Britta Elsert Gynning

I am a PhD student at the Unit of Occupational Medicine, where my research focuses on the psychosocial work environment within the Swedish healthcare system and its relationship to healthcare workers’ mental health.

I hold a Master’s degree in Gender Studies (Master’s Programme in Gender, Justice and Society) from Umeå University. Since March 2023, I have been a PhD student at the Unit of Occupational Medicine.

My research interests concern the importance of the work environment for individual well-being and the broader societal consequences this may entail. I am particularly interested in how different workplaces and working conditions shape work-related health, and how these processes can be examined from a relational perspective, with attention to power relations such as socioeconomic position and gender.

In my PhD project, I investigate the psychosocial work environment of physicians, nurses, and assistant nurses, and how this may be associated with common mental disorders (CMD) as well as with patient care outcomes.

The project is primarily based on data from the LOHHCs cohort (Longitudinal Occupational Health Survey for Health Care Professionals in Sweden), complemented by register-based data related to patient safety and healthcare outcomes. The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council (grant number 2022-00806).