New research centre on complex health issues

Most health issues are complex. This includes e.g. the increasing mental health crisis in young adults, the continued inequality in health and disease, and issues related to multi-morbidity and polypharmacy.

Complex problems are characterised by interaction of various factors across scales from biology to society, which dynamically change over time.

“We want to create a systematic framework for research into complex health issues. Among other things, this involves zooming out and understanding complex health issues in their context,” says Professor Naja Hulvej Rod, who will be the Director of the new centre.

Young adults’ limited use of healthcare services means that we have little knowledge of their state of health. What we do know, though, is that an increasing number of young adults struggle with mental as well as physical health issues

Initially, the researchers at the centre will focus on understanding complex social and health-related issues, primarily among young adults. Challenges experienced in young adulthood can affect the individual for the rest of their life – as well as their family and society as a whole.

Recent years have seen increasing focus on young people’s mental health. Nevertheless, we have little knowledge of the interaction between the many possible causes of this development, ranging from the biological consequences of increasing sleep problems to the changes in our social relationships on social media.

“Young adults’ limited use of healthcare services means that we have little knowledge of their state of health. What we do know, though, is that an increasing number of young adults struggle with mental as well as physical health issues. Moreover, they also experience a series of health challenges related to e.g., reproduction and sleep,” says Naja Hulvej Rod.

The centre will be conducting basic research, developing new concepts and methods for understanding complex health issues, but it will also be exploring large, new datasets that may help expand our knowledge of society today.

TrygFonden looks forward to the collaboration and hopes the new centre will provide new solutions to complex issues.

“We hope research at the centre will contribute to the development of new ways to understand complex health issues, ultimately promoting population health, as well as contribute to new ways of working together across disciplines, strengthening this type of research,” says Project Manager at TrygFonden Line Raahauge Hvass.