Health promotion in ageing research in a Nordic context: A scoping review of doctoral theses

Background: This scoping review is conducted by the ‘healthy ageing’ research group which is part of the Nordic Health Promotion Research Network.
Aim: The overall aim is to explore how ageing research under the label ‘health promotion’ is undertaken in a Nordic context.
Method: A scoping review method is used where different data bases in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden were searched for theses published between the years 2011 and 2021.
Findings: The preliminary results show that both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Data was collected mainly from healthy older-home dwelling persons. Theoretical perspectives varied and were sometimes absent. This also applied to definitions of health promotion. The number of thesis published differed between the Nordic countries.
Conclusion: To conclude, doctoral theses within the field of healthy ageing research must be more specific about the meaning and use of the concept of Health Promotion. The use of a health promotive theoretical perspectives could help develop a solid theoretical foundation that could guide healthy ageing research.