Research subjects

The Department of Public Health Sciences conducts research within a range of areas, primarily in the field of health inequality, which revolves around systematic differences in health and survival between individuals and between socially defined groups, as well as issues related to alcohol, drugs, and gambling.

The department hosts two research centers, CHESS (Centre for Health Equity Studies) and SoRAD (Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs).

Research

Our research areas

Public Health Sciences

Public health sciences concerns the study of public health and its determinants. As a research subject, public health sciences mean trying to understand health from the single individual to the whole society, why illness arises and how health can be promoted.

Research subjects

Alcohol, Narcotics, Doping, Tobacco and Gambling (ANDTG)

Social science research on individuals' (mis)use of various addictive substances and behaviours, and societal handling thereof, is a prominent research focus at the Department of Public Health Sciences.

Child and Adolescent Health

Our research aims to increase the knowledge about health and health-related habits among young people, such as mental health problems, smoking and alcohol habits. The research is based on sociological, psychological and epidemiological perspectives where both quantitative and qualitative data are used.

Health (In)equity

The study of health inequity, or health inequalities, is concerned with how health and life expectancy differ by social characteristics, in particular by social class, education, income/wealth and migration status.

Life Course Studies: Inter- and Multi-generational Perspectives

Applying a life-course perspective to health involves the recognition that living conditions during earlier stages of life - or even in earlier generations - matters for the development of health and well-being at both the individual and population levels.

Migration and Health

Applying a social determinants of health perspective, we study how risk factors, health, disease and mortality are distributed between migrants and natives. Specifically, we investigate how various downstream and upstream social factors contribute to the development, continuity, or reduction of health inequalities by country of origin.

Public Health Policy in the Welfare State

Within this area of research, we examine public health policy in various welfare systems. The research focuses on policy content, the organization and efforts of welfare systems, and health effects at both societal and individual levels.

Women’s Health and Gender Inequalities

Building upon concepts and theories from several different disciplines, we aim to understand and integrate both biological and social mechanisms that contribute to gender differences in health.