Wellbeing and health
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Janset Shawash
Immersive care: virtual reality technology supporting physical rehabilitation
Immersive technology, such as virtual and augmented reality applications, is moving from novelty to a practical tool in physical rehabilitation, promising more engaging therapy, greater choice for patients, and clearer progress tracking for clinicians. Drawing on Finnish pilots and the GameRAT project at Helsinki XR Center, Metropolia UAS, this article asks what virtual reality can add to care, and what it takes to move from a promising demonstration to everyday practice.
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Pamela Spokes
Designing better workdays
Workdays can easily be so busy that you end up eating lunch at your desk while still trying to type emails. All the while knowing you'll need to leave work exactly on time because your child has to get to football practice, and remembering you’ve already been late twice. The rising stress doesn’t just affect your workday – it spills over into how you sleep, how you interact with your family, and your overall health. That’s why designing better workdays in 2026 is just as important as making sure you’re getting enough protein.
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Eija Raatikainen
Promoting digitalization among European social work professionals in the context of COMHOM project
Digitalization is rapidly reshaping social work, but how can professionals move from simply using new tools to genuinely transforming their practice? In this article, I examine digital competence as a core skill for social workers. Through the COMHOM project’s Capacity Building and Mentoring program, I wish to illustrate how European homelessness service providers are building shared digital skills, and mindsets to support sustainable change in the social sector and conclude by offering recommendations for others engaged in similar initiatives.
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Toini Palo, Salla Sipari
Collaborative relationships in RDI activities: A framework for co-creation as a form of collective learning in complexity
Building a collaborative relationship in RDI practice is an enigma that researchers have approached through multiple pathways within the “co-” landscape. In this article, we focus our attention on co-curiosity and co-agency as concepts that illuminate how reciprocal collaboration is enacted in practice and what it concretely and philosophically entails. We consider whether integrating these two perspectives could give rise to a new framework for co-creation, one capable of addressing complex phenomena and fostering lifelong collective learning and sustainable wellbeing.
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Krista Lounamaa, Liisa Nuutinen, Heini Maisala-McDonnell
Sustainable nursing careers: Building an age-friendly working life in healthcare
Based on a recent master’s study, we discuss in this article key barriers to sustainable nursing careers and propose organisational age‑management practices that can enable older nurses to continue working until retirement in a sustainable way.
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Eunice Siame-Moono
Generative AI as a learning companion in bilingual nursing education
In functionally bilingual nursing education, learning is shaped not only by clinical content but by language, confidence, and access to practice. Drawing on my experience across student, support, and innovation roles, this article explores how AI can support more inclusive and practice-ready learning.
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Toini Palo, Frank Guan
Episode 3: Learning in hybrid or remote simulation
In this episode of the Co-creating learning beyond borders podcast Toini Palo and Frank Guan explore innovative uses of virtual and augmented reality in education, focusing on simulation-based learning across international and cultural boundaries.
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Toini Palo, Agnes Xue, Peck Hoon Ong
Episode 2: Students, industry, and user-friendly age-tech
In this episode of the Co-creating learning beyond borders podcast Toini Palo, Agnes Xue and Peck Horn Ong explore the importance of user-friendly age-tech in supporting dignified and autonomous aging, and the wide-range of opportunities the field presents for students from diverse disciplines.
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Toini Palo, Agnes Xue, Peck Hoon Ong
Episode 1: Getting mindset for the age-tech design
In the first episode of the Co-creating learning beyond borders podcast Toini Palo, Agnes Xue and Peck Horn Ong dive into the world of user-friendly age-tech design. What does it mean and require? How can we help students and entrepreneurs learn about it?
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Pamela Spokes
From quick fixes to lasting change: teaching service design to future healthcare leaders
Long before a patient ever meets a healthcare professional, they have already navigated a web of services like appointment letter, directions, parking, and signage. When those services fail, the consequences can ripple through the system. Teaching healthcare professionals to ask better questions, not just find faster fixes, is where long-term change begins.