Ann-Therese Hedqvist
ResearcherI defended my PhD in 2025 with a dissertation on collaboration in organizational borderlands to achieve seamless care for patients with complex care needs. Since then, I have been working as a researcher in caring sciences at Linnaeus University in Kalmar. Alongside my research, I have been working clinically since 2017 as an ambulance nurse in the ambulance service of Region Kalmar County. My background is as a specialist nurse in prehospital emergency care and in elderly care. I also have a degree in informatics and have previously worked as a systems developer and educator in IT.
One of my aspirations is to be a part of developing working methods where healthcare staff work and communicate with each other and the patient as a person, where technology can streamline and support but not replace the human encounter. In my experience from ambulance care, municipal home care, and medical department, I have met the elderly person with complex care needs and seen the gaps that delimited the various activities. With a population that is getting older and living longer with chronic diseases, the elderly patient in need of coordinated care is frequently encountered. These persons are also primarily affected by care transitions and sensitive to when care is divided into small units and when care becomes fragmented.
Teaching
I supervise and assess bachelor's theses in the nursing program.
I am assistant supervisor for Mathias Karlsson, a doctoral student at Linnaeus University.
Research
Collaboration for integrated person-centered care
The ongoing transition to integrated person-centered care aims to shift from hospital-based care to a more proactive approach closer to the patient. With increasing age and longevity, we will face future challenges in ensuring safe and high-quality care across primary care, municipal healthcare, inpatient care, and ambulance care.
There are shortcomings in how professionals and healthcare providers collaborate and coordinate care for patients with complex care needs. However, every patient should have the right to feel that they are in good hands. Being in good hands means that the gaps between different parts of the healthcare system become less prominent, as the system functions as a whole with the patient at the center. With my research, I aim to contribute knowledge on bridging the boundaries between different healthcare providers and professions to achieve integrated care for patients with complex care needs.
Commissions
I am part of the operational team for the Centre of Interprofessional Collaboration within Emergency care (CICE) at Linnaeus University.
I also serve as Vice Chair of the Swedish National Association of Ambulance Nurses (RAS), which works to strengthen and advance the profession at the national level.
My research groups
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Centre of Interprofessional Collaboration within Emergency care (CICE) CICE is a Swedish knowledge centre at Linnaeus University, Campus Växjö, operating through an operative group, steering group and…
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The ReAction group – Resilient healthcare and patient activation Our research aims to improve the ability of healthcare systems to provide high quality, safe and equitable care throughout the…
My ongoing research projects
My completed research projects
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Doctoral project: Seamless care transitions for elderly people in need of coordinated care The project aims to explore how integrated care and a cohesive care chain can maintain good quality and safe…
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Project: Best practice of integrated care Optimizing health and quality of life for people living with chronic complex conditions requires radically rethinking ways to coordinate care and support…
Publications
Article in journal (Refereed)
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Hedqvist, A., Ljungholm, L., Svensson, A., Holmberg, M., Fagerström, C., et al. (2025). Collaboration between ambulance services and primary care : a scoping review protocol. BMJ Open. 15 (1).
Status: Published -
Hedqvist, A., Herrera, M.J. (2025). Ambulance clinicians’ perspectives on interprofessional collaboration in prehospital emergency care for older patients with complex care needs : a mixed-methods study. BMC Geriatrics. 25 (1).
Status: Published -
Hedqvist, A., Praetorius, G., Ekstedt, M., Lindberg, C. (2024). Entangled in complexity: An ethnographic study of organizational adaptability and safe care transitions for patients with complex care needs. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 1-18.
Status: Epub ahead of print -
Hedqvist, A., Lindberg, C., Hagerman, H., Svensson, A., Ekstedt, M. (2024). Negotiating care in organizational borderlands : a grounded theory of inter-organizational collaboration in coordination of care. BMC Health Services Research. 24 (1).
Status: Published -
Hedqvist, A., Holmberg, M., Bjurling‐sjöberg, P., Ekstedt, M. (2024). Bracing for the next wave : A critical incident study of frontline decision‐making, adaptation and learning in ambulance care during COVID‐19. Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Status: Epub ahead of print -
Hedqvist, A., Praetorius, G., Ekstedt, M. (2023). Exploring interdependencies, vulnerabilities, gaps and bridges in care transitions of patients with complex care needs using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method. BMC Health Services Research. 23 (1).
Status: Published -
Hedqvist, A., Svensson, A., Larsson, L.G. (2023). Nurses' experiences of person‐centred care planning using video‐conferencing. Nursing Open. 10 (3). 1879-1888.
Status: Published -
Hedqvist, A., Pennbrant, S., Karlsson, M. (2020). Older persons and relatives' experience of coordinated care planning via a video meeting. Nursing Open. 7 (6). 2047-2055.
Status: Published
Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
- Hedqvist, A. (2025). Collaboration in organizational borderlands – Achieving seamless care for patients with complex care needs. Doctoral Thesis. Växjö, Linnaeus University Press. 140.
Conference paper (Refereed)
- Hedqvist, A., Praetorius, G., Lindberg, C., Ekstedt, M. (2024). Optimizing resilient care transitions : The synergy of interprofessional collaboration and organizational adaptability. Presented at the Resilient Health Care Society Summer Meeting 2024, Stavanger, Norway, June 9-12, 2024.
- Hedqvist, A., Praetorius, G., Ekstedt, M. (2024). Integrating the FRAM and ethnography in nursing research : Insights from a project on complex care transitions. FRAMily-2024 & Safety-II in practice Workshops 2024 : Book of Abstracts. 23-23.
- Hedqvist, A., Ekstedt, M. (2024). Bridging Boundaries for Integrated Care : Constructing Interprofessional Collaboration Pathways for Complex Care Needs. The First Global Conference on Person-Centred Care: Knowledge(s) and Innovations for Health in Changing Societies : Abstract Book. 255-256.
- Hedqvist, A., Ekstedt, M. (2024). Resilience in Action : Frontline Decision-Making in Swedish Ambulance Services During COVID-19. Presented at the Resilient Health Care Society Summer Meeting 2024, Stavanger, Norway, June 9-12, 2024.
- Hedqvist, A., Hagerman, H., Lindberg, C., Svensson, A., Ekstedt, M. (2023). In pursuit of integrated care : Interprofessional collaboration in transitional care for older people with complex care needs. Presented at the Nordic Conference in Nursing Research, Reykjavik, Iceland, October 2-4, 2023.
- Hedqvist, A. (2022). In transition to a closer care : ambulance clinicians experiences of caring for older people with complex care needs. Presented at Caring in a Changing World - The 4th International NCCS & EACS Conference, Mälardalen University, Eskilstuna, Sweden, April 27-28, 2022.
- Hedqvist, A., Ingvarsson, E., Lindberg, C., Hagerman, H., Svensson, A., et al. (2022). Interlacing the threads of seamless care : Interprofessional collaboration in care transitions for older people with complex care needs. International Journal of Integrated Care. 360-360.
- Hedqvist, A., Praetorius, G., Ekstedt, M. (2022). Vulnerable patients in a complex system depend on interprofessional team adaptation at hospital discharge. International Society For Quality In Health Care (ISQua) 38th International Conference, Brisbane, Australia, October 17-20, 2022.
- Hedqvist, A. (2021). Safe care transitions for elderly people with complex care needs. Presented at the 15th Conference on Naturalistic Decision Making and 9th Symposium on Resilience Engineering (Emerging talents program, resilience engineering), Toulouse, France, June 21–24, 2021.
- Hedqvist, A., Svensson, A. (2019). Person-centered healthcare in coordinated care planning with video conference : Nurses’ perspective. Proceedings of the European Conference on Knowledge Management, ECKM 2019. 514-520.