Michael Wells

Michael Wells

Assistant professor

Email:
michael.wells@ki.se
Organisation:

About me

Michael's main research interests are in intervention and implementation research, with social and family policy outcomes.

My research focuses on the Swedish reproductive and child health fields and the support they provide to parents. My main research project focuses on the implementation of and outcomes derived from a new clinical visit for fathers of infants at the Swedish child health centers. 

Research description

Current Research Projects

 1) Longitudinally evaluate the implementation and outcomes derived from a co-created community-based clinical intervention program at the Swedish child health centers to implement a series of new clinical visits for fathers

2) Longitudinally assess expectant parents’ alcohol, drug, and smoking habits and where they seek support for substance abuse during and after pregnancy

3) Evaluate the outcomes of four sub-Saharan African countries’ implementation of quality improvements in healthcare settings through received capacity building techniques

4) Investigate the feasibility of a peer-to-peer support program for new fathers

5) Develop and test a new fear of birth program for expectant parents

6) Assess the development of a school-based intervention to promote participation in children with Development Coordination Disorder

 

Peer Reviewed Publications (n = 34)

For a full List of my publications click here

 

Most Recent Publications 

  1. Johansson, M., Östlund, P., Holmqvist, C., & Wells, M. B. (2022). Family life starts at home: Fathers’ experiences of a newly implemented Swedish home-based postnatal care model–An interview study. Midwifery, 105, 103199. 

  2. Erlandsson, K., Wells, M., Wagoro, M., Kadango, A., Blomgren, J., Friberg, I. O., Klingberg-Allvin, M., Lelei, A., & Lindgren, H. (2021). Implementing an internet-based capacity building program for interdisciplinary midwifery-lead teams in Ethiopia, Kenya Malawi and Somalia. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, 30, 100670.

  3. Lee, J.-k., Feinberg, M., & Wells, M. B. (2021). The Swedish Brief Coparenting Relationship Scale: Psychometrics and Concurrent Validity among Primiparous and Multiparous Fathers of Infants. Family Relations, 70(3), 823-839.

  4. Dehara, M., Wells, M. B., Sjöqvist, H., Kosidou, K., Dalman, C., & Sörberg Wallin, A. (2021). Parenthood is associated with lower suicide risk: a register‐based cohort study of 1.5 million Swedes. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 143(3), 206-215.

  5. Högberg, H., Pålsson, P., Spak, F., Larsson, M., & Wells, M. B. (2021). Two screening instruments for collecting alcohol‐related information from expectant mothers and fathers: Testing the reliability of the Parent Alcohol Screening Questionnaire and the Social Support for an Alcohol‐Free Pregnancy Questionnaire. Health & Social Care in the Community.

  6. Wells, M. B., Delilovic, S., Gunnarsson, M., Dervish, J., von Knorring, M., & Hasson, H. (2021). Primary care physicians’ views of standardised care pathways in cancer care: A Swedish qualitative study on implementation experiences. European Journal of Cancer Care, e13426.

  7. Johansson, M., Wells, M. B., & Thies-Lagergren, L. (2021). A dreaded delight: A longitudinal qualitative interview study of paternal childbirth fear during the transition to fatherhood. European Journal of Midwifery, 5.

  8. Wells, M. B., & Aronson, O. (2021). Paternal postnatal depression and received midwifery, child health nurse, and partner support: A cross-sectional analysis of primiparous and multiparous fathers. Journal of Affective Disorders, 280, 127-135.  

 

Teaching portfolio

Michael has taught at the university level for over a decade. He has taught synchronous and asynchronous classes, in person and online, as well as hybrid classes in the USA and Sweden. He has taught in multiple departments including Women's and Children's Health, Global Public Health, Psychology, Sociology, Family Science, and Education. 

He currently is the course coordinator/lecturer for the course: Implementing Strategies for Quality Improvement in Healthcare Settings. This course is taught for three different groups: 1) Currently working clinicians (e.g. doctors, dentists, midwives, nurses, nutritionists, speech and language pathologists), 2) master-level Global Sexual and Reproductive Health students, and 3) as part of a capacity building program for sub-Saharan African nations. 

He is also the course coordinator/lecturer for three master-level courses for midwifery students: 1) Research Methods, 2) Global Sexual and Reproductive Health, and 3) Thesis Course. 

 

Education

B.A. History, University of Indianapolis, USA

M.S. Human Development and Family Science, Ohio State University, USA

Ph.D. Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden

Academic honours, awards and prizes

Grants (Main Applicant)

  • 1,050,000 SEK from Strategic Research Area in Health Care Sciences (SFO-V); Assistant Professor Grant (2021). Evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of a series of new father/non-birthing parent visits to child health centers in Region Stockholm. 
  • 250,000 SEK from Systembolaget Alkoholforskningsråd (2019): "Utvärdering av en barnmorskeledd Internetbaserad modell för att förebygga drogan (Evaluation of a midwife-led Internet-based model for drug prevention)."
  • 500,000 SEK from Stockholm Läns Landsting (2016): "Utvärdering av implementeringen av ett särskilt pappabesök vid barnhälsovården i Stockholms län" (Evaluation of the implementation of a special father visit at the child health centers in Stockholm County)

Grants (Co-Applicant) 

  • 1,200,00 SEK from Women’s Mental Health during the Reproductive Lifespan (WoMHer), Uppsala University (2021-2025): "A parenting intervention for fear of childbirth: Development, feasibility, and acceptability." Main Applicant: Margareta Johansson. 
  • 1,200,000 SEK from The Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) (2021-2023): Utveckling av en skolbaserad intervention för att främja delaktighet hos barn med Developmental Coordination Disorder (Development of a school-based intervention to promote participation in children with Development Coordination Disorder). Main Applicant: Kine Johansen
  • 71,300 SEK from Karolinska Institutet Stiflelser och Fonder, Karolinska Institutet (2021-2022). Stöd till nyblivna pappor för att förebygga depression efter förlossningen- en pilotstudie (Support for new fathers to prevent postpartum depression - a pilot study). Main Applicant: Ewa Andersson.
  • 1,967,300 SEK from the Swedish Institute (2020): "Capacitate public sector faculty in the field of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH+N) in three Sub-Saharan African countries." Main Applicant: Helena Lindgren.