About me
My current position is professor of corporate health and research director. I lead a research group that tries to understand mechanisms that create good work health and work ability. The aim of the research conducted in my group is to contribute to improve working conditions and environment for employers and employees where health, well-being and productivity goes hand in hand. Facilitating this supports the development of healthy work places. To enable the translation of research into practice my group work in close cooperation with partners, i.e. end users of our research results, organized as practice based research network. My special area of interest is work place interventions to prevent work related illness and the promotion of work ability. A further interest is work-health economics, an area where the economic aspects from an employer perspective is considered. I hold Sweden's first professorship in research on occupational healthcare methods, as well as a program support to develop this research area.
Commisons of trust
Member of the Board of the National Research Center for the Work Environment (NFA), Copenhagen. Member of the Quality Council at the Agency for Work Environment (MynAK), 2018-ff Chairman of the committee at FORTE in the area of work organization 2015 - 2016 and from 2017 in the field of occupational health.
Member of a scientific council and expert advisory board for the institute for evaluation of labour market and education policy
Member of a scientific council and expert advisory board for the Ministry of social affairs, Swedish government concerning rehabilitation and sick leave Member of a scientific council and expert advisory board for the Ministry of Employment, Swedish government concerning work environment Scientific advisor within the AFA Insurance program Work & Health Member of the Scientific Council for the Development of Back Rehabilitation Centres in Stockholm County council Board member of the Swedish Society of Behavioural Medicine Member of Cochrane Collaboration Musculoskeletal Working Group on Back Pain. Member in an international task force Sex, gender and Pain within IASP. Member of expert group on sick leave in the the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care. Member of an international expert group within EU of chronic back problems (COST). Co-chair within a task force in the EU Work Life 2000. Implementation and dissemination of guidelines.
Research description
The research is multidisciplinary and focused on developing and evaluating interventions in order to identify cost-effective methods for improving occupational health, and to scientifically study how methods can be implemented cost-effectively in society. Implementation of research findings in to society - so-called evidence-based practice (EBP) - is a relatively new and undeveloped research area. Implementation research is about studying processes for implementation and developing effective methods for changing and introducing new ways of working. Evaluation of implementation into everyday practice is essential and a tool for improving processes and compliance with new methods. Evaluation of implementation should include both process analysis, effect evaluation in terms of behavioral change and quality of performance, as well as measurement of the effects the intervention is expected to generate i.e employee sickness absence, lifestyle, health, etc. My research team has developed methods for cost-effective interventions for back pain and methods for reducing sick leave while increasing productivity in companies.
In 1997 professor Irene Jensen initiated the first scientific study on yoga in Sweden at the Karolinska institute, a pilot study on yoga as seconday prevention for unspciified spine problems. When she 14 years later followed it up with a larger study she had already initiated a chain of events that in 2010 had led to the implementation of MediYoga as regular rehab in the Swedish NHS.
Our research is conducted in close collaboration with occupational healthcare, the parties of the labor market, industry, insurance companies, municipalities, county councils, and more, as a prerequisite for successful implementation of new methods is that research is conducted close to those who will use the methods. I hold Sweden's first professorship in research on occupational healthcare methods, as well as a program support to develop this research area.
Research areas
- Back and neck pain
- Stress related illness and common mental disorders
- Rehabilitation
- Work site health promotion
- Psychosocial work environment
- Workers health
- Health economics
- Work health economics
- Implementation research
Financing
- FORTE
- AFA Försäkring
- EU
- Ministry of social affairs
- MynAK
- ECCRE
Education
Psychologist, BSc. in 1985, Örebro University. PhD in medical science, personal injury prevention. Thesis ‘Non-specific spinal pain. Multidisciplinary intervention, a cognitive-behavioural approach’, 1993 at Karolinska Institute. Associate professor at Karolinska Institutet in 1999. Professor in personal injury prevention in 2004 and Professor in corporate health in 2011, at Karolinska Institutet. Lic. Psychotherapist in 2005.