"This is fantastic news. We've secured funding for a PhD position, a postdoctoral position and an administrative role at Agder Vocational College. It's a significant step forward for the project," says Professor Mariann Fossum.
She leads the planned university nursing home project at the University of Agder (UiA).
On 25 February, the Aust-Agder Development and Competence Fund committed approximately NOK 875,000 for the establishment of the university nursing home in 2025. They also gave positive indications for an additional NOK 5.2 million to be provided from 2026 to 2028.
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Ready in five years
The university nursing home is a joint effort between UiA, Agder Vocational College and Grimstad municipality. The plan is for the facility to be completed by 1 January 2030. It will be located near UiA's Campus Grimstad.
Until the building is completed, efforts will focus on developing strong research environments and linking them more closely to solve challenges in elder care.
"If we develop good solutions, it will be easy to implement them in the new building. The university nursing home itself can foster more professional collaboration," Fossum says.
Could become a new model
The university nursing home will play a key role in developing municipal health and care services.
"The collaboration between different stakeholders and the experiences from Agder might become a new model for future health and care services and a national example of development and innovation in the sector."
That's according to Gøril Hannås, the Vice-Rector for External Relations and Innovation at UiA.
Hannås expresses UiA's gratitude for the funding from the Aust-Agder Development and Competence Fund.
"It is crucial for setting up various research projects and building the necessary academic environments for the university nursing home," she says.
Dementia and robots
The newly funded PhD position will focus on research concerning buildings and dementia.
"We know that nursing home residents have specific needs that call for their living environments to be adapted, but there's still much to learn. This will be a cross-disciplinary project for the university, involving collaboration between technology and health environments," says Fossum.
Another example of such collaboration is the SAKO research project, which recently received funding and explore the use of robots in healthcare.
At the university nursing home, researchers will also continue working on research related to the end-of-life phase, what is known as palliative care.
First in Norway
Just as university hospitals have contributed to advancements in medicine and specialist healthcare services, a university nursing home could aid in the development of sustainable health and care services.
"University hospitals play a clear role in health research in Norway and are funded by the state budget. We hope for a similar solution for the municipal health service," says Fossum.
There are currently no other university nursing homes in Norway. The project group hopes their experiences will pave the way for more such institutions across the country.
"We will have more older people and fewer in the workforce. It's crucial that we find the right solutions for future healthcare services now," says Fossum.
A central goal of the university nursing home is to research topics relevant to many municipalities.
"Agder is small on its own, so it's crucial for us to also play a role in sharing this knowledge. We want to establish a centre where we can research topics relevant to the entire country," says Fossum.