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Östlund, Gunnel, associate professorORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-3068-5384
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Publications (10 of 105) Show all publications
Östlund, G., Rose, J. & Lassinantti, K. (2026). "Being a Person, Not Just a Function" - Teaching Professional Knowledge within Social Work Education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 46(1), 41-60
Open this publication in new window or tab >>"Being a Person, Not Just a Function" - Teaching Professional Knowledge within Social Work Education
2026 (English)In: Journal of Teaching in Social Work, ISSN 0884-1233, E-ISSN 1540-7349, Vol. 46, no 1, p. 41-60Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

How social work students develop professional knowledge is seldom discussed or studied. The aim of this study is to explore what professional knowledge in social work is, and when and how it can be stimulated through educational practices. The methodology used was World Caf & eacute; workshops; one with teachers in Sweden, one with teachers in Ireland, and one with Swedish social work students in the last semester of their education. The results are based on an analysis of the notes from the teachers and students who participated in the workshops. Professional knowledge in educational practice is interpreted as consisting of four main themes: Developing and maintaining relationships; Creating engagement in learning situations; A lifelong learning process; and Responsiveness to others and self. The results from the workshops show that professional knowledge can be stimulated in social work education using various pedagogical tools involving relational teaching and qualitative meetings with students. The teachers in the study highlight challenges impacting these teaching practices; these include large student groups and increasing administrative burdens that reduce their time for students and for learning collaboratively with colleagues and others. The teachers wanted to include professional knowledge at all educational levels including doctoral theses in social work.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Informa UK Limited, 2026
Keywords
Social work education, teaching practice, professional knowledge, phronesis, practice-based wisdom
National Category
Social Work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-74754 (URN)10.1080/08841233.2025.2593671 (DOI)001623288400001 ()2-s2.0-105023279557 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2025-12-03 Created: 2025-12-03 Last updated: 2026-02-09Bibliographically approved
Bergman Rimbe, K., Jederud, S. & Östlund, G. (2026). Swedish students' experiences of getting a second chance to access upper secondary education after problematic school absenteeism. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 31(1), Article ID 2607230.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Swedish students' experiences of getting a second chance to access upper secondary education after problematic school absenteeism
2026 (English)In: International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, ISSN 0267-3843, E-ISSN 2164-4527, Vol. 31, no 1, article id 2607230Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In Sweden, students have a second chance to qualify for upper secondary education by need attending an introductory program. This qualitative study explores students' experiences from the introductory program concerning attendance. In most cases, their previous failings in school were due to absenteeism. The data collection consisted of field notes and interviews with students. The students valued the schools' 'caring climate', which they identified as a key factor in their improved attendance and engagement, but this did not always ensure their attentiveness in learning situations. According to students, the answers to why they failed in their previous schooling and why they are now making progress can be found in the increased number of positive relationships with school personnel as well as with peers. Problems with attention are still present in their schooling and identified both with themselves and their classmates.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Informa UK Limited, 2026
Keywords
Upper secondary school, attendance, introductory program, absenteeism
National Category
Pedagogy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-75333 (URN)10.1080/02673843.2025.2607230 (DOI)001647956100001 ()2-s2.0-105026780607 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2026-01-07 Created: 2026-01-07 Last updated: 2026-01-14Bibliographically approved
Bergman, K., Blomberg, H., Elfström, M., Olsson, S. & Östlund, G. (2025). 'You Should Be Yourself'-Secondary Students' Descriptions of Social Gender Demands. Children, 12(4), Article ID 502.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>'You Should Be Yourself'-Secondary Students' Descriptions of Social Gender Demands
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2025 (English)In: Children, E-ISSN 2227-9067, Vol. 12, no 4, article id 502Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background/Objectives: Swedish schools are mandated to counteract gender norms that restrict students' life opportunities. School personnel also bear the responsibility of fostering students' democratic responsibilities and healthy behaviors, which is crucial not only for their mental wellbeing but also for their academic performance, as stressed by the European Commission. Aim: The purpose of the present study is to explore adolescents' performativity of gender when discussing social barriers to mental and emotional wellbeing. Methods: Fifty adolescents were interviewed in small gender-divided groups, and the transcribed text was analyzed using thematic analysis. Theoretically, interactionist perspective and gender analytic discourses are applied. Results: Emotional barriers to mental wellbeing were identified based on too cogent gender norms. Boys describe challenging each other and the environment by using a social facade that includes "stoneface" and harsh language, seldom showing sadness, even among close friends. The girls' facade includes maintaining a "happy face" and trying to be attractive. Both genders underline the need for belonging, and most of them fear social exclusion from peers. According to the interviewees, it is socially acceptable for girls to display most feelings, even mental difficulties such as anxiety or phobia, but among boys, gender norms still hinder them from showing emotional vulnerabilities such as sadness and risking exclusion. Conclusions: Young people's emotional wellbeing needs to be further developed and included in the curriculum. It is time for adults to focus on boys' sadness and depressive emotions, as well as girls' aggressiveness and frankness rather than their appearance, to push the river of equality forward.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI AG, 2025
Keywords
mental wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, gendered performativity, gendered wellbeing, adolescents
National Category
Gender Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-71329 (URN)10.3390/children12040502 (DOI)001474377700001 ()40310151 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-105003402844 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2025-05-07 Created: 2025-05-07 Last updated: 2026-07-30Bibliographically approved
Bergman Rimbe, K., Olsson, S. & Gunnel Östlund, u. (2024). Cykla i korridoren – elever i årskurs 9 om normer och skolklimat. Nordic Studies in Education, 44(3), 173-192
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Cykla i korridoren – elever i årskurs 9 om normer och skolklimat
2024 (Swedish)In: Nordic Studies in Education, ISSN 1891-5914, E-ISSN 1891-5949, Vol. 44, no 3, p. 173-192Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study aims to explore how ninth-grade students perceive their school climate and whether they have encountered critical places and situations at school related to gender equality. Participants engaged in interviews focused on their experiences and perceptions of equality within their educational context. The analysis was conducted using Hirdman’s (1988) two-gender model to specifically examine the dichotomies within the school environment as experienced by students. The findings reveal that students of both genders perceive significant inequalities, identifying distinct gender norms and standards for girls and maybe even more rigid situations for boys. Gender-specific norms reported are traditional: boys are driven by masculinity norms and are accordingly characterized as unruly, while girls act as more well-behaved students which most of them are. The results corroborate previous research, indicating that gender inequalities persist and are reinforced by traditional educational practices where gender-specific norms are deeply embedded. This study underscores the ongoing challenges in improving gender equality in educational settings

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Cappelen Damm AS - Cappelen Damm Akademisk, 2024
National Category
Gender Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-69148 (URN)10.23865/nse.v44.6058 (DOI)2-s2.0-85208429120 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-11-15 Created: 2024-11-15 Last updated: 2026-07-27Bibliographically approved
Östlund, G. & Blomberg, H. (2024). ”Det känns inte jättebra”: hur digital teknik kan främja barns berättelser i barnutredningar. Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift, 31(1), 133-154
Open this publication in new window or tab >>”Det känns inte jättebra”: hur digital teknik kan främja barns berättelser i barnutredningar
2024 (Swedish)In: Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift, ISSN 1104-1420, E-ISSN 2003-5624, Vol. 31, no 1, p. 133-154Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The aim was to study children’s participation in child investigations both when a digital application was used and when it was not used. Theoretically, the children’s participation was explored through positioning- and rhetorical analyses of the documentation. In investigative texts where the digital tool was not used, the children’s perspective was presented, but with a lower degree of agency. Two ways of motivating evidence have been identified. One is to alternate the official text, which contains theoretical concepts such as risk and protection factors, with more general descriptions from the child's situation. In the second approach, the genre of authority has been used together with the child’s own words so that the child is given more agency in the investigative text. The proposals for decisions are in both cases presented from the authority genre and legitimised via “the child's best interest” and “risk and protection factors” as well as through weaving in witnesses as a rhetorical resource, where children’s voices might be used as evidence. When comparing child investigations with or without the use of the digital tool, the assessments have similar illations. However, a digital tool adapted to children’s perspectives can increase participation in terms of their agency and presence in the investigative text.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Förbundet för forskning i Socialt arbete, 2024
National Category
Languages and Literature
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-69279 (URN)10.3384/svt.2024.31.1.5019 (DOI)
Available from: 2024-12-05 Created: 2024-12-05 Last updated: 2026-07-27Bibliographically approved
Hjalmarsson, A., Östlund, G., Asp, M., Kerstis, B. & Holmberg, M. (2024). Entrusting life to professionals: A phenomenological hermeneutical study of older persons' participation in prehospital emergency care involving municipal home care and ambulance services. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 38(2), 273-283
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Entrusting life to professionals: A phenomenological hermeneutical study of older persons' participation in prehospital emergency care involving municipal home care and ambulance services
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2024 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, ISSN 0283-9318, E-ISSN 1471-6712, Vol. 38, no 2, p. 273-283Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background: Participation in care is considered to promote safe and qualitative care. Care-dependent older persons ageing in place have increased emergency care needs, which initiate inter-organisational collaboration involving municipal home care and ambulance services. Previous research concludes that uncertainties exist regarding what participation in care means in clinical practice, which necessitates the need to illuminate the phenomenon for older persons in critical life situations.

Aim: This study aimed to illuminate meanings of participation in prehospital emergency care from the perspective of care-dependent older persons experiencing acute illness at home.

Design: This study has a qualitative design with a lifeworld approach.

Method: A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used to analyse transcribed telephone interviews with eleven care-dependent persons aged 70–93 years.

Results: Care-dependent older persons' participation in prehospital emergency care means ‘Entrusting life to professional caregivers’ when being in helpless solitude and existentially unsafe, which emphasises a deepened interpersonal dependence. Meanings of participation in care from the perspective of older persons involve Being reassured in togetherness, Being pliant in trust of emergency expertise, Being enabled through the agency of professional caregivers, and Encountering readiness in the emergency care chain.

Conclusion: Care-dependent older persons' participation in prehospital emergency care is existential and involves interpersonal dependence. Togetherness brings reassurance, safety and opportunity for emotional rest while accessing the professional caregivers' power, competence and abilities which provide opportunities for existence and movement towards well-being and continued living.

Implications for practice: Prehospital emergency care from the perspective of care-dependent older persons transcends organisational boundaries and includes the municipal mobile safety alarm service. The involved municipal and regional organisations need to provide support by implementing lifeworld-led care models and care alternatives that enable professionals to recognise the existential dimension of participation in care.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley, 2024
Keywords
ambulance services, home care services, mobile safety alarm, older persons, participation in care, phenomenological hermeneutical method, prehospital emergency care
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-64750 (URN)10.1111/scs.13223 (DOI)001095083000001 ()37915130 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85175615979 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2023-11-15 Created: 2023-11-15 Last updated: 2026-07-28Bibliographically approved
Pongthippat, W., Östlund, G., Darvishpour, M., Kijsomporn, J. & Gustafsson, L.-K. (2024). Illuminating health aspects for immigrant Thai women in Swedish transnational marriages. BMC Women's Health, 24(1), Article ID 337.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Illuminating health aspects for immigrant Thai women in Swedish transnational marriages
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2024 (English)In: BMC Women's Health, E-ISSN 1472-6874, Vol. 24, no 1, article id 337Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background: Women who are migrants experience discrimination and face major risks, including sexual exploitation, trafficking, and violence, which affect their health and well-being. This study explored critical health incidents experienced by immigrant Thai women in marriage migration. Methods: A qualitative explorative approach with in-depth interviews was used. Forty immigrant Thai women who currently or previously had a Swedish spouse were recruited for the study. An inductive critical incident technique was used to collect and analyze the data as the first step. In a second deductive step, the Newman system model was used to categorize health dilemmas. Results: The women reported 438 critical health incidents in five main areas. Psychological health dilemmas included emotional abuse, feeling overwhelmed due to family responsibilities and the stress of leaving family behind. Sociocultural health dilemmas included transnational family duties or not performing family duties. Physiological health dilemmas included experiencing physical violence and environmental, domestic or work accidents. Developmental health dilemmas included failing health, difficulties upholding the duties expected of a spouse in the target culture and caring for an elderly husband. Spiritual health dilemmas included critical incidents in which the women perceived themselves to have failed in their hopes and duties as a wife, which intensified their dependence on faith, particularly the Buddhist concept of karma. Conclusion: Professionals in health and welfare practices in Thailand together with professionals in Western countries who work with women in marriage migration situations need to recognize the psychological, sociocultural, physiological, developmental, and spiritual health dilemmas experienced by these women. Furthermore, civil organizations that meet Thai women in foreign countries, such as Buddhist cultural associations, would benefit from the multicultural knowledge revealed by the present study. This knowledge can facilitate healthcare and welfare support for women in marriage migration situations. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BioMed Central (BMC), 2024
Keywords
Critical incident technique, International marriages, Well-being, Women’s health, Adult, Emigrants and Immigrants, Female, Health Status, Humans, Marriage, Middle Aged, Qualitative Research, Southeast Asian People, Spouses, Stress, Psychological, Sweden, Thailand, aged, anxiety, Article, educational status, emotional abuse, family duties, health, health care personnel, human, immigrant, interview, knowledge, life expectancy, lifestyle and related phenomena, partner violence, pension, qualitative analysis, responsibility, semi structured interview, social support, sociodemographics, transnational marriages, ethnology, mental stress, migrant, psychology, Southeast Asian, spouse
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-67902 (URN)10.1186/s12905-024-03071-6 (DOI)001244829300001 ()38867221 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85195996868 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-06-26 Created: 2024-06-26 Last updated: 2026-09-17Bibliographically approved
Gustafsson, L.-K., Anbäcken, E.-M., Östlund, G., Bondesson, A., Pettersson, T. & Zander, V. (2024). Implementation of a New Integrated Healthcare Model; Quality Aspects to Support the Complex Home Care of Older Adults with Multiple Needs. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 17, 2879-2890
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Implementation of a New Integrated Healthcare Model; Quality Aspects to Support the Complex Home Care of Older Adults with Multiple Needs
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2024 (English)In: Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, E-ISSN 1178-2390, Vol. 17, p. 2879-2890Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Aim: This study aims to describe experiences of the implementation of a new integrated healthcare model for older adults with complex care needs due to multimorbidity, living at home, from a health and welfare personnel perspective. The goal was to diminish hospitalization and still carry out high quality care at home for older adults living with multimorbidity. The model was implemented by two organizations working in cooperation, the municipality, and the region that handles interprofessional social care and healthcare in people's homes. Materials and Method: Open-ended group interviews with personnel were carried out, three of the group interviews preimplementations of the model, and three of the group interviews post -implementation. The interviews were audiotaped and analysed according to the procedure of thematic analysis. Results: The quality of the integrated care model was based on care -chain cooperation, shared professionalism, and creating relations with the patient including closeness to next of kin, which was underlined by the participants. Unencumbered time gave the professionals the possibility to develop quality in integrated healthcare as part of integrated and person -centred care. The coproduction of education, research interviews and the follow-up meeting identified successes in diminishing hospitalization rates according to the participants' experiences of the post -implementation interviews. An identified failure was, however, that shared professionalism was not developed over time, rather the different responsibilities were accentuated according to the information retrieved at the follow-up meeting. Conclusion: Quality aspects of the model were identified in the present study. However, when implementation of a new model is completed, the organizations always have their own interpretation of how to further understand the model in question. Plain language summary: The intention of the present study was to follow the process of working with a new model of providing care at home, thus preventing increased numbers of hospital readmissions, based on the professionals<acute accent> point of view of what quality care is for older adults with complex care needs due to multimorbidity, living in their own home. The professionals were interviewed in group settings on several occasions during the implementation. The result showed hopeful expectations expressed by the professionals before the new model was implemented, such as a hope for getting more time for high -quality care for the older adults with multimorbidity. During the teamwork, the conversation within the team members was praised as a key factor that included shared professionalism from professionals with different levels of education and focus on their work. According to the staff, unnecessary hospital stays were reduced, while the interprofessional care -chain cooperation was improved through the work of the integrated care team. For many team members, the positive difference in both work and care satisfaction was highlighted in comparison to regular home care as they were able to use their multi -disciplinary skills and support.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Dove Medical Press, 2024
Keywords
integrated-care model, multi-morbidity, interprofessional care, home-based care, person-centred integrated care
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-67891 (URN)10.2147/JMDH.S455935 (DOI)001248141100001 ()38894963 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85196721611 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-06-26 Created: 2024-06-26 Last updated: 2026-09-17Bibliographically approved
Gustafsson, L.-K., Bondesson, A., Pettersson, T. & Östlund, G. (2024). Successful ability to stay at home - an interview study exploring multiple diagnosed older persons and their relatives' experiences. BMC Geriatrics, 24(1), Article ID 872.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Successful ability to stay at home - an interview study exploring multiple diagnosed older persons and their relatives' experiences
2024 (English)In: BMC Geriatrics, E-ISSN 1471-2318, Vol. 24, no 1, article id 872Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

BackgroundSociety places increased demands on regions and municipalities to jointly carry out activities for multi-diagnosed older persons with extensive coordination needs. Interprofessional collaboration is reported as an important success factor for the overall health care of this group of patients. This project focuses on older persons with multiple diagnoses and their relatives' own experiences of what is most important for safety and security in their homes. The aim of the study was: to illuminate the meaning of success for the ability to stay at home as experienced by older persons with multiple diagnoses and their relatives.MethodsThe project had a descriptive explorative design with a phenomenological hermeneutic approach based on analysis of 14 in-depth interviews with older people and their relatives.FindingsOwn resources were identified such as belief in the future, spiritual belief, social network, having loved ones and pets. Technical aids were seen as helpful resources, working as indoor and outdoor security safeguards. These resources included having good telephone contact with social and professional networks as well as other forms of personal equipment such as a personal alarm. The professional network was a resource, acting as support when the patient's own abilities were not sufficient. Finally, having personnel who had the time and interest to listen was seen as crucial to experience safety.ConclusionsThe main reason for being able to continue homecare was the person's self-care system, their personal, social, and technical resources. Professional care development should anchor team work to the patient's own system of self and informal care.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
BMC, 2024
Keywords
Emotional support, Homecare, Instrumental support, Love, Multi morbidity, Next-of-kin, Older persons, Patient-centred care, Secure care
National Category
Health Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-68818 (URN)10.1186/s12877-024-05439-7 (DOI)001341470700003 ()39449112 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85207361349 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2024-11-06 Created: 2024-11-06 Last updated: 2025-10-10Bibliographically approved
Hjalmarsson, A., Östlund, G., Asp, M., Kerstis, B. & Holmberg, M. (2023). Balancing power: Ambulance personnel's lived experience of older persons' participation in care in the presence of municipal care personnel. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Balancing power: Ambulance personnel's lived experience of older persons' participation in care in the presence of municipal care personnel
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2023 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, ISSN 0283-9318, E-ISSN 1471-6712Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Background: Patient participation is considered to promote well-being and is, therefore, central in care contexts. Care-dependent older persons living at home constitute a vulnerable population with increased ambulance care needs. Care transfers risk challenging participation in care, a challenge that can be accentuated in situations involving acute illness.Aim: To illuminate meanings of older persons' participation in ambulance care in the presence of municipal care personnel from the perspective of ambulance personnel.Method: A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used to analyse transcripts of narrative interviews with 11 ambulance personnel.Results: The ambulance personnel's lived experience of older persons' participation includes passive and active dimensions and involves a balancing act between an exercise of power that impedes participation and equalisation of power that empowers participation. The main theme 'Balancing dignity in relation to manipulating the body' included the themes Providing a safe haven and Complying with bodily expressions, which means shouldering responsibility for existential well-being and being guided by reactions. The main theme 'Balancing influence in relation to perceived health risks' included the themes Agreeing on a common perspective, Directing decision-making mandate, and Sharing responsibility for well-being, which means shouldering responsibility for health focusing on risks. Influence is conditional and includes performance requirements for both the older person and municipal care personnel.Conclusion: Care-dependent older persons' participation in care from the perspective of ambulance personnel means recognising passive and active dimensions involving human dignity, the ability to influence care, and optimising care efforts through collaboration. This study provides a deepened understanding of the balancing of power involved in ambulance care determining participation, where power is equalised or exercised depending on personal engagement, health risks, and available care options. The knowledge provided holds the potential to improve ambulance care to benefit older persons in critical life situations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley, 2023
National Category
Nursing
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-62178 (URN)10.1111/scs.13162 (DOI)000947937400001 ()36908069 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85150591793 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2023-04-05 Created: 2023-04-05 Last updated: 2026-06-12Bibliographically approved
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ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-3068-5384

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