Zarina Nahar Kabir

Zarina Nahar Kabir

Principal Researcher | Docent
Telephone: +46852483697
Visiting address: ANA 23, 14183 Huddinge
Postal address: H1 Neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle, H1 Omvårdnad Kabir, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • Associate Professor, Public Health at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
    Adjunct Professor (2014-16), School of Public Health, Brac University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

    Education:
    1983-86, B.A. Honours (Economics), University of Delhi, India
    1989-90, M.A. (Gender & Development), Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK
    1995-2001, PhD (Epidemiologic Ageing Research/Public Health), Karolinska Institutet, Sweden


    My research encompasses topics on ageing, mHealth, intimate partner violence and mental health from a public health perspective. I am research group leader of the research group “Caring in Community Care” [https://ki.se/en/nvs/caring-in-community-care [1]].

Research

  • Research project: “Care of Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia: Mobile Application to Alleviate Stress and Improve Quality of Life”.
    /Principal Investigator/ of collaborative project between Karolinska Institute, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and Umeå University,
    Sweden. This intervention study aims to assess the effectiveness of providing support through a mobile application (app) in reducing stress, depressive symptoms and loneliness thus improving quality of life of family caregivers of persons with dementia living at home in Sweden.

    Research project: ‘Impact of maternal perinatal depressive symptoms on infant growth and health in Bangladesh’. /Co-principal investigator/ of a
    collaborative project between Karolinska Institute (Sweden), Brac University and BRAC (Bangladesh). Using mixed methods, the project aimed to investigate the prevalence, incidence and risk factors of maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms around childbirth and its impact on birth outcomes and infant’s development at 2-3 and 6 months postpartum in rural Bangladesh.

    Research project: Co-principal investigator of collaborative project, “Poverty and Health in Ageing”, with ICDDR, B Centre for Health and
    Population Research, Bangladesh (an international research organization) with the central role for scientific coordination of the project between project members in Bangladesh and Sweden. This study aimed to explore how biological, environmental, and societal factors are interrelated, and how they affect ageing. Its objective was to describe the morbidity pattern, functional status quality of life and use of health care of population aged 60 years and older in a rural area of Bangladesh using survey methods, clinical investigations, cognitive testing and laboratory analyses. One MPhil and two PhD have completed their theses under my supervision using this data.

    Education project: ‘Building partnership for better health’. I represented Karolinska Institutet in this project on improving higher education in low-income countries. The European Union financed (through EU-Asia Link Programme) project involves partners from universities in
    Bangladesh (Brac University), India (Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology), Sweden (Karolinska Institutet), The
    Netherlands (University of Amsterdam) and the United Kingdom (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).

    Research project: Scientific and Project Coordinator of a successfully completed multi-centre project (involving Bangladesh, Vietnam, United Kingdom and Sweden), “Primary Health-care in Later Life: Improving Service in Vietnam and Bangladesh” (PHILL), financed by European Commission (2002-2005). The intervention project aimed to improve health and quality of life of elderly people through interventions at primary health care level in rural Bangladesh and Vietnam. Three PhD students have completed their theses under my supervision using this data.

    Network building: Initiator and Co-coordinator of /International Network on Public Health and Aging/ (INOPA), a network of eleven academic, government and non-government organisations in eight countries located in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.

Teaching

  • Since 2006, I have been involved in teaching mainly in nursing education at different levels and in different capacities. I have taught epidemiology to students of specialist education in district nursing and pediatric nursing. I have conducted seminars with students at the undergraduate level on public health aspects such as health promotion and preventive approaches in nursing. I am currently *course leader* of the Degree Project (distance) and Research Methodology (distance) course in the advanced nursing programme. Thus, I have experience of pedagogy in both *campus and distance learning*. I have also served as supervisor and examiner of degree project thesis at the basic and advanced levels. I am also course leader of an independent (fristående) course titled "Global Health in Inter-professional Settings: A Caring Science Perspective". I have experience in *course development* and *administration*, and served as *deputy director of research education* at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society. I have *supervised* (as main and co-supervisor) a number of PhD students.I have been *course coordinator, teacher *and* examiner* in courses on Epidemiology (KI) as well as Ageing in Public Health (Brac University, Bangladesh).

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 March 2023 - 28 February 2026
    Research problem and specific questions: The number of people with dementia (PWD) is estimated to be 250,000 in Sweden and 14 million in India by year 2050. In Sweden, PWD increasingly live in their own homes which is a norm in India. Family caregiving leads to stress, poor health and poor quality of life. In Sweden, in 2017, only 5% of the municipalities offered any kind of support to family caregivers (FC) whose native language was other than Swedish.The main research question in the Swedish part of the project is if an mHealth based intervention by community workers to improve caregiving competence of non-European immigrant FCs of PWD living at home is effective to reduce caregiver burden and depressive symptoms, and improve quality of life.Data and method: This randomized controlled study will include wait list control group. Participants from municipalities with high immigrant density in Stockholm County will randomly be assigned to the intervention group (n=44) and the wait list control group (n=44).Participants in the study will include i) FCs of PWD living at home and are recipients of the intervention and ii) Social care professionals (SCP) who will deliver the intervention.The intervention will be delivered through a mobile application (app) in 10 sessions on specific subjects to enhance caregiving competence of FCs, e.g., introduction to dementia, being a caregiver, mental strategies, mindset, activities, diet, sleep and where to find resources in the community. The intervention program will be adapted to the Swedish and Indian contexts.Outcomes will be measured quantitatively at baseline, after completion of 10-week intervention in the intervention group and after another 10-week intervention in the control group. In-depth interviews will be performed with SCPs and FCs after the intervention to understand their experiences of the ease of use and practicality of the app. Analytics information logged on backend system will be used to assess usage of different features of the app.Plan for project realization: The study will combine expertise in public health, nursing, dementia care and mHealth from Sweden and India to design the intervention and project implementation. A technical company will be hired for development and operations of the app.Relevance: The intervention in the project provides a platform for community workers in India and Sweden to support FCs in their homes through an interactive mHealth tool irrespective of geographic distance.
  • m-Health based intervention by community workers to support family caregivers to persons with dementia living at home
    Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research
    1 March 2023 - 28 February 2026
  • Yoga and hypertension
    Trygfonden
    1 January 2023 - 1 January 2025
  • Use of mHealth in caring of family caregivers of persons with dementia
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2025
  • Care of Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia (CAFCA): Mobile Application to Reduce Stress and Improve Quality of Life
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2020 - 1 January 2022
  • Scholarship for doctoral studies
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2020 - 1 January 2020
  • Care of Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia (CAFCA): Mobile Application to Reduce Caregiver Stress and Improve Quality of Life
    Strategic Research Area-Care Sciences, (SFO-V), Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2019 - 1 January 2020
  • Family caregivers in caring of older persons and use of m-health
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2019 - 1 January 2020
  • Engaging Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia and Nurses in the Development of Stress Alleviating Mobile Application for Caregivers
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2018 - 1 January 2019
  • Stress Alleviating Mobile Application for Caregivers (SAMAC): A Feasibility Study
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2018 - 1 January 2019
  • Care of Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia (CAFCA): Mobile Application to Reduce Caregiver Stress and Improve Quality of Life
    Strategic Research Area-Care Sciences, (SFO-V), Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2018 - 1 January 2019
  • Building partnership for better health
    European Commission
    1 January 2007 - 1 January 2010
  • International Network on Public Health and Aging (INOPA)
    Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research
    1 January 2005 - 1 January 2007
  • Dementia in Bangladesh
    Stiftelsen för ålderssjukdomar
    1 January 2004 - 1 January 2004
  • Poverty and health in ageing in rural Bangladesh
    Swedish International Development Corporation/Swedish Research Link
    1 January 2004 - 1 January 2006
  • Primary Health-care in Later Life: Improving Service in Bangladesh and Vietnam (PHILL)
    European Commission
    1 January 2002 - 1 January 2005
  • Intervention at Primary Health Care Level to Improve Quality of Life of Elderly People in a Low-income Country
    Forskarskolan i vård och omsorg, Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2002 - 1 January 2005
  • Future of the Elderly in Bangladesh: A Study on the Influence of Traditional Norms and Changing Demographics on Social Support
    Swedish International Development Corporation
    1 January 1997 - 1 January 1999
  • Future of the Elderly in Bangladesh: A Study on the Influence of Traditional Norms and Changing Demographics on Social Support
    Swedish International Development Corporation
    1 January 1995 - 1 January 1996
  • Care of Older Caregivers: Mobile Application to Alleviate Stress and Improve Quality of Life of Older Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia
    Kamprad Foundation

Employments

  • Principal Researcher, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2007
  • Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, 2001

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