This centre was established in 2014 as a collaboration between the University and Dalarna County Council in recognition of the expertise on ageing and older people at the University. The centre’s aim is to contribute to the evidence-base for healthcare and social care practice and policy in this area.
The centre operates within the School of Health and Welfare. Members of the centre are based in many different departments at the University, with expertise covering a diverse range of disciplines and subject fields, including nursing, political science, psychology, English literature, social work, business intelligence, and energy efficiency. The centre also has associate members external to the University that it works with in order both to create synergies of expertise and skill, as well as to build interest networks.
ReCALL collaborates at a formal level with KIPS (Centre for Knowledge Implementation and Patient Safety); RePS - The Research Centre for Public Health and Sports (RePS); and RICH (Centre for Reproductive, Infant and Child Health). Researchers can be members of more than one centre, the result being that responsibility for some research projects is shared.
The members of ReCALL work on many diverse projects at the regional, national and international levels. At the core of the centre’s mission is collaborative work with regional actors and stakeholders as a means to ensure that older people within Dalarna experience a full and rich life in their later years.
Five senior researchers are affiliated with the centre, each heading a programme of research within his or her respective field of academic expertise:
- Kevin McKee, Director of ReCALL and Professor of Gerentology, with a special interest in physical, psychological and social changes related to ageing and how these affect the life quality of older people
- Johan Borg, Senior Lecturer in Medical Sciences with a focus on welfare technology and an interest in the access to, benefits of and costs for welfare technology
- Lena Dahlberg, Associate Professor of Social Work, with a special interest in social exclusion and loneliness among older people as well as in inequality in healthcare
- Marie Elf, Professor of Nursing and Docent, Healthcare Environments, with special interest in how to improve the design of new healthcare environments during planning stages and in the effect of architectural design on older people living in residential care facilities and people who are being cared for in stroke units
- Anna Cristina Åberg, Associate Professor of Physiotherapy, with a special interest in the connection between cognition and physical activity, fall prevention, and the development of mobile e-health solutions
Our senior researchers are members of the centre’s strategy group that also includes representatives from Dalarna’s municipalities and county council. The group meets twice per year both to discuss research and activities, and to plan developments for the future.
Each year, the centre holds two general meetings. Every semester, it holds a research seminar to highlight current research within one of the senior researcher's fields of study. In collaboration with the Kompetenscentrum för Kommunal Hälso- och Sjukvård (Swedish website), it organises professional development days on a specific theme, held annually each autumn. These events support the evidence-base for those working regionally within the fields of healthcare and social care for older people.
