Hanne Leirbekk Mjøsund
I am a trained physiotherapist (2009) and hold a Master of Science in Physiotherapy from the University of Southern Denmark (2015). My clinical experience is from hospitals in both Denmark and Norway, where I have worked closely in interdisciplinary teams with nurses, occupational therapists, and physicians in geriatric, neurological, and orthopedic departments. I have been employed at Nord University since 2017, and after completing my PhD in 2022, I have held the position of Associate Professor at Nord University. I am deeply committed to contributing to research, education, and the development of health services, with the aim of better enabling people with reduced function to maintain everyday activity and movement.
I primarily teach and supervise in the Bachelor’s program in Social Education, and also contribute to teaching and supervision in the Master’s program in Health Sciences. Previously, I have taught in the Nursing program. The main topics I teach or have taught include: rehabilitation and reablement, evidence-based practice and literature search, physical activity in health promotion, mobility and transfer techniques, interdisciplinary collaboration, anatomy and physiology. I supervise bachelor theses in both Social Education and Nursing, as well as master's theses in the Master’s program in Health Sciences. I am committed to using varied teaching methods and emphasize student-active learning, supervision, and critical thinking, including the use of digital learning tools when appropriate.
My research focuses on reablement, with particular emphasis on how physical activity is integrated into these services and how different professions collaborate to achieve clients’ goals. In my doctoral project, I explored the factors influencing the implementation of physical activity in reablement, through a scoping review and two qualitative studies based on interviews with healthcare professionals. I am currently working on several systematic reviews and scoping reviews related to reablement and rehabilitation in general. I am a member of the research group Public Health Work and Rehabilitation at Nord University, as well as the international network for reablement, the ReAble Network. I am especially interested in developing an understanding of how knowledge and practice are—and should be—developed in different contexts. Through this work, I contribute to the advancement of evidence-based practice and research across disciplines.