Recently Dr. Gustaf Hedström joined the STRIA project and the part about studying digital work environments in health care. Marta Larusdottir interviewed him, for getting to know this new member of the team. In the following are the questions asked in the interview and the answers from Gustaf.
- You are a new member in the STRIA project Gustaf, what will be your role in the project?
My exact role will vary between the different studies included in the project but as a health care professional I hope to contribute with my knowledge about, and hopefully add further perspectives on, the health care system and its specific conditions.
- What is your educational and work related background?
I have a slightly varied background. I am a medical doctor, with a speciality in anaesthesia and intensive care. I have also for some years worked with oncology – I have a PhD in clinical oncology and was until recently the head of the oncology department at Västerås hospital. But I have also worked with digitalisation within the healthcare sector and that is where my main interest lies now.
- Why are you interested in studying digital work environment issues?
The healthcare sector is facing some major challenges with an older population, declining tax base due to fewer people in the work force and medical progress. This often also means more expensive treatments and an organisational structure not suited for todays challenges. One part of the solution is digitalisation. However, as a medical professional I have seen higher number of bad IT systems than good IT systems being implemented and the extra workload that entails for the staff thereof.
- What do you particularly look forward to doing in the STRIA project?
It is not so much a specific thing that I look forward to doing, instead I look forward to the whole work. What really excites me is the possibility for the outcome of the project to really impact the work with IT systems within the healthcare sector.
- What are the main challenges you see in the project?
One challenge I can see in the project – whether it’s the main or not, I don’t know – is the difficulty to transform the research findings to something that is actually used outside the academy in the future and hopefully sooner than later.
