My research concerns ageing and health, with a particular focus on health promotion, preventive measures, age-friendly environments, and healthy ageing.

A central element of my work is to investigate how various stakeholders in society, such as municipalities, regions, the business sector, and civil society organisations, can collaborate to create favourable conditions for healthy ageing and age-friendly environments.

In March 2022, I obtained my PhD at Lund University in medical science with a major in gerontology (ageing and health). My thesis aimed to increase knowledge about the health-promoting aspects of preventive home visits for older people, from both an individual and societal perspective. The work was based on the development and research project Preventive Home Visits for Seniors (Pre-H), which is part of the Research Platform Health in Collaboration at Kristianstad University. I am currently the deputy project manager for the Pre-H project.

I am now mainly working on two research projects: From Home to Community and Community Planning for Healthy Ageing.

From Home to Community aims to examine how societal actors collaborate across sector boundaries to develop age-friendly environments, and how older people's perspectives are utilised in this work. The project is funded by the Research Platform Health in Collaboration at Kristianstad University and Lindhé's advokatbyrå.

Community Planning for Healthy Ageing aims to develop a framework for including older people's perspectives in the creation of age-friendly environments. This project is funded by the Sten K Johnson Foundation.

I am also involved in the project PreSens: Sensor-Based Screening of Fall Risk During Preventive Home Visits for Seniors, where I am assistant supervisor to Madelene Törnblom.

Furthermore, I am assistant supervisor to Anna Bergman, a doctoral student in the project The Importance of Playfulness and Play for Health and Well-being in Older People.

I am also active in the research network Nordic Health Promotion Research Network and a member of the board of the network SAIN (SWEAH Alumni Interdisciplinary Network). Previously, I have been a board member of the National Association for Nurses in Care for older adults and Dementia Care, editor-in-chief of the journal Ä – a professional magazine for nurses in care for older adults and dementia care, and a member of the nomination committee for the Swedish Gerontological Society.

During my doctoral studies, I was involved in the committee for postgraduate education at Kristianstad University and a member of the coordination group for the Research Platform Health in Collaboration. I was also affiliated with the research school SWEAH (Swedish National Graduate School for Competitive Science on Ageing and Health) and the research group Active and Healthy Ageing at Lund University. Previously, I have worked as a nurse in municipal health and medical care and also hold a master's degree in public health science from Lund University.

Dissertation:

Nivestam, A. (2022). Health-promoting aspects of preventive home visits for older persons: An individual and a societal perspective. Lund University, Faculty of Medicine.

https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/113685275/Avhandling_Anna_Nivestam_web.pdf

I work as a lecturer in Health Science at Kristianstad University. Among other duties I work with education, focusing on health-promoting and preventive home visits to older persons. Together with people from practice, we have developed the course Health-promoting and Preventive Home Visits to Older Persons, 3 credits. I have been the course coordinator for the course, which is intended for those working with this type of visit. The course was first offered in spring 2025 and is planned to be offered again in autumn 2026.