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Research group Cultural Medicine, Dept of LIME, KI

Solvig Ekblad, research group leader

- Oksana Gramatik, Ukrainian psychologist, affiliated

- Yuliia Suprun, Ukrainian psychologist, affiliated

- Professor of Multicultural Health and Care Research, Cultural Medicine Unit, Department of LIME, Karolinska Institututet (KI), since 2015
- Licensed psychologist at Academic Primary Health Care Center, Region Stockholm, since 2014
*Some previous appointments*
- Senior researcher, Dept of LIME (2010-2014)
- PI Section for stress research, KI (1986-94), Head (IPM, migration and health, 1994-2007), group leader (Stress Research Institute 2007-2010)
- Guest professor, 15%, Malmö University, Faculty of Health and Society
- Adjunct lecturer, 20% Dept of Neurotec, KI, Center for Psychiatric Research, Stocholm
- Clinical psychologist 1974-1985 (psychiatry), community (1986), primary health care (2014- parttime)

Graduated as B.A. Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, University of Uppsala, 1972 and M.A. Psychology, University of Umeå, 1974

Interruptions in research. Parent temporary leave: 1981-82 Care of two newborn babiesDoctor Medical Sciences, PhD (psychiatry), ̽����ѡ (KI), Huddinge university hospital, Dept of psychiatry, Title: Social Determinants, Restrcitive Environment and of Aggressive Behaviour in a Sample of Chinese Primary School Children, supervisor: professor Bengt Jansson, MD, PhD, 1986
Visiting scientists (1 v) prof Michael Rutter, London University 1986 and in PRChina 1988-1990
Associate Professor in Transcultural Psychology at ̽����ѡ, 1992, Professor competence 2006 (KI- Dnr 176/05-221)

Adjunct professor in multicultural health and care research at ̽����ѡ, Dept LIME, Feb 1, 2015- ongoingLicensed psychologist, National Board of Health and Welfare, 1978

Present position (Oct 1 2015 – ongoing): Licensed psychologist, Academic primary health care center, Region Stockholm, working part-time in primary care in a suburb of Stockholm where socially disadvantaged groups are living 2014- ongoing, adjunct professor at the Dept LIME, ̽����ѡ, Head, Research group Cultural Medicine.

Other assignments (Solvig Ekblad)

Coordinator. A scientific network for national and international PhD-studies in the field of migration, social medicine, global mental health, (1993-2011)
(www.fas.se)
Co-chair (prof Derrick Silove, NSW, Australia), Intl Committee for Mental Health of Migrants and Refugees, World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH)
(1997-2000)

Mentor: 2 female post doc (2002, 2008), 1 male PhD (2009-2014)

Member of scientific review group for applications (PhD students and post doc) to Care Sciences, KI, 2003-2009

Member of ̽����ѡ’s Ethical Council, Stockholm (2005-2009)

Member of scientific board, DIGNITY (former RCT), Copenhagen, Denmark (2009-2013)

Erasmusprogram, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), centre for Psychiatry, August 15-29, 2013

Expert candidate number EX2013D152061 European Comission, November 29, 2013 ()

International expert for UNHCR at seminar “Mental Health and Psychosocial. Treatment for Victims of Trafficing, Torture and Rape, in Tel Aviv, 10-12 December 2013

Medical expert in the ̽����ѡ reference group, 1, 6&2, 6miljonerklubben (www.1.6miljonerklubben.com). 2014-

Expert National Board of Health and Welfare’s report Hälso- och sjukvård och tandvård till asylsökande och nyanlända. Slutrapport oktober 2016.

Member of an Expert Panel Group in the field of  Migration and Mental Health, Evaluation of applications, The Research Council of Norway, Oslo, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2024

Member of the Committee for Development Research in Migration and Integration in the Swedish Research Council, to plan a 10 year national research program regarding Migration and Integration, June 30, 2017-. www.vr.se

Academic Secretary in Swedish Ethical Review Authority, Stockholm “Other”, April 1, 2023-

Member of the Comission of Health and Function, Rehabilitation International, November 4, 2022, website: www.riglobal.org

Reviewer of several international journas with open access

Diplom

Transcultural psychiatry. Scholarship in the name of  prof Bengt Jansson, KI, 1999

Majblomman. Queen Sylvia gave the diploma at a ceremony, Castle, Stockholm, 2006

Diplom for excellent supervision on the course Master in Medicine Spring 2012 at ̽����ѡ

(Fanny Berger, ceremony June 5, 2014) (Johanna Roman nominated 1/20 ceremony June 5, 2015, Julia Carlsson nominated 1/20 ceremony January 15, 2016

Scholarship holder (Stipendiat) at Villa San Michele Capri, Italy between July 29 - August 18, 2020,

Butterfly prize 2023 from KSAN (Professor Solvig Ekblad tilldelades årets Fjärilspris 2023 av KSAN, )

Our increasingly global and multicultural society alongside an egalitarian and sustainable health care policy places new demands on us all.

I have long national and international experience in research, teaching, and supervising. I coordinated for ten years a national and international network of doctoral students and researchers in migration, social medicine, and mental health. I have been one of the international facilitators and coordinator at Harvard course Global mental health: trauma and recovery, consultant for IOM, WHO, and UNHCR.

My research area is in multicultural health and care research. I have supervised and being examintor at KI and international universities: 

International PhD as experts/examinators: (7 Australia, 1 Denmark, 1 Norway, 4 Sweden)

Main supervisor, PhD, KI 12, co-supervisor 2, expert 2)

Main supervisor, Licentiate, KI: 2

Examination Board excl own PhD students (since 1994-):

Half-time: 21

PhD: 21

I give the following examples of research projects and publications:

1. Expert (Solvig Ekblad) in two ESF-project: www.ukrainakompetens.se (Care-Ukrainare i Härnösand 2022/00433, Fast Care-Ukraina 23-043-S68) Group intervention (Hälsoskola) toward Ukrainian refugees (EU:s massflyktsdirektiv) and supervising two Ukrainian psychologists, affiliated to Ekblad’s research group (Oksana Gramatik and Yuliia Suprun). 

The research group is at present involved with planning a cooperation with a local NGO in Ukraine to adapt the short group intervention followed by MHealth app for primary and/or secondary traumatized Ukraines.

Publications:

Ekblad, S. Hälsoskola -hälsofrämjande utbildning för nyanlända. (sidor 335-352). Ekblad, S., Rothlind, E. (red) Hälsa och mångfald – ett kliniskt perspektiv. Liber 2022

Solvig Ekblad invited to talk ”Trauma, risk, resilience and transgenerational effects”. On the first international and scientific and methodological forum entitled Psychological Trauma of War, September 12, 2022, Warsaw, Poland

Ekblad, S., Gramatik, O., Suprun, Y. ”Hälsoskola, a short cultural and trauma-gocused heath promotion group intervention is a success factor for increasing health literacy and manage stress and future worries. An explorative study towards Ukrainan refugees (EU:s massrefugee directive). Poster presented 14 september 2023 at the World Health Day, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Ekblad, S., Gramatik, O., and Suprun, Y. Increasing perceived health and mental health literacy among separated refugee Ukrainian families with urgent needs occasioned by invasion - a group intervention study with participatory methodology in Sweden. Frontiers in Public Health 2024. 12:1356605.

Ekblad, S., (presenter) Gramatik, O., Suprun, Y. Experiences and observations from a health and mental health literacy point for displaced Ukrainian families in Sweden – group participatory co-creation methodology in reducing barriers to work. World Congress on Rehabilitation 2024 in Abu Dhabi, September 23-25. www.wcri2024ad.com.

2. Early mental health promotion measures are needed. Events that elicit stress after arrival in the reception country, “postmigration stress”,
have a negative impact on health-related quality of life among newcomers. An innovative model, adapted from a Harvard model (professor Richard Mollica) of culturally tailored health promotion groups for refugees have been performed by my research group among newcoming refugees and relatives in several Swedish contexts with promising results. The results are of significance not only for the individual and his/her relatives but also for healthcare and society as a whole. We have collaborated before Covid-19 in several communities, on a small scale. After Covid-19, a pilot study was performed at Röda Korsets folkhögskola, Skärholmen (KI-Stockholm city agreement). This intervention is also significant for chronic patients as foreign borns have higher amount of public health disorders (eg diabetes, heart problems, cancer) than the Swedish borns.

Publication:

Ekblad, S. To increase mental health literacy and human rights among new-coming, low-educated mothers with experience of war: a culturally, tailor-made group health promotion intervention with participatory methodology addressing indirectly the children. Frontiers in Psychiatry, Community case study. ID 476241, Accepted June 11, 2020, published July 8, 2020:11, article 611, 1-6. www.frontiers.org

3. Technological progress and changes in health care practices, with an increased focus on clinical communication and contemplation, have
successively led to the increased use of simulation models (Virtual patients including Virtual interpreter and Virtual supervisor) as a method of
instruction, learning and clinical interviewing within the field of medicine. To achieve this, my research group chose a strategy of developing
computerised patient simulations in national (SU) and international (Harvard) collaborations, where ̽����ѡ students and in future psychology students and resident doctors can practice and provide feedback to a virtual counsellor. A project funded by FORTE and ALF-Ped is entitled “Virtual Clinical Encounters between doctors and refugee patients for ̽����ѡ assessment and
follow-up: To develop, test and evaluate the impact on empathy” (Erica Rothlind, PhD in 2020).

Publications:

Rothlind, E. (2020). /Overlooking health acculturation: a grounded theory study illustrating the complexity of intercultural consultation in Swedish
primary care. //Diss./ ̽����ѡ, Stockholm.
Rothlind, E., Fors, U., Salminen, H., Wändell, P., & Ekblad, S. (2021). Virtual patients reflecting the clinical reality of primary care - a useful
tool to improve cultural competence. /BMC Med Educ, 21/(1), 270.doi:10.1186/s12909-021-02701-z
Rothlind, E., Fors, U., Salminen, H., Wandell, P., & Ekblad, S. (2020). The informal curriculum of family medicine - what does it entail and how is it
taught to residents? A systematic review. /BMC Fam Pract, 21/(1), 49. doi:10.1186/s12875-020-01120-1
Rothlind, E., Fors, U., Salminen, H., Wandell, P., & Ekblad, S. (2018). Circling the undefined-A grounded theory study of intercultural consultations
in Swedish primary care. /PLoS One, 13/(8), e0203383. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0203383
Rothlind E, Fors U, Salminen H, Wandell P, Ekblad S. Primary care consultations on emotional distress – a part of the acculturation process
in patients with refugee backgrounds. A grounded theory approach. BMC Fam Pract/. 2021:22:138.

4. Serious parental illness is a risk factor of ill health in the children of  the family. Health care staff in Sweden is legally obliged to ensure that the
children of seriously ill parents are informed and have received advice and support regarding their parents’ illness. In primary health care, no method that can help parents communicate information about their illness to their children exists. The aim of this doctoral project (Charlotte Oja) was to test the safety and effects of the psycho-educational method “Let´s Talk about the Children” for use in primary health care for helping seriously ill parents to relate information about their illness to their children (Charlotte Oja, PhD, 2021)

Publications:

Oja, C. Upholding family relationships in a context of increasing awareness of parental illness./ Inst för neurobiologi, vårdvetenskap och samhälle /
Dept of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society; Dissertation KI, 2021.
Oja, S., Edbom, T., Nager, A., Månsson, J., Ekblad, S. Awareness of parental illness: a grounded theory of upholding family equilibrium in parents on
long-term sick-leave in primary health care. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care.Published online: 21 Jun 2021.

Oja, S., Edbom, T., Nager, A., Månsson, J., Ekblad, S. Informing children of their parent’s illness: A systematic review of intervention programs with
child outcomes in all health care settings globally from Inception to 2019. PLOS ONE, PPS-2019-10-9, accepted May 11, published May 26.
2020:15(5):e0233696. [1] 0233696
Oja, C., Edbom, T., Nager, A., Månsson J., Ekblad, S. Alone Making Life Work for Both of Us- How Children Aged 11–16 View Themselves in Relation to Their Chronically Ill Parents in a Primary Health Care Context, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth,
[2] (No 27, 2018)

5. Translation/backtranslation and validation of General Medical Council Multi-Source Feedback Questionnaires for evaluation clinical competence among residence doctors in family medicine a pilot project and supervisor in VESTA (residence doctors in Family Medicine (AT/ST unit at APC).
Publications:
Olsson, J-E, Ekblad, S., Bertilson, BC., Toth-Pal, E. Swedish adaptation of the General Medical Council's Multi Source Feedback Questionnaires – A
qualitative study. International Journal of Medical Education, 2018;9:161-169. doi:10.5116/ijme.5af6.c209
Olsson, J-E., Wallentin, V.Y., Toth-Pal, E., Ekblad, S., Bertilson, BC. Psychometric analysis of the Swedish version of the General Medical
Council’s multi-source feedback questionnaires. International Journal of Medical Education 2017;8:252-261 [3] DOI:
10.5116/ijme.5948.0bb6

Executive and professional learning (Uppdragsutbildning, KI) in charge:

1. METIS/SK-course for residence doctors in psychiatry; 5:37 Transcultural psychiatry including asylum- and refugee questions (Transkulturell psykiatri inkl asyl- och flyktingfrågor), Stockholm, 25-30 each time/one week/year.  Responsible for the course: Solvig Ekblad (20 times:1993-96, 1998-99, 2004-07, 2009-10, 2013, 2015-2019, 2021 Feb/zoom due to Covid-19, 2023, 5-7 March 2025 planned), from 2013 two days web based on ping-pong including MCQ, Case before and after the 3 days’ course. Very good evaluation (latest 2023: How do you rate the course as a whole?” 5, 17 (1=very poor, 6= very good). Since 2023 every participant receive a copy of the book Ekblad, S., Rothlind, E. (eds) Health and diversity - a clinical perspective (Hälsa och mångfald – ett kliniskt perspektiv). Stockholm: Liber 2022

2.Course for 20-25 residence doctors in Family medicine, Ethics, diversity and equity with focus primary care, Academic primary health care center, SLSO (together with Erica Rothlind, specialist in Family medicine, PhD, and Cultural Medicin at KI/LIME); since 2017, 4 times per year, very good evaluation (latest June 2024: How do you rate the course as a whole?” median 5, 0 (1=very poor, 6= very good) . Since 2023 every participant receive a copy of the book Ekblad, S., Rothlind, E. (eds) Health and diversity - a clinical perspective (Hälsa och mångfald – ett kliniskt perspektiv). Stockholm: Liber 2022

3.Webbased: Introduction to the Swedish health care and health organization for staff with education from countries outside EU/EES (Introduktion till svensk hälso- och sjukvård för personal med utbildning från länder utanför EU/EES). Publication: Michelle Azorbo. Uppdatering av uppskattad introduktion till svensk hälso- och sjukvård. ̽����ѡ, publicerad 2023-03-09 (Solvig Ekblad intervjuad) ;

4.BT-eduation. From May 2022, yearly 3 hours, twice a year since January 2023-, for 40 ̽����ѡ doctors with education from abroad. Title: Ethics, equity and cultural encountering. Together with Charlotte Oja, MD; PhD, talking about “Children as relatives”

5. AT-education, Akademic primary health care center, Region Stockholm, SLSO for about 40 ̽����ѡ doctors, 3 hours per year entitled  Transkultural encountering in primary care

6.Program Co-Director (2012-2015); Member of intl Faculty in Master Program “Global Mental Health – Trauma and Recovery”. 2 weeks on site and 5 months web-based learning. Yearly 40 international students. Alumini network( www.hprt-cambridge.org) Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma –  Oriveto Porano, Italy