The Future of Health and Care: From Understanding Disease to Transforming Services

“That means the same staff are expected to care for more people with increasingly complex needs. This is why this research initiative is so important,” says Professor Minna Pikkarainen, who leads OsloMet’s research initiative on Future Health and Care Services.

Pikkarainen emphasizes that vulnerability is not limited to older adults. Children with disabilities and other groups requiring specialized support must also be part of the picture.

Norway is currently implementing a healthcare reform aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health services. OsloMet seeks to contribute evidence, methods, and solutions that address real societal challenges.

“Take stroke as one example,” she notes. “Every year around 12000 people in Norway experiences a stroke and need support from occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses - the very professionals we educate at our university. But resources to support the patients at home are limited,” she says.

Research to support reform

“We already collaborate with municipalities and healthcare providers to understand workforce challenges, service capacity, and the everyday realities of care delivery. Together, we explore how technology, new ways of working, and better service design can support patients, professionals, and health services.”

Pikkarainen sees the research initiative as a platform for connecting research, practice, and policy.

“Healthcare services are undergoing significant change. Decision-makers need robust and up-to-date evidence to develop solutions that are effective, sustainable, and grounded in real-world needs. OsloMet can contribute by bringing together researchers, municipalities, healthcare providers, patients, and industry partners to co-create and evaluate new approaches.”

She also draws on her previous experience from healthcare reforms in Finland.

“Some Norwegian municipalities look to Finland as a source of inspiration. The Finnish reforms achieved positive results in some areas, while other aspects proved more challenging. We need to learn from both successes and setbacks when shaping future health and care services,” she says.

Balancing technology and relational care

“How do we use AI, sensors, digital tools, and emerging technologies in ways that are safe, effective, and beneficial for patients? This is one of the central questions we need to address,” says Pikkarainen.

“Technology is transforming healthcare rapidly, but we need research to understand where it adds value, where it may create new challenges, and how it can be used responsibly.”

She cautions against assuming that technological innovation automatically leads to better outcomes.

“New tools can improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up, but their value depends on how they are implemented and integrated into health and care services. We need robust evidence to understand what works, for whom, and under what circumstances.”

Drawing on her experience working at the intersection of engineering, innovation, business development, and healthcare, Pikkarainen emphasizes that successful innovation requires more than technological advances.  

Collaboration across disciplines and sectors

“Developing new technologies is only one part of the challenge. We also need to understand how innovations fit into clinical workflows, how they create value for patients and healthcare professionals, and how they can be successfully implemented and scaled.”

She believes that addressing future health and care challenges requires collaboration across disciplines and sectors.

“The complex challenges facing healthcare today cannot be solved by a single profession or research field. We need engineers, health professionals, social scientists, municipalities, patient organizations, industry partners, and decision-makers to work together if we want innovations to make a meaningful difference.”

Pikkarainen also highlights the importance of translating research into practice.

“Research should not stop at generating knowledge. We need to ensure that knowledge leads to better services, better health outcomes, and more sustainable health and care systems. That requires continuous dialogue between researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and the people who use these services.”

Outcomes and long term impact

“Outcome measures must be tailored to the specific research question,” says Pikkarainen.

“We cannot define a single set of outcomes for an entire thematic area that spans everything from diagnostics and AI to nutrition, ageing, health services, and preventive interventions.”

She notes that different projects require different measures of success.

“In some studies, the focus may be on diagnostic accuracy, disease progression, or treatment outcomes. In others, it may be quality of life, patient experiences, workforce sustainability, health behaviors, service effectiveness, or implementation in practice. The choice of outcomes should reflect the problem being addressed.”

Pikkarainen also stresses that there is no single path to generating evidence.

“Clinical trials are important, but they are only one part of the evidence landscape. Depending on the research question, we may use implementation studies, observational research, qualitative methods, technological evaluations, or real-world data. What matters is choosing the right method for the challenge at hand.”

Ultimately, she believes researchers should focus on long-term impact and on improving the lives of people who face health-related challenges in their everyday lives.

“Regardless of the method, we need to be clear about how research contributes to better health outcomes, stronger services, more sustainable health and care systems, and improved quality of life. Those are the outcomes we should work towards together.”

Connecting academia, industry, and services

Pikkarainen emphasizes that addressing future health and care challenges requires collaboration across sectors and disciplines.

“Research has the greatest impact when it is developed in close dialogue with those who will use the knowledge. Healthcare providers, municipalities, patient organizations, industry partners, and policymakers all bring important perspectives and expertise.”

She highlights both municipalities and hospitals as particularly important partners. 

For instance, related to municipalities, she mentions “Municipalities are facing growing demands related to ageing populations, chronic diseases, workforce pressures, and healthcare reform. We need to understand their priorities and work together on solutions that address real-world challenges.”

At the same time, she sees opportunities to strengthen collaboration between academia and industry.

“Industry can contribute technology, innovation capacity, and practical implementation perspectives, while researchers contribute evidence and independent evaluation. The key is to build partnerships around shared challenges and complementary expertise.”

According to Pikkarainen, successful innovation depends on bringing together the right people with the right expertise around a common problem.

“The most important question is not who is involved, but what challenge we are trying to solve. When we start from a meaningful societal need, we can bring together the knowledge and partners needed to create impact.”

AI research challenges

Artificial intelligence is already playing an increasingly important role across the health and care sector, from diagnostics and decision support to personalized interventions, service planning, and research.

“At the same time, AI brings important challenges. AI systems can generate inaccurate or misleading information, produce results that are not true, and reflect biases present in the data on which they are trained. In healthcare, where people's wellbeing and sometimes their lives depend on accurate decisions and treatments, these limitations make responsible development, evaluation, and governance essential.”

Pikkarainen points to data management and governance as critical foundations for future health and care research.

“As health research increasingly relies on AI, digital technologies, sensors, and large datasets, we need robust systems for managing data securely and responsibly. This is not only a technical issue but also a prerequisite for high-quality research and innovation. The challenges are both practical and ethical.”

“Researchers need support in navigating data security, ethical approvals, regulatory requirements, and the safe development of AI-enabled solutions. These questions arise across many projects, yet the pathways are not always clear.”

She believes OsloMet has an opportunity to strengthen institutional support in this area.

“We should create forums where researchers can share experiences, learn from each other, and access expert guidance. Building competence in areas such as data management, ethics, AI governance, and implementation will become increasingly important as health research becomes more data-driven and technology-enabled.”

Ultimately, Pikkarainen sees these capabilities as essential for both research quality and societal impact.

“If we want to develop trustworthy innovations that can be used in health and care services, we need strong foundations. That includes not only excellent research, but also the infrastructure, governance, and expertise needed to support responsible innovation.”

Visibility and financing

Pikkarainen sees the thematic area as an opportunity to strengthen OsloMet's position as a leading contributor to research and innovation in health and care.

“Our ambition is to build strong interdisciplinary research communities around some of the most pressing challenges facing health and care services. By developing excellent research, strong partnerships, and competitive proposals, we can increase both our impact and our ability to attract external funding.”

She believes the thematic area can help researchers connect across disciplines and align their efforts around shared societal challenges.

“OsloMet has expertise spanning health sciences, technology, social sciences, design, education, and innovation. If we can bring these strengths together around common goals, we can create larger and more ambitious initiatives than any single research group could develop alone.”

International collaboration

International collaboration will be an important part of this work.

“Many of the challenges facing health and care systems are shared across countries. Building strong international partnerships allows us to learn from others, combine expertise, and develop solutions with broader impact.”

“As an example, we hosted a workshop with colleagues from LAB University of Applied Sciences in Finland and Aalborg University in Denmark. Researchers from across OsloMet explored opportunities related to upcoming Horizon Europe calls and identified several promising directions for future collaboration.“

“Our goal is to create environments where researchers and external partners can connect around shared challenges, develop new ideas, and build competitive international initiatives. Strong collaboration is essential if we want our research to contribute to better health and care services in Norway and beyond.”

From knowledge to impact

“The challenges facing health and care services are too complex for any one discipline or organization to solve alone,” Pikkarainen says. “Our task is to bring people, knowledge, and ideas together around the challenges that matter most. If we succeed, we can help create solutions that improve people's lives and strengthen health and care services for future generations.”