PhD spotlight: Nina Therese Øversveen Svamo

PhD at BUK within mental health care for children and adolescents. 

This article was originally published on 25 October 2020.

Who are you?

Nina Therese Øversveen Svamo, 36, from Norway. I have a master’s degree in Mental Health Care from INN University. I have worked as a quality coordinator in a psychiatric clinic for children and adolescents, at Innlandet Hospital Trust.  My main area of expertise is within mental health care for children and adolescents.

What are you researching?

I am a part of the PhD Programme in Child and Youth Participation and Competence Development (BUK), in Lillehammer.

The PhD project is titled “Evaluation and Efficacy study for using the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) in psychiatric clinics for children and adolescents”.

In 2015 the CFI of the American Psychiatric Association was translated to Norwegian, a step supported and sponsored by the Norwegian Directorate of Health.

My study aims to test the “core CFI” – a semi-structured interview with 16 questions, and 12 modules.

The CFI examines patients’ ways of dealing with illness and health in relation to the context from which they emerge. My study aims to check whether the CFI fulfils its desired objective, as well as how the CFI impacts medical communication and person-centered care among patients aged 12-18 years, and clinicians.

What's in it for society?

The American Psychiatric Association’s definition of culture is “dynamic systems of knowledge, concepts, rules, and practices that are learned and transmitted across generations, including language, religion and spirituality, family structures, life-cycle stages, rituals, customs, and moral and legal systems.”

This understanding is central in my study.  Many of the patients admitted to psychiatric clinics for children and adolescents struggle with trust issues and lack of confidence in interactions with others, making it very important to construct safe rooms for treatment where the patients feel seen, heard and taken care of. Patient-centered and culturally-informed treatment, and the inclusion of mental health concerns in all healthcare is a national priority for sustainable and cost-effective healthcare. There is good reason to predict that the use of the CFI will affect the areas of user involvement, differential diagnosis and planning of treatment. All of these areas will be examined in the study. The study will be a contribution to patient-oriented and interdisciplinary research both locally, nationally and internationally. The study will be the first to use the CFI in the context of psychiatric clinics for children and adolescents.

What's next after your PhD?

I don’t have any concrete plans yet since I have just started my PhD. So, right now I have all possibilities open.

When not researching

I spend time with family and friends. I enjoy working out, especially running and cross-country skiing.

By Noorit Larsen
Published Nov. 24, 2021 12:57 PM - Last modified Nov. 24, 2021 1:27 PM