My research predominantly explores the experiences of people living with chronic illness, and their formal and informal social (and medical) support networks. I am interested in how people assemble and mobilise care practices for themselves and for human and non-human others, and how they negotiate the often competing demands of everyday life and the challenges of living with the uncertainties of diagnosis, fluctuating health condition(s), and wellbeing.
In particular, my interests focus on three interrelated research areas:
- The interplay between individuals’ care repertoires and the processes of care/caring for self and human and non-human others in everyday life over time
- Conceptualisations, experiences, and practices concerning health, illness, and (biomedical and non-biomedical) treatment
- Health social movements and public/patient participation in healthcare and health research
In addition, I am interested in sensory and affective ecologies, such as:
- The materiality and affectivity of feminist archives and archival objects as sites of care, memory work and creativity.
- Sensory and affective plant studies and plant-people ecologies.
Considerations of gender and other social differences form an integral part of my research.
My research is grounded in qualitative methodologies, especially ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation and interview. My aim is to work creatively, often in close collaboration with research participants, by developing the use of visual methods in medical anthropological research.
Keywords
Care/caring, medical pluralism, sensory and affective ecologies, temporalities
Main context
Chronic illness, COVID-19, neurodegeneration
Current research
COVID-19 patients’ illness experience and pathways to recovery (2020-2022)
This anthropological study explores the illness experiences of people diagnosed with and possibly treated for COVID 19, and examines participants’ care processes and repertoires through which they manage their physical, cognitive, emotional and social recovery. Methodologically, the study integrates medical and visual anthropology.
The study is funded by the Region Zealand and Næstved-Slagelse-Ringsted Hospitals, Denmark
Link to full article published by Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Patients online: Chronic Illness on Social Media (2018-2023)
This project follows and analyses the patterns of social media use and communication about illness related topics among people living with incurable cancer and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson Disease) in Denmark. Further details
The project is part of interdisciplinary research into social and human factors for successful health communication and health intervention, funded by the University of Southern Denmark. Further details
Completed research (selected)
Living with Multiple Sclerosis: an anthropological study of (self)care in everyday life with MS. Details (in Danish) (2018-2019; funded by Scleroseforeningen)
Link to full article published in Disability and Rehabilitation
Logics of Care: Men, Masculinities and Healthcare in Denmark (2015-2017), funded by the University of Southern Denmark
Link to article (video abstract) published in Medical Anthropology
Link to photo essay published in Medicine Anthropology Theory
Communication about complementary and alternative medicine in Danish oncological settings (2016-2017) Details (in Danish), funded by the Danish Health Authority
Link to article (abstract) published in Complementary Medicine Research
The ‘Doctor as Drug’: Embodied and gendered competence in clinical encounters (2015, with Helle Johannessen), funded by the University of Southern Denmark
Evaluating personalized effects of energy healing as an individualized intervention (2013-2014; Centre for Cross-disciplinary Evaluation Studies in Complementary and Alternative Medicine), funded by the Danish Health Authority
For related publications, see here
Citizen’s needs and attitudes to complementary and alternative medicine in Europe (2010-2012; CAMbrella, link), funded by European Commission, FP7-Health Programme
Herbal healthcare and processes of change: an ethnographic study of women’s practice and use of western herbal medicine in the UK (2004-2009), funded by The Open University, UK
Publications
A complete list of my research output can be found here.