Tórunn Højgaard Ósá

Family Nursing

Currently, I am doing a PhD project called Paediatric neurodisabilities in the Faroe Islands. Epidemiology, sleep disorders and potential impact of a music- based intervention.

Chronic paediatric neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDs) including cerebral palsy and chromosome disorders are reported to affect 3.5-8.0% of children aged 0-18 years, and some studies have reported increasing prevalence (Spencer et al, 2015). Little is known about the occurrence of these disabilities in Faroese children, except for the prevalence of SUCLA2, a severe genetic disorder resulting in encephalomyopathy, which is higher in the Faroe Islands compared with other countries (Carrozzo et al, 2007). In this PhD project, we aim to

1) describe the occurrences and severity of paediatric NDs in the Faroe Islands

2) test the potential effectiveness of a music-based intervention to improve sleep quality in children with complex NDs.

The prevalence of sleep disorders has been reported to affect 70-80% of the
children with NDs, and without appropriate treatment, sleep disorders can become chronic (Bruni et al, 2019) (McDonald et al, 2019). There are few treatment options for sleep disorders in NDs, and even fewer have been evaluated systematically (Beresford et al, 2018). Pilot studies have tested a music sound pillow in adults with promising effect to alleviate insomnia (Lund et al, 2019). However, to the best of our knowledge, it has not yet been tested in children. In the present project, we aim to provide a basis for further research and for management and prioritising of resources to improve the lives of these vulnerable children and their families.

The Main PhD supervisors are: Maria Skaalum Petersen, MSc, PhD, Marin Strøm, MSc, PhD, Magni Mohr, Prof. PhD and Alfred Peter Born, Dr.med, PhD

I have planned, organised and taught courses at Bachelor in nursing at the University of the Faroe Islands. My teaching includes several topics related to family nursing, mental healt nursing, social science, healt law, ethic, public health, health promotion and disease prevention, anthropology, theory of science, communication and relations in nursing and a part of the teaching is simulation training. 

Supervision of students

As a scientific supervisor I have had the main responsibility for several Bachelor students, with more to come