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GLOBAL
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Part of the International Long-Term Care Policy Network (ILPN)

 

Shahnaj Begum

University of Lapland

Shahnaj Begum

Dr Shahnaj Begum is working as an University researcher at the Unit for Gender Studies, in the Faculty of Education of the University of Lapland. Her research focuses on Northern elderly well-being, Immigrant elderly and caregiver, Age friendly Environment, equality and social justice in regard to age friendly environment and Arctic transformation and gender issues in the context of Nordic countries/Arctic/North. At present she is leading Academy of Finland Funded 3 years project (September, 2022-August, 2025) “Conceptualizing Age-friendly Environments linking equality and social justice: Perspectives of older non-European immigrants in Finland (AGE-Immigrant)” ; also a network & small study project which entitled “Understanding Gender inequality She also project Co-lead at “Understanding ageing, gender and ethnicity: Experiences from European Arctic (AGE-Arctic)” which Funder is Nordic Council of Minister. She is lead at U-Arctic Thematic Network which entitled “Ageing & Gender in the Arctic”  .

She has successfully coordinated two projects and worked as a researcher named a) Advancing Elderly People’s Agency and Inclusion in the Changing Arctic and Nordic Welfare System (AEPA-Wel), b) The Arctic Change and Elderly Exclusion: A gender-based perspective, Funded by Nordic Council of Ministers. She is a member of the University of the Arctic Thematic Network of Health and Wellbeing in Arctic. Older population in the Arctic, migrant older population, gender equality and human rights are important aspects in her research. 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Countries Finland;
Topics Access to care; Ageing in place; Care in rural and other non-urban settings; Care inequalities; Care work and migration; Gender and care;
Methods Case studies; Critical Discourse Analysis; Policy analysis; Qualitative studies; Thematic analysis;
Role Research;
Interest Groups Ageing and Place; Migration Mobility and Care Workers; Technology and Long-Term Care; Unmet need inequalities and care poverty (UNICAP); Workforce Capacity and Capability; Working Conditions and Wages in Long-Term Care;
ORC.ID• ORCiD ID: 0000-0002-3162-0902
Research interests

Her research interests includes older immigrants and immigrants caregivers, ageing and ethnicity in the North,  the concept of an age-friendly environment and work-friendly environment for caregivers.
Key publications
2024

 

 Begum, Shahnaj, “Muslim Women Caregivers in the Elderly Care sector in Finland”. In Lisen Dellenborg and Daniel Enstedt (eds.) Culture, Spirituality and Religious Literacy in Healthcare, by Routledge.
2023 Begum, Shahnaj, “Age-friendly environment in the stories of old people in the Finnish Nordic Arctic”.  In Begum, S., Harbison, J., Naskali, P., Zechner, M. (eds.) Centring the local: Distance, Equity and Older People’s Experiences in the Northern Periphery, Routledge – Polar Regions Series.
2023 Naskali, Päivi & Begum, Shahnaj “Distances and sense of belonging. Nordic elderly people and communication technologies”. In Begum, S., Harbison, J., Naskali, P. and Zechner, M.  (eds.) Centring the local: Distance, Equity and Older People’s Experiences in the Northern Periphery, by Routledge – Polar Regions Series.
2023 Begum, S., Harbison, J., Naskali, P. and Zechner, M.  (eds.) Distance, Equity and Older People’s Experiences in the Northern Periphery: Centring the local by Routledge – Polar Regions Series.
2023 Begum, Shahnaj, “Lapland in transformation: Impacts on the cultural wellbeing of the older population, with special reference to indigenous”. In Dr. Lewis, J. & Dr. Heinonen on Social Aspects of Aging in Indigenous Communities (eds.), Oxford University publisher, New York.
2022 Begum, Shahnaj & Hossain Kamrul, “A right to an age-friendly environment with a focus on the rural Nordic Arctic” In the Palgrave Handbook of Global Sustainability, Editor-in-Chief: Robert Brinkmann.
2022 Naskali, Päivi & Begum, Shahnaj, “Digitalisaatio ikääntyneiden elämässä koronainfektion aikana. Omaisten ja hoitohenkilöstön näkökulma” In Kärnä, E., Rasi, P. Vuojärvi, H. & Pihlainen, K. (eds.) Ikääntyvät oppijat digitaalisessa mediayhteiskunnassa (Older learners in the digital media society). Gaudeamus, Finland.
2021 Begum, Shahnaj, “Older people in the Finnish North and corona: Perspectives of the caring and the cared for” Alustalehti. Available at:  https://www.tuni.fi/alustalehti/2021/12/29/older-people-in-the-finnish-north-and-corona-perspectives-of-the-caring-and-the-cared-for/
2019 Begum, Shahnaj, “Exploring ageing friendly environment in rural settings: A case study from Finnish Lapland.” In Naskali, P., Harbison, J & Begum, Shahnaj, (eds.) New Challenges to Ageing in the Rural North: Welfare, Gender and Voice: A Critical Interdisciplinary Perspective, Springer Nature.
2017 Begum, Shahnaj & Seppänen, M. “Islamic values in elderly care in Finland: The perspective of Muslim caregivers,” Journal of International Women’s Studies Jan 2017 issue, Vol 18, Issue 1.
2021
Begum, Shahnaj, Naskali, P., Zechner, M., Outila, M., Svensson, E-M., Wennberg, L., Harbison, J. R., Halla Arnórsdóttir, A. & Kvitberg, T., Exploring gender equality among caregivers: a sub-study based on the Nordic network, In: Current Developments in Arctic Law. 9, p. 97-133 36 p.
2019 Begum, Shahnaj, “Northern culture and well-being of the older population: A case study from Finnish and Swedish Lapland” in The 2nd Annual Kurultai of the endangered Cultural heritage, Conference proceedings, Akech.
2016 Begum, Shahnaj & Naskali, P. “Human security challenges to Sámi elderly in Finnish and Swedish Lapland.” In Hossain, K and Petrétei, A. (eds.) Understanding Indigenous Security in the North, Brill Academic Publishers.
2016 Begum, Shahnaj, “Gender Difference of Older Persons in the context of Arctic Change.” In Naskali, P., Seppänen, M. & Begum, S. (eds.) Ageing, Wellbeing and Climate Change in the Arctic: An interdisciplinary analysis, Routledge – Earthscan, pp. 110-130.
2004 Begum, Shahnaj, “Elderly Care in Bangladesh: A case study on family-based care”, Publisher. Arcada University of Applied Science, Finland.
2016 Begum, Shahnaj, “Livelihood transformation in the Nordic Arctic (Finnish Lapland): Effects on older people from a gender-based perspective”, Polar Record, Cambridge University Press (UK).
2013 Begum, Shahnaj, “Impact of Climate Change on the Elderly People in the Arctic with special focus on the European High North:  A Human Rights Perspective”. The Yearbook of Polar Law, vol.5, pp. 571 – 602. Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers, the Netherlands.