Improving quality of life for older people by testing for serious diseases

The quality of life of older people is largely about avoiding serious illness. When older people fall ill, they often have difficulty recovering and this can trigger a decline in health from which they never recover. Despite this, many avoid getting tested for diseases. Researchers from Jönköping University (JU) are now investigating why this is the case and how to change attitudes in a new project.

“I think it will make a big difference in society if we can learn more about testing for serious diseases,” says Ulf Aagerup, Associate Professor at Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), at Jönköping University (JU) and project leader of the newly launched project.

In addition to Ulf Aagerup, other team members working on the new project include Professor Lars Carlsson from Jönköping University School of Engineering (JTH), and Associate Professor Sofi Fristedt from the School of Health and Welfare. The team will investigate the reasons why older people do not participate in testing for serious diseases and then will develop and test proposals for how communication about testing can be designed to have the best effect.

The project will run until 2027 and is a collaboration between JU and Region Jönköping County. The Kamprad Family Foundation is funding the project.

Expected outcome is an increase in testing

The project will focus on two phases - awareness of testing, and attitudes and behaviours in relation to testing.

In the first phase, researchers will map which older people are reached by testing offers and why. In the second phase, attitudes and behaviours will be mapped. Researchers will investigate why older people choose to get tested or not, and how different forms of communication influence their decisions.

“Our hope is that the project will lead to increased knowledge about testing among older people and will therefore help to improve their health and quality of life. If the healthcare sector considers that increased testing would be desirable, the project will offer tools to achieve this,” says Ulf Aagerup.

Interdisciplinary project

The project combines insights from the field of healthcare along with the fields of behavioural science and communication, providing a deeper understanding of how to improve testing and quality of life for older people.

“It is great that the project is interdisciplinary and involves several departments at JU. I think we complement each other well and that will make the project even better. We will be able to get results that we would have been unable to had we worked as individual departments. The fact that we have Region Jönköping County as an active partner makes the project even more relevant for today’s society,” says Ulf Aagerup.

In the project, the researchers will carry out surveys, interviews and experiments. Machine learning will be used to analyze data and identify patterns.

“We will also conduct interviews with people to understand their reasoning and how they feel about testing. Then we will conduct experiments where we test different types of communication. Through this project, we hope to contribute to a more equitable healthcare system where all people feel they can take up the offer of testing,” says Ulf Aagerup.