilisation will allow for measuring the level of health literacy in a nationally representative sample of the Swedish population aged 77 years and over. Semi-structured interviews with older people will be performed to deepen the understanding of contextual barriers and facilitators, and individual internal and external resources to make informed decisions about their health and care needs. Plan for project realisation: The collection of SWEOLD data is in progress and preliminary analyses on a sub-sample have been performed. Information about HL, life situation, health, care utilisation, physical and cognitive ability and social support from relatives are being collected. The project group has extensive knowledge about older adults, health literacy, the health and social care system as well as relevant research methodology, both qualitative and quantitative.Relevance: Knowledge on HL among the older population can be used to tailor communication and directing support to vulnerable groups in order to achieve an efficient and equitable health and social care system, as well as supporting older people in health crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 November 2021 - 31 October 2025
    This application concerns studies of shortcomings in the structure and quality of health and social care for older people with complex care needs in Sweden, illustrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proportion of people aged 80 years and older is increasing rapidly in Sweden, whereas the number of beds in care homes and hospitals decreases. Hence, municipal home health care is expected to address the needs of the frailest older persons with multimorbidity and complex health and social care needs. The studies form 3 work packages:1.Mapping and analysis of home health care among older persons in municipalities of Stockholm Region Aim: to map and analyse differences in the home health care provided to older persons in different municipalities in Stockholm Region, regarding its contents, physicians’ engagement in home healthcare and how the use of home health care is related to utilization of other health and social care. Method: Statistical analyses of register data from multiple databases.2.The organization of care from the perspective of end-users (older people, their relatives) and care professionals, in two different regions of Sweden Aim: to examine the perceptions of older people, their family members, care professionals and nursing students regarding challenges related to a) the organisation of home care and care homes for older adults, and b) hesitancy to care homes and home care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the regions of Stockholm and Dalarna. Method: Focus groups with end-users, care workers and nursing students.3.Insights from other Nordic countries on how to organize services to improve health and social care among older persons Aim: to identify features in the organization of health and social care of older people in other Nordic countries of relevance to providing good and equitable care to older people with complex health and social care needs in Sweden. Method: Policy analysis and semi-structured interviews with experts.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 November 2021 - 31 October 2022
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 October 2019 - 30 June 2021

Employments

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-2027

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2024

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