Åsa Hedlund

Åsa Hedlund is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Health Sciences, University of Gävle. She holds a PhD in Health Sciences (2024) and specializes in neurodiversity research, particularly focusing on autism and ADHD in healthcare settings. Her work addresses workplace adaptations for neurodivergent healthcare professionals and patient care needs in somatic care.

Current projects include:

• Project manager for 'Neurodivergent Employees in Healthcare/Social Care' (working life challenges)
• Project manager for 'Neurodivergent Needs in Somatic Care'
• Collaborator on 4-year 'Autistic Flourishing' project (Swedish Research Council, with Karlstad University & Karolinska Institutet)

Research interests span:

• Existential psychology
• Scientific methodology
• Healthcare workplace inclusion strategies

Public engagement includes debates on societal recognition of neurodivergent nurses and podcast discussions on adult autism diagnosis. She supervises doctoral students exploring neurodiversity in working life.