The project is being funded by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL) and the Vårdal Institute, which is directed by Lund University’s Professor Gerd Ahlström. At the start of September, the participants met each other, as well as Bodil Jönsson and Gerd Ahlström, for the first time. The meeting was marked by strong enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in a group with so much collective professional experience. Since we are retired, we can also listen to each other without having to take into account prestige and positions”, said former consultant Irene Hedfors from Ljungby.
Britta Stenstam, a retired oncologist, was also positive:
“I think a lot of elderly people feel that they want to pass on some of the knowledge they have acquired over a long career. You can’t play golf full-time!”
Göran Maathz, a former healthcare director from Nyköping, agreed:
“Now we have the chance to look into things we didn’t really have time for before. When I meet former colleagues, we often get into very interesting discussions and wonder why we never talked about these issues at work.”
The idea is that the 20 participants will each complete a project by May next year, with academic support from the two Lund professors. The projects are connected to the participants’ previous professional fields. Irene Hedfors wants to follow up the development projects carried out by a number of county council directors as part of a training course which she coordinated. Have the development ideas come to anything, and if not, what is it that has hindered them?
Britta Stenstam wants to look at how oncologists can stop giving a treatment that they don’t believe will work.
“We like to postpone the transition to palliative care. Even if we know that it is no longer possible to treat the disease, we still often recommend another round of chemotherapy or radiotherapy”, she said.
Lillemor Husberg has been an architect and was responsible for the acclaimed residential home Vigs ängar in Köpingebro, which is based on anthroposophical ideas of the importance of the environment for development and wellbeing. Vigs ängar has received many study visits, but Lillemor Husberg wants to see how its fundamental ideas can be spread without visits to the site.
Sven-Erik Henriksson, who has been an improvement leader at Västmanland local authority wants to examine the existential questions that the health service still finds difficult to tackle.
“When we meet a patient who says he or she doesn’t want to live anymore, we often avoid the issue by offering them a cup of coffee”, he said.
The Uppdrag Kunskap project is part of the SKL initiative Bättre liv för sjuka äldre (Better life for older adults with complex health conditions). Bodil Jönsson, who came up with the idea for the project, is convinced that the results will be exciting and useful.
“The fact that the participants are senior citizens gives it a new dimension. You could have worked all your life with elderly people, but when you become older, you gain a deeper understanding of the issues”, she said.
Gerd Ahlström also hopes for interesting material when the project concludes next year:
“Important research ideas may emerge that otherwise would never be formulated in that exact way. The project could also help to reduce ageism – the negative attitude towards older people – by demonstrating that elderly people can contribute to important scientific research.”
Text & photo: Ingela Björck
