Maria Haahr Nielsen

Maria Haahr Nielsen is a Researcher at the Research Unit for General Practice, part of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. Her work focuses on improving healthcare for vulnerable populations, particularly those with severe mental illness.

Her primary research areas include:

• Psychiatry
• Social inequality
• General practice
• Cross-sectoral collaboration
• Intervention research
• Mixed methods

Maria holds a Master's degree in Public Health (Cand.scient.san.publ.) with a particular interest in vulnerable groups and social inequality. Her current research focuses on the SOFIA project (Sammen Om Fysisk og psykisk helbred I Almen praksis), a randomized study based in general practice aiming to reduce excess mortality and thereby extend life expectancy and improve quality of life for individuals with severe mental illness. She is also involved in implementing Service 2150 in general practice, which explores the possibility of offering extended consultations for individuals with severe mental illness, and a qualitative study in collaboration with the Psychiatry of the Capital Region to improve detection of somatic diseases in patients with mental illness.

Her research output shows a strong focus on interventions for patients with severe mental illness in primary care settings, with particular attention to reducing health inequalities and improving cross-sectoral collaboration between mental health services and general practice. Her work often employs mixed methods approaches and focuses on practical implementation of interventions in real-world clinical settings.

Maria has received funding for her research from the Novo Nordisk Foundation for the SOFIA project, but declares no personal financial conflicts of interest.

She has been active in knowledge dissemination through lectures and media contributions, including a presentation at "Forskningens virtuelle dag 2021" in Region Sjælland and participation in the "Caring for Physical Diseases among Patients with Severe Mental Illness" presentation in 2019. She has also contributed to media discussions about patients with severe mental illness having shorter lifespans and how to use Service 2150 for somatic examinations of citizens with severe mental illness.