Meet PhD candidate Maren Helene Rinke Storetvedt
One of UngMeistring’s two doctoral degrees is Maren Helene Rinke Storetvedt. She will research the development and effect of online and game-based coping programs for children and adolescents with ADHD. This week we have taken a closer look at what she will be working on and researching over the next few years.
UngMestring is a project that will develop digital treatment and self-help programs for children and adolescents with ADHD, anxiety, depression or eating disorders. The goal is to increase access to evidence-based mental health services for children and adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18. The project started in 2022 and will last for 4 years. You can read more about UngMeistring here.
-Why did you want to be a part of UngMeistring?
-I had heard positive things about the research centre’s work with digital health services and was very interested in working in this field. It is very rewarding to be part of a research environment that works to develop and evaluate health services. For me, it is important that what I work with is useful, and it is very motivating to conduct research that young people will benefit from,” says Storetvedt.
Storetvedt has a bachelor’s degree in social education and a master’s degree in health promotion and health psychology. She also has experience from project work with participation routines at system level in the knowledge centre in Bergen Municipality. She brings this experience into her work, which she is already well underway. Storetvedt is now involved in the insight phase of the development. She has interviewed adolescents with ADHD to identify what they want and can benefit from in a digital mastery programme.
“This has been an educational and rewarding process. The young people have contributed with a lot of valuable insight and I look forward to meeting them again later in the development, says Storetvedt enthusiastically.
The user in focus
In order to succeed in developing good digital mental health services, collaboration between researchers, clinicians, users, developers and more is required. As a social educator, Storetvedt is passionate about user involvement and believes that it is important to work for real participation in service development.
“User involvement is central to ensuring that we deliver good and relevant solutions that are actually used. In the project, I will use a user-centered framework called “Person-based approach” (PBA) that combines theory and evidence with mapping of users’ needs and psychological context,” says Storetvedt.
I am concerned that everyone should have equal access to healthcare. We know that there are social inequalities in the use of health services, and it is therefore essential that the digital health services are designed and made available in a way that is socially cohesive.
PhD student Maren Helene Rinke Storetvedt.
– What challenges do you encounter along the way?
“Digital solutions are here to stay, and therefore it is important to ensure that we can offer safe, knowledge-based solutions that are available to anyone who wants to make use of them. One challenge we have in the project is digital login. We must therefore think about how the solution will be delivered safely. This applies in particular to young people who are under the age of majority under health law and therefore cannot log on to digital solutions with BankID.
“A PhD programme is challenging in itself, and I think it will be important to remind myself that the PhD is a research education, and that I have to tolerate feeling a little bit of imposter syndrome from time to time. In Forhelse, I have many good colleagues who cheer, support and guide me, and I am sure that this will make it easier to overcome the challenges that come with a PhD course.