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Ageing and elder care research group

The ageing and elder care research group is a multidisciplinary research group (incl. social gerontology, gerontological social work, health and social management, organization sciences), which addresses various elder care management and organizational issues and the wellbeing of older people from multi-agency perspectives. The effectiveness of services is also studied with different methodical approaches.

Aija Lulle (aija.lulle@uef.fi)

I am a migration scholar and geographer, currently working on a project Returning home? Making and imagining ageing futures. This research examines the lives of ageing people in the historical context of recent large-scale emigration and the unprecedented acceleration of population ageing in Eastern Europe. Its rationale originates from an urgent necessity to understand the wellbeing needs of ageing people. The theoretical approach is grounded in concepts from human geography and migration theory, focusing on migrants’ capabilities to aspire. The project utilises sensory, practical and imaginative homemaking practices.

Prior to my current research post, I was Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University, UK. My experience includes intense teaching and diverse fieldwork in Baltics, Nordic countries, border regions with Russia and the UK. In addition, I have significant leadership and administrative skills (as Director of the Diaspora and Migration Research Centre in Latvia (2014-2015) and as head of Doctoral Programmes in Geography and Environment in Loughborough (2021-2022).

 

Anna Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen (anna.maki-petaja-leinonen@uef.fi)

Anna Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen is Professor of Law and Ageing. Her research has focused on Elder Law combining jurisprudence (Civil Law and Social- and Medical Law) with social and medical sciences.
Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen received her PhD (law) from the University of Helsinki in 2003. The title of her thesis is “Legal Rights of People with Dementia”. Her second monograph (2013) deals with the legal possibilities to anticipate aging. In autumn 2017, she published a book “Basics of Elder Law” with Anja Karvonen-Kälkäjä.
Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen is involved in many research projects. She is sub-consortium PI in an international research project focusing on the specific issues concerning people who develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment while still working (MCI@work). She is also sub-consortium PI in national research project scrutinizing home-based palliative care of the elderly (MeRela). At the University of Eastern Finland, Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen leads the Neuro-Ethics and Law research team, which is part of the university’s multidisciplinary Neuroscience research community.
Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen teaches Elder and Guardianship law and is a teacher in course “Social Law Clinic”. She is docent (adjunct professor) in Family law at the University of Helsinki and docent (adjunct professor) in Elder law at the University of Lapland.

Elisa Tiilikainen (elisa.tiilikainen@uef.fi)

I am a social scientist interested in issues related to ageing and later life. Currently I work as an Associate Professor in Social Work at the Department of Social Sciences. My work includes work with research projects and teaching around questions related to social gerontology and gerontological social work. At the moment I am leading a four-year research project on old-age social inclusion in home care (SOLDEX) funded by the Research Counsil of Finland, and a workpackage on digital health technologies and services of older adults (75+) as part of a Nordic collaboration project (HAIDI). In addition, I am involved in several multidisciplinary programs and networks.

In my PhD I examined loneliness from a life course perspective identifying different pathways behind loneliness in later life and exploring how loneliness changes in time. I have also examined experiences of loneliness from the perspective of people living with aphasia and older migrant women. My studies have highlighted the multidimensional and dynamic nature of loneliness and its individual meanings in relation to different life events and transitions. In my studies I have used mostly qualitative methodologies, but I’m interested in finding ways to combine different methods, especially from longitudinal perspectives.

Hanna Varjakoski (hanna.varjakoski@uef.fi)

I currently work as a postdoctoral researcher in the HAIDI project at the University of Eastern Finland. My background is in the Humanities, and I received my PhD in Media Studies in the University of Turku, Finland. In my dissertation, I examined the Finnish media landscape of the 2000s and what it produces and challenges as regards cultural imageries and understandings of ageing, older individuals and later life. The study focused on analyzing age representations on social media, popular fiction film and selected TV-makeover shows with a gender sensitive approach.

My research interests are in the field of cultural gerontology, in particular, but I have also worked as a researcher e.g. in a project that examined older adults’ neighbour relations and age diversity in the neighborhood.

I teach in courses that address questions related to cultural ageing, media, digitalization and health.

Henna Nikumaa (henna.nikumaa@uef.fi)

Henna Nikumaa (Master of Social Services) works as a Lecturer in Elder Law and coordinator of the Center of Law and Welfare.

Nikumaa’s research has focused on autonomy and supporting the legal capacity of people with dementia, which also her doctoral thesis scrutinizes. In addition to the subjects of her doctoral thesis, Nikumaa is also interested in the equality of elderly and disabled people as well as challenges of autonomy and protection of people with dementia.

Nikumaa has worked for 20 years in various positions in the field of elder care. Especially she has led projects that developed and strengthened later life legal planning, equality and the rights of people with dementia. She has published, in particular, articles and textbooks for social and health care professionals.

Nikumaa has completed a master’s degree in leadership and management and has many years of experience in management and supervision from different organizations as well as from different research and development projects. She is a member of the European Law and Ageing Network (ELAN) and of an European expert group that works on recommendations for an EU-wide dementia strategy. She is also a co-founder of the Finnish network of Elder Law Experts (VAASI).

Ismo Linnosmaa (ismo.linnosmaa@uef.fi)

My research focus is on health economics. My current work concentrates on costs, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of health and social services provided for old people, economics of ageing, and the markets for health and social care and pharmaceuticals.

Jenni Spännäri (jenni.spannari@uef.fi)

Jenni Spännäri, ThD, is a researcher in sociology of religion. Her research interests include ageing, religious change, wisdom, spiritual growth and compassion.

Kaijus Ervasti (kaijus.ervasti@uef.fi)

I’m working in the Center of Law and Welfare and in research group Neuroethics and Law in UEF Neuroscience Community. I’m leading research project Shadows in paradise? The rights of people living with dementia in a welfare state (VAPA; 2022-2025) funded by Kone Foundation. I’m also leader of one work package (WP4) in research project Safeguarding welfare in times of pandemics: towards collaborative governance of syndemics (WELGO; 2021 – 2024), funded by Strategic Research Council. I’m also leading research project Access to justice for marginalized groups of older people in ageing society (AMIS; 2023-2027) and project Realization of rights of people with epilepsy in welfare state (VAHVA; 2023-).