vetenskapsrådets kartläggning, utvärdering och rekommendationer ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is the response to the government’s commissioning of the Swedish
Research Council to map and evaluate Swedish Care Sciences research
and, on the basis of this mapping and evaluation, to submit recommendations
to the government regarding future Care Sciences research in Sweden.
The Swedish Research Council’s mapping and evaluation and the hearings
that were held in Lund, Umeå, and Stockholm, show with great clarity
that Swedish Care Sciences research ranges over a very broad field and includes
a large number of subject areas. Several of these lie outside what is
traditionally considered the field of Medicine and Health.
The Swedish Research Council finds, in summary, that there is a need to
strengthen both the scientific basis of Care Sciences research and its linkage
to the needs of health and medical care.
Against this background the Swedish Research Council’s recommendations
are based on two fundamental conclusions: First, the great breadth of
caring research offers opportunities for new angles of approach and crosspollinating
collaborations of benefit to Swedish health and medical care.
The multi- and interdisciplinary character of Care Sciences research should
therefore be affirmed. This places special demands on the structures of funding,
for instance. Second, the deficiencies and weaknesses identified in the
evaluation and mapping should and can be addressed. Therefore the Swedish
Research Council proposes both structural changes and a new funding
structure, as well as measures for career development.
In brief, the Swedish Research Council’s recommendations comprise the
following:
1. Funding should be announced for the establishment of three to five Care
Sciences Research Centres. These centres should each be tied to up to five
independent research units that complement each other geographically
and in terms of subject area. Care Sciences Research Centres should be
supported 5+5 years, with an evaluation after the first five years.
2. Besides Care Sciences Research Centres, funding should be announced for
research programmes in Care Sciences research on the order of SEK 3–5
million/year, to be applied for consecutively.
3. To develop career opportunities, national graduate schools should be announced
oriented towards theory development and caring-related innovation.
Further, career support is proposed in the form of a total of 15
half-time research positions in caring-related environments.
VETENSKAPSRÅDETS KARTLÄGGNING, UTVÄRDERING OCH REKOMMENDATIONER ANGÅENDE SVENSK VÅRDFORSKNING 9