About the Centre for e-health
E-health and welfare technology are important for securing good health and active ageing, which are among society's most pressing challenges. The field of research is rapidly evolving.
The Centre for e-health facilitates co-creation between academia, companies, health actors, the municipality, patients, relatives and volunteers. User needs provide guidance for which issues the centre focuses on.
Background for establishment
The health services are undergoing major changes and there has been a focus on the need for new technology and the use of technology to support the services through several national studies from 2008 and onwards. This also means that the role of the patient is undergoing a major change, and "the patient's health service" is a term that implies user-centered development and co-creation.
The Centre for Ehealth and Care Technology was established in 2010 in order for UiA to take an active role in this research field, as a cross-faculty collaborative project between the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering and Science and the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences.
In a board meeting on 23 February 2011, the Centre was designated as the first cross-faculty focus area at UiA. The Centre received establishment support for basic operations with an allocation of four million NOK distributed over a period of four years.
After being designated the status as a Top Research Centre in 2011, the Centre was evaluated in 2015, and got their status extended until the end of 2018.
In 2019, the Centre for e-health was awarded the status as a Priority Research Centre, together with five other research environments at UiA. The status involved funding of NOK 10 million over 5 years. The Centre was also expanded to include the Faculty of Humanities and Education and the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder.
Ambitions
The Centre for e-health aims to become a national and international centre for innovation-driven research in e-health services. We want the Centre to become the natural point of contact for e-health-related research projects and initiatives. We also have the ambition to become a preferred partner and supplier for the Directorate for e-Health. In collaboration with the field of practice, the Centre also seeks to make Agder the best region for e-health nationally and internationally.
Localization and management
The Centre is physically located in the i4Health building on Grimstad Campus, UiA.
There are three positions linked directly to the Centre; an academic leader, an administrative leader and an administrative support function.
Ragni MacQueen Leifson is administrative lead of the Centre
Elisabeth Giil is employed as an administrative support function.
Professor Elin Thygesen from the Faculty of Health and Sports Science is academic lead. This role rotates between the various faculties.
Former academic leaders:
2020 – 2022: Margunn Aanestad, Faculty of Social Sciences
2017 – 2020: Andreas Prinz, Faculty of Engineering and Science
2010 – 2017: Rune Fensli, Faculty of Engineering and Science
Core group
The Centre for e-health has a core group, which consists of one contact person from each associated faculty, in addition to the administration and academic lead.
- Førsteamanuensis Geir Inge Hausvik - Faculty of Social Science
- Professor Martin Engebretsen - Faculty of Humanities and Education
- Professor Morten Goodwin - Faculty of Engineering and Science
- Professor Marianne K. Bahus - Business School
- Førsteamanuensis Hege Mari Johnsen - Faculty of Health - and Sport Sciences
- Førsteamanuensis Elisabeth Holen-Rabbersvik - Faculty of Health - and Sport Sciences/ Municipality of Kristiansand
Organizational chart