Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf aims to map health challenges in the Arctic

Health in the Arctic

Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf is Professor of Dermatology at Umeå University and an affiliated researcher at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. His research focuses on the individual and societal burden of psoriasis and melanoma in a Nordic context. He also works with the development of higher education, editorial work and advisory assignments for several public authorities.

In his role as an Arctic Six Chair, he wants to focus on the health of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living in the Arctic.

“Living in the Arctic involves health challenges for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people that have not yet been sufficiently studied,” says Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf.

To investigate how living in the Arctic affects health, Marcus, together with other researchers, will use national health registers from Finland, Norway and Sweden. By linking data from several registers, they can analyse health outcomes over time and compare the health of people living in the Arctic with people in the more southern parts of the countries. They will examine obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, depression and anxiety, as well as sick leave, life expectancy, infant mortality and causes of death.

They also plan to investigate how health outcomes differ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and between different groups based on factors including age, gender, municipality and socioeconomic status. By comparing different parts of the countries and different groups of people, the researchers want to identify patterns in the health challenges that occur and how they are connected, as well as identify potential clusters of health challenges in the Arctic parts of Finland, Norway and Sweden.

By focusing on possible solutions through patient involvement and shared decision-making, I want to show how Arctic countries can be at the forefront of innovative ways to improve health by allowing traditional and modern approaches to health to enrich each other

Knowledge can improve public health

By describing specific health challenges and analysing how they are distributed among different population groups, the project can contribute to better public health. The knowledge can provide a basis for specific public health interventions in the Arctic and be used when allocating healthcare resources to the region.

But the project is also about possible ways forward. Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf wants to focus on possible solutions through strengthened patient involvement and shared decision-making.

“By focusing on possible solutions through patient involvement and shared decision-making, I want to show how Arctic countries can be at the forefront of innovative ways to improve health by allowing traditional and modern approaches to health to enrich each other,” says Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf.

From knowledge gaps to new collaborations

To gain more perspectives on health in the Arctic, Marcus Schmitt-Egenolf wants to bring together Indigenous researchers, public health decision-makers, other relevant stakeholders and early-career researchers. Together, they want to build a network for knowledge exchange between Finland, Norway and Sweden.

In the longer term, activities such as workshops are planned to identify important knowledge gaps in healthcare and research. The results aim to give decision-makers a clearer picture of which knowledge gaps need to be filled. The initiative also aims to lay the foundation for new international research collaborations and applications to programmes including Interreg, Horizon, NordForsk and ERC.

Contacts have already been established with researchers at the northern universities. In the longer term, the ambition is to expand the network to more countries in the Arctic region.