Ann-Therese Hedqvist

I 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

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.