Episode 2| S3: A conversation with Minna Zechner on pathways into Finnish social work research

Minna Zechner is an Associate Professor in Social Work at the University of Helsinki. Her speciality area is health and social services. Her educational background is in social policy, both Master and Doctoral degrees are from the University of Tampere, Finland. For eight years she worked in a University of Applied Sciences in Seinäjoki, then moved on to the University of Lapland from where she moved to the University of Helsinki.

Her research has mainly been focusing on older adults. PhD focused on informal care, including transnational care, trust in services, care trajectories and care experiences of older adults in need of care. Since then, she has studied for example care services, policies, governance, marketisation and financialization of care, including comparisons. Lately she has been developing also care theories, including the 2022 published book on ailment (https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/display/book/9781447343486/9781447343486.xml). After joining the social work discipline she has been also focusing on gerontological social work and ageing in the margins, for example care when the resources are scant or substance abuse of older adults.

She is Associate Editor at the International Journal of Care and Caring, a member of the Editorial Board of SpringerBrief Advancing Social Work and Social Work Education series and a member of Vaiva-collective which consist of seven care researchers across Finland. She is also a national representative of the Board of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.

Her activities and publications are found here: https://minnazechner.com/ and https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/minna-maija-zechner