Madeleine Åkerman

I am a PhD student at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS) at Karolinska Institutet, and I work clinically at Karolinska University Hospital. 

I have a Master’s degree in nursing and specialist nursing degrees in elderly care and dementia care. In my clinical role, I work as a coordinator at SveDem (www.svedem.se) – the Swedish registry for cognitive/dementia disorders. My responsibilities include the registry’s daily operations, education and training, implementation in healthcare settings, and ongoing development. I also represent SveDem in national collaborations, including with the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR), and other national working groups.

My doctoral project aims to increase understanding of factors that influence survival and the quality of care for people with dementia living in nursing homes.

The project is based on data from SveDem’s nursing home cohort and combines quantitative analyses with qualitative studies. Using registry data, I investigate which factors are associated with survival and develop a prediction model for newly admitted residents with dementia.

I also explore how nursing indicators for person-centred care are used in practice by staff in nursing homes, and how these indicators may influence the content and quality of care. The goal is to generate knowledge that can support the development of more individualized and evidence-based dementia care, where both clinical outcomes and staff perspectives are integrated. The findings are intended to be applicable in practice and contribute to improved care in nursing home settings.