AWARD. Helle Wijk from Sahlgrenska Academy recently received Studentlitteratur’s special prize for the book “Omvårdnad & äldre” [Nursing & the elderly] that she edited with three other researchers in the area of the elderly. The award ceremony was a festive occasion under the crystal chandeliers at Berns Salonger in Stockholm together with 550 of the publisher’s authors and employees.
“It feels fantastic that the book is receiving this kind of attention,” says Helle, and continues:
“Writing textbooks isn’t so glamorous otherwise, rather something we do in our leisure time and because we want all the research conducted in the field to benefit the students. Receiving such an award naturally feels like an important affirmation.”
The prize amount is SEK 50,000. The publisher’s motivation is: “For a comprehensive fundamental work that with thorough scientific weight addresses an area that is highly current both today and for many years to come. The percentage of elderly is growing and many people are living longer with long-term diseases. This places new demands on the nurse and care. The book is entirely adapted to these new circumstances where the latest research results are combined with concrete nursing measures. The work is very well written with continuous focus on the elderly person.”
The goal was to write a book that above all targeted nursing students in undergraduate and specialist programs throughout the country.
“We began the work by going through the course syllabuses that were at all Swedish universities that had nursing programs. We listed all of the contents that were related to elderly people and set up the entire book’s structure so that all of these aspects would be covered,” she says, and adds that they wanted to make sure that the contents were really relevant to all Swedish courses and programs in the field.
During the process, the editors asked specialist nurses who recently graduated to read the book to get their opinions. The students were incredibly positive.
“The response we got was that the book was absolutely right and that they wished they themselves had such a book during their studies,” says Helle.
She says that the book was also spread outside the nursing programs:
“We had several elderly people among our acquaintances who said that they read the book with great interest and had many aha experiences. Even if the book is mainly addressed to nursing students, it feels good that the people the book is about also think it’s good.”
The work on the book took more than three years. Besides Helle Wijk, the other editors are Kerstin Blomqvist, Assistant Professor at Kristianstad University, Anna-Karin Edberg, Professor at Kristianstad University, and Marie Ernsth Bravell, Docent at Jönköping University.
A total of 27 authors contributed to the book. Many of the co-authors are nurses and nursing researchers, and among the co-authors, there are also researchers in social work, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, medicine, ethics, philosophy and human geography. Three of the co-authors are active at the University of Gothenburg: Ingela Henoch, Synneve Dahlin Ivanoff, and Ulla Molander.
“We actually really had a lot of fun together during the book project. Since we as editors come from three different universities, we met and worked intensively together during weekends and holidays – then you have to have fun at the same time. You can’t underestimate joy as a driving force,” says Helle Wijk.
The book came out in August 2017, is called “Omvårdnad & äldre” [Nursing & the elderly] and is published by Studentlitteratur.
