Doctoral Defense in Nursing Science - Inga Valgerður Kristinsdóttir

On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, Inga Valgerður Kristinsdóttir will defend her doctoral dissertation in nursing science at the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Iceland.
The dissertation is titled: Care needs in home care: Predictors of nursing home transition and caregiver distress.

Opponents are Dr. Margaret E. Saari, researcher at SE Health in Canada, and Helga Eyjólfsdóttir, associate professor at the University of Iceland and chief physician at Landspítali – The National University Hospital of Iceland.

The supervisor was Professor Kristín Björnsdóttir. In addition to her, the doctoral committee included Professor Ingibjörg Hjaltadóttir, Professor Emeritus Pálmi V. Jónsson, and Professor Thor Aspelund.

The defense will be chaired by Professor Helga Bragadóttir, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, and will take place in Hátíðasalur of the University of Iceland at 1:00 PM.

Abstract

Governments around the world emphasize the importance of enabling older people to remain in their own homes despite declining health and overall ability. To make this possible, many require support from both home care and informal caregivers. This doctoral study assessed the health, functioning, and circumstances of home care clients, as well as caregiver distress among their informal caregivers. It also examined which client-related factors predicted caregiver distress and transition to nursing homes. The overall aim of the research was to provide insight into how home care services can be developed to better meet these needs and support older people to continue living at home.
The study is based on data from the European research project Identifying Best Practices for Care-Dependent Elderly by Benchmarking Costs and Outcomes of Community Care (IBenC), conducted simultaneously in six countries—Belgium, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, and the Netherlands—between 2014 and 2016. More than 2,800 home care clients aged 65 and older were assessed using the interRAI-Home Care assessment at three time points over a twelve-month research period.
The findings show that clients’ health and functioning had declined compared to previous studies, while formal service use had increased. Half of those with the greatest care needs received substantial support, though service levels varied significantly between countries. Icelandic clients had grater overall abilities than those in other countries, yet their caregivers reported significantly more caregiver distress—the strongest predictor of nursing home admission in Iceland. These cross-national differences highlight the need for personalized care approaches and targeted caregiver support to enable older people continued home-based living.

About the Doctoral Candidate

Inga Valgerður Kristinsdóttir was born in Reykjavík in 1966. She graduated from the physics department of the Commercial College of Iceland in 1986.
She earned a B.Sc. in nursing from the University of Iceland in 1992 and an M.Sc. in 2009 from the same university. In 2014, she received specialist certification in primary and home nursing from the Directorate of Health.
Her doctoral research was supported by grants from the University of Iceland Research Fund and RHLÖ (University of Iceland and Landspítali Research Center in Geriatrics).

Alongside her studies, Inga Valgerður has taught home nursing at the University of Iceland and part-time in postgraduate primary care nursing studies at the University of Akureyri. She works as a nursing specialist with the Home Nursing Service of the Primary Health Care of the Capital Area and has been involved in the development and implementation of electronic documentation in home nursing and the interRAI-Home Care assessment tool.

Her parents are Gunnhildur Sigurðardóttir and Kristinn Jónsson. She is married to Pétur Vilberg Guðnason, and their children are Gunnhildur, Vilborg, and Kristinn.