Maria Hansson

I have been working with development issues related to the demographic change and the challenges it poses for health and social care for several years. Demographic trends characterised by low population growth, increasing life expectancy, and changing needs affect societies worldwide, as they lead to growing demands for health and social care services while simultaneously increasing the challenges of recruiting and retaining staff within the welfare sector. This has contributed to a greater emphasis on enabling older adults to live and age independently in their own homes for as long as possible.

Although this is necessitated by financial and workforce constrains, research suggests that independence, particularly within Western cultures and contexts, could be associated with well-being among older adults. However, services and interventions for older adults living at home are not yet sufficiently adapted to meet their needs. Furthermore, the assessment and evaluation of independence of older adults primarily focus on physical and functional aspects, typically measured through objective assessments.

Knowledge regarding independence among older adults from their own perspective remains limited. Greater understanding in this area could contribute to the development of interventions that promote independence and healthy ageing, while also meeting societal expectations for older adults to remain in their own homes for longer. As health and social care should be based on the best available evidence, there is a need for greater knowledge of the nature of subjective independence, as well as validated instruments that can assess and monitor subjective independence among older in this context.

Ongoing project

My PhD project, IN AGE, aims to explore independence among individuals aged 65 years and older who live and age in their own homes, and to develop and psychometrically evaluate an instrument for measuring subjective independence in this population. The project is conducted in accordance with established methods for instrument development. In the first two studies, a systematic literature review and a qualitative interview study, the phenomenon of subjective independence among the target population is explored. The findings from these studies form the basis for the development of the questionnaire items. The, the project further involves expert evaluation of the content validity of items, cognitive interviews with the target population, and psychometric evaluation. I am also a member of a research group called Living with Complex Life-Limiting Conditions (Co-Life) at Sophiahemmet University.