According to Associate Professor Viola Burau and Postdoc Michael Fehsenfeld from Aarhus University, it is crucial for vulnerable and socially disadvantaged people to have easier access to the healthcare system. In a new research project, which has received a total of DKK 1.3 million in support from the Nordisk Foundation and Helsefonden, the two researchers will investigate whether their hypothesis holds true.

2021.10.13 | Sabina Bjerre Hansen

Viola Burau and Michael Fehsenfeld's research project has received grants of DKK one million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and DKK 300,000 from Helsefonden. The money will be used to finance the appointment of a postdoc and a number of student assistants at Aarhus University's Department of Public Health. Photo: Simon Byrial Fischel, AU Health.

Vulnerable people are particularly negatively affected when they as patients must contact several different places to gain access to different healthcare services. Vulnerable people comprise a very diverse group who lack personal, material and social resources. They have frequent contact with the healthcare system, but still have poor opportunities to access and benefit from the healthcare services they need.

Over the next 18 months, Viola Burau and Michael Fehsenfeld will investigate what it will mean for this group of vulnerable people – and in particular those with mental disorders – to be given a single point of entry to the healthcare system in the form of a flexible core team (FACT) with relevant professionals from both the region and the municipality.

In the research project, the researchers will study the experiences that people with severe mental disorders have of the healthcare system. These experiences form the starting point for identifying the organisational practices that support coherent access to healthcare. Finally, the researchers will assess the effect of switching to flexible core teams in terms of citizens' health and quality of life and society's healthcare costs.

Contact

Associate Professor Viola Burau
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Mobile: (+45) 93 50 84 39
Email: viola@ph.au.dk

Postdoc Michael Fehsenfeld
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Mobile: (+45) 20 95 51 44
Email: mf@ph.au.dk