About
Mia Vabø, professor in sociology, has long experience as senior researcher and research director at the Centre for Welfare and Work life research (OsloMet). She has participated in numerous international research networks and research projects hereunder a Nordic cross-sectional survey among care workers (NORDCARE I and II). She has initiated and led a range of major research projects providing insight into the way in which care workers are living the consequences of shifting policies and modes of governance. Her current research interests centres around learning environment in health and social care work and –how political, cultural and institutional changes shape the context of day-to-day work and the personal learning environments of care workers.
Fields of study
Academic disciplines
Sociology Public and private administration Social sciences
Subject areas
Care-taking of elders Nursing Homes Reablement / restorative home care Interprofessional collaboration Care services Human service organization Governance trends Co-production Care ideology
Research groups
Research projects
Completed research projects
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CONTEXT – Creating Integrated Person-centred Care in Different Settings
This project addresses how settings and contexts which enhance people-centred care can be created.
-
Improving trust-based management in Nordic urban governance and management education
This project explores how ongoing management reforms are conceptualised and put into practice in two Nordic cities.
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Graff, Lea;
Vabø, Mia
(2025).
Coping within constrained social care: emotion work, collective rulemaking, and prioritisation in Nordic eldercare.
European Journal of Social Work.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2025.2503806
Vabø, Mia (2024). Tillit og rettferdighet: Erfaringer fra hjemmetjenesten i Oslo. Johnsen, Åge; Svare, Helge (Ed.). Tillitsreformer og tillitsbasert styring og ledelse. Fagbokforlaget.
Jensen, Maya F.;
Vabø, Mia
(2023).
Making assessment protocols workable: Navigating transparency and person-centredness in Norwegian reablement.
18 p.
Sociology of Health and Illness.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13710
Graff, Lea;
Vabø, Mia
(2023).
Unravelling the dichotomisation of care and reablement: an ethnographic exploration of contradictions between policy rhetoric and practice in Danish and Norwegian eldercare.
16 p.
International Journal of Care and Caring.
Vol. 8.
https://doi.org/10.1332/23978821Y2023D000000001
Graff, Lea;
Vabø, Mia
(2023).
Making sense of reablement within different institutional contexts. Collaborative service ideals in Norwegian and Danish home care.
13 p.
International Journal of Social Welfare.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12580
Vabø, Mia
; Zechner, Minna; Stranz, Anneli; Graff, Lea; Sigurveig, Sigurdadottir
(2022).
Is Nordic elder care facing a (new) collaborative turn?.
Social Policy & Administration.
https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12805
Drange, Ida
;
Vabø, Mia
(2021).
A Cross-sectional Study of Sustainable Employment in Nordic Eldercare.
21 p.
Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies.
Vol. 11.
https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.128595
Elstad, Jon Ivar
;
Vabø, Mia
(2021).
Lack of recognition at the societal level heightens turnover considerations among Nordic eldercare workers: a quantitative analysis of survey data.
10 p.
BMC Health Services Research.
Vol. 21.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-06734-4
Øye, Christine;
Norvoll, Reidun
;
Vabø, Mia
(2021).
'Keeping up appearances' - Negotiating identities of being fit in older age: A multi-site ethnographic study of daily life in contemporary day centres.
17 p.
Ageing & Society.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X2100163X
Vabø, Mia ; Drange, Ida ; Amble, Nina (2019). Den vanskelige deltidsknuten en særnorsk utfordring som rammer unge helsefagarbeidere. 16 p. Fagbladet samfunn og økonomi.
