The network for research on the governance and organization of the Swedish healthcare system

The governance and organization of the Swedish healthcare system remains consistently relevant.

Key challenges facing the healthcare system today include an increasing elderly population, low productivity, coordination issues, and staff shortages.

The organizational perspective has also been brought up to the forefront through the ongoing Government Inquiry into the nationalization of the Swedish healthcare system.Until recently, however, Swedish research on the governance and organization of healthcare has been fragmented and largely confined to separate academic disciplines.

This prompted the establishment of the Network for Research on the Governance and Organization of the Swedish Healthcare System in 2022, following a network grant from Forte.

The network comprises a mix of senior and junior researchers from six universities and is coordinated by Ulrika Winblad from the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences at Uppsala University.

The network has been welcomed by the research community as a much-needed multidisciplinary national forum for the exchange of research and ideas.The network has organized several activities, including network meetings, a large national conference, and writing retreats for smaller research groups.

The network´s broad interdisciplinary composition fosters the integration of knowledge about healthcare governance and organization from various scientific perspectives.

Planned activities include new network meetings, a national conference, a meeting exclusively for PhD students, and a seminar aimed at politicians and officials.