Margarita Mondaca

About me

Since 2010 and currently, I am working as lecturer and researcher at the Division of Occupational Therapy at Karolinska Institutet.

Research description

I am an occupational therapist specialised in Mental Health and Human rights with 15 years of clinical and educational experience in Latin-America, Sweden and other international settings. A common thread during my clinical, educational and research experience has been my interest in vulnerable populations experiencing marginality and attention towards the ethical demands these populations present. My current area of research is about everyday life and vulnerability, particularly in care health services for older adults, both living in nursing homes and at home. My particular focus is on everyday life and the opportunities that older adults might have to influence everyday activities on a daily basis.I draw on critical and interpretative theoretical perspectives to problematize everyday life and what is often taken-for-granted in order to generate reflection forums about transformative practices within health care services.Methodologically my interest is in qualitative methods and in particular in building collaborative practices between research, educational settings and stakeholders. I draw on various methods including narrative, ethnography, dialogical inquiry, critical discourse and photovoice. The principle focus of my research is to: (1) identify relevant hinders for inclusion in society and healthcare arenas, and (2) to contribute both theoretically, practically and methodology to a body of knowledge concerned with a humanistic healthcare. I am currently involved in two projects that are part of a larger founded research projects; FORTE "Future Care", PI: Lena Borell and “A nursing home to long for” founded by the Family Kamprad Foundation PI: Lena Rosenberg . In both of these projects my focus is on building collaborative practices, with nursing home residents and staff and with staff providing home services for older adults living at home. Internationally I am part of an EU founded project Erasmus+ (2018-2020) called InterAct, Interdisciplinary Cooperation in Psychosocial Interventions as Swedish partner and in collaboration with IB-Hochschule Berlin,The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA),The University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia. This initiative focus on the creation of European networks of best psychosocial practices for refugees.

 Publications

Mondaca, M., Josephsson, S.; Rosenberg, L. & Johansson, K.(2019) Is a nursing home a place for aged or aging people? Competing discourses about everyday activities . Submitted

Mondaca, M.,Johansson, K., Josephsson, S., & Rosenberg, L. (2019). In search for the “humane”: staffs’ perspectives on everyday activities in a nursing home. Aging Ment Health, 1-10. doi:10.1080/13607863.2019.1574709

Mondaca M, Josephsson S, Borell L, Katz A, Rosenberg L (2018) Altering the boundaries of everyday life in a nursing home contextScandinavian journal of occupational therapy:1-11 doi: 10.1080/11038128.2018.1483426

Mondaca M, Josephsson S, Katz A, Rosenberg L. (2018) Influencing everyday activities in a nursing home setting: A call for ethical and responsive engagementNursing inquiry;25(2): e12217

Guajardo, A. & Mondaca, M(2016) “Human rights, Occupational Therapy and the centrality of Social practices”in Occupational Therapies without border. Integrating Justice with Practice. Second edition Ed. By Sakellariou, D.and Pollard, N. Elsevier

Asaba, E., Rudman, D.;Mondaca, M.& Park, M. (2015) “Visual Methodologies Photovoice in Focus”In Qualitative Research Methodologies for Occupational Science and Therapy edited by Nayar, S. and Stanley, M. Routledge

Johansson, K., Rudman, D.,Mondaca, M., Park, M., Luborsky, M., Josephsson, S. & Asaba, E. (2012) "Moving beyond ‘aging in place’ to understand migration and aging: Place making and the centrality of occupation" Journal of Occupational Science 20(2),108-119doi:10.1080/14427591.2012.735613

Guajardo, A. & Mondaca, M (2016) “Human rights, Occupational Therapy and the centrality of Social practices”in Occupational Therapies without border. Integrating Justice with Practice. Second edition Ed. By Sakellariou, D.and Pollard, N. Elsevier

 

 

 

 

Teaching portfolio

Teacher at backer, master and doctoral level at the Division of Occupational Therapy, part of the examination Board of the European Master of Science in Occupational Therapy.

Education

 I have recently defended my Ph.D. (field of Occupational Therapy) at Karolinska Institutet (2018). I was the first Latin-American that graduated as European M.Sc. in Occupational Therapy from Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (2010). My professional degree in Occupational Therapy was obtained at the University of Chile (1995). I am a registered Occupational Therapist both in Chile and Sweden. 

Academic honours, awards and prizes

1990-1995 Presidential scholarship for bachelor University Studies at University of Chile.

2017 Scholarship from the Swedish Association of Occupational Therapists.

2019 ENOTHE Seed project