Prof. Dr. Karin Nordström

Work at ZHAW

Position

• Head BSc Health Promotion and Prevention
• President of the ZHAW Ethics Committee

Network

Membership of networks

• Swiss School of Public Health SSPH+ (Faculty Member)
• The Swiss Society for Public Health

Projects

• Exploring the political in public health: Perspectives from practitioners and academics about the political determinants of health / Project leader / ongoing
• LGBTQ+ specific vs. sensitive health care in young adults - Needs and pathways / Team member / ongoing
• Collaborative Capacity Building for Health Promotion Professionals in Switzerland / Project leader / completed
• Medicines containing valerian for treating symptoms of insomnia, mental stress and test anxiety / Team member / completed
• Preliminary study for an innovative lift retrofit system for people with disabilities / Team member / completed
• Health Technology Assessment: Medicines for Dementia due to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease / Team member / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Biehl, V. et al. (2026) 'Vertical lift systems and health outcomes in community-dwelling older adults : a rapid review', Public Health Reviews, 46(1608955). doi: 10.3389/phrs.2025.1608955.
• Feer, S. et al. (2025) 'Begegnungs- und Bewegungsförderung im Quartier', Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung. doi: 10.1007/s11553-025-01239-y.
• Schneider Stingelin, C. et al. (2025) 'Strategische Kommunikation in der Gesundheitsförderung : wechselseitiger Wissenstransfer bei der Entwicklung realer Kommunikationsprojekte für die Public-Health-Praxis', Die Hochschullehre, 11, pp. 354–368. doi: 10.3278/HSL2469W.
• Nordström, K., Elger, B. S. and Wangmo, T. (2019) 'Bevormundung oder Entlastung? : wie AÜP Patienten den Spitalaustritt erleben', Pflegerecht, 8(1), pp. 43–46.
• Koné, I. et al. (2018) 'A Scoping review of empirical evidence on the impacts of the DRG-introduction in Germany and Switzerland', The International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 34(1), pp. 56–70. doi: 10.1002/hpm.2669.
• Nordström, K. and Wangmo, T. (2018) 'Caring for elder patients : mutual vulnerabilities in professional ethics', Nursing Ethics, 25(8), pp. 1004–1016. doi: 10.1177/0969733016684548.
• Wangmo, T., Nordström, K. and Kressig, R. (2017) 'Preventing elder abuse and neglect in geriatric institutions : solutions from nursing care providers', Geriatric Nursing, 38(5), pp. 385–392. doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2016.12.016.
• Princewill, C. W. et al. (2017) 'Factors affecting women's autonomous decision making in research participation amongst Yoruba women of Western Nigeria', Developing World Bioethics, 17(1), pp. 40–49. doi: 10.1111/dewb.12112.
• Nordström, K. and Gossens, J. (2015) 'Personalized nutrition and social justice : ethical considerations within four future scenarios applying the perspective of Nussbaum's capabilities approach', Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 29(1), pp. 5–22. doi: 10.1007/s10806-015-9589-0.
• Nordström, K. et al. (2013) 'Food and health : individual, cultural, or intellectual matters?', Genes & Nutrition, 8(4), pp. 357–363. doi: 10.1007/s12263-013-0336-8.
• Nordström, K. et al. (2013) 'Values at stake : autonomy, responsibility, and trustworthiness in relation to genetic testing and personalized nutrition advice', Genes & Nutrition, 8(4), pp. 365–372. doi: 10.1007/s12263-013-0337-7.
• Görman, U. et al. (2013) 'Do we know enough? : a scientific and ethical analysis of the basis for genetic-based personalized nutrition', Genes & Nutrition, 8(4), pp. 373–381. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-21806.
• Ahlgren, J. et al. (2013) 'Consumers on the internet : ethical and legal aspects of commercialization of personalized nutrition', Genes & Nutrition, 8(4), pp. 349–355. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-21821.

Books, peer-reviewed

Nordström, K. (2009) Autonomie und Erziehung : eine ethische Studie. Doctoral dissertation. Verlag Karl Alber.

Book chapters, peer-reviewed

• Biehl, V., Meyer, M. and Nordström, K. (2022) 'The first undergraduate program in health promotion and prevention in Switzerland : context, concept, and challenges', in Akermann, M. and Germani, A. C. C. G. (eds) International Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Health Promotion. Cham: Springer, pp. 15–35. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-96005-6_3.
• Görman, U., Ahlgren, J. and Nordström, K. (2020) 'Ethical considerations in nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics', in De Caterina, R., Martinez, A., and Kohlmeier, M. (eds) Principles of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics : fundamentals of individualized nutrition. London: Academic Press, pp. 543–548.
• Nordström, K. (2014) 'Bürgerliche Erziehung am Rande der Gesellschaft : Emilie Flygare-Carléns Rose von Tistelön (1843)', in Bühler, P. et al. (eds) Erziehung in der Europäischen Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts. Bern: Prisma, pp. 21–37.
• Nordström, K. (2014) 'Religionskunskap inom pluralism : Etiska reflektioner i ljuset av Martha Nussbaums capabilities approa', in Larsson, H.-A. (ed.) 14 röster kring samhällsstudier och didaktik. Jönköping: Samhäsllstudier & Didaktik, pp. 79–94.
• Nordström, K. and Gossens, J. (2013) 'Personalised nutrition and social justice : ethical considerations within four future scenarios from the perspective of Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach', in Röcklinsberg, H. and Sandin, P. (eds) The ethics of consumption : the citizen, the market and the law. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers, pp. 321–327.
• Nordström, K. (2012) 'Can we educate for freedom? : ethical perspectives on the pedagogical paradox', in Parker, S., Freathy, R., and Francis, L. (eds) Religious education and freedom of religion. Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 131–150. doi: 10.3726/978-3-0353-0335-3.

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

• Biehl, V. et al. (2025) 'Workforce capacity building : professional identity formation in health promotion students', in 25th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 13-16 May 2025.
• Biehl, V. et al. (2025) 'Cap4HP : Capacity building for health promotion and prevention professionals in Switzerland', in Swiss Public Health Conference (SPHC), Lugano, Switzerland, 10-11 September 2025. ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-34393.
• Vetsch-Tzogiou, C. et al. (2024) 'Medicines for dementia due to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease', in HTAi 2024 Annual Meeting, Seville, Spain, 15-19 June 2024.
• Nordström, K. (2004) 'Detachment and relatedness : the tension of a twofold moral pedagogy in confirmation work in the Church of Sweden', in Larsson, R. and Gustavson, C. (eds) Towards a European perspective on religious education. Lund: Artos & Norma, pp. 222–234.

Other publications

• Biehl, V. et al. (2025) Cap4HP: Collaborative capacity building for health promotion and prevention professionals in Switzerland. Winterthur: ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-34690.
• Amstad, F. et al. (2022) Gesundheitsförderung für und mit Kindern : wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse und Empfehlungen für die Praxis. Bern: Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz. Available at: https://gesundheitsfoerderung.ch/node/8252.
• Amstad, F. et al. (2022) Gesundheitsförderung für und mit Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen : wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse und Empfehlungen für die Praxis. Bern: Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz. Available at: https://gesundheitsfoerderung.ch/node/8253.
• Mattli, R. et al. (2022) Health technology assessment (HTA) : medicines for dementia due to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Bern: Bundesamt für Gesundheit BAG. Available at: https://www.bag.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/59GbzBb6Io0A/h0048alzh-hta-report.pdf.
• Görman, U., Ahlgren, J. and Nordström, K. (2015) Personalised nutrition : paving a way to better population health. Edited by M. Gibney. Food4Me.

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Biehl, V. et al. (2025) 'Implementing the IUHPE Core Competency Framework in Health Promotion : experiences from Switzerland', in 25th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 13-16 May 2025.
• Nordström, K. et al. (2024) 'Strategic communication in health promotion : reciprocal knowledge transfer in developing real communication projects for public health practice', in 360° Winterthur Symposium, Winterthur, Schweiz, 28.-29. November 2024.
• Biehl, V. et al. (2024) 'Ausbildung zu settingorientierter Gesundheitsförderung im D|A|CH-Raum gemeinsam weiterentwickeln : Perspektiven aus Ausbildung, Forschung, Praxis und Policy', in Kongress Armut und Gesundheit, Berlin, Deutschland, 5.-6. März 2024. Available at: https://www.armut-und-gesundheit.de/uploads/tx_gbbkongressarchiv/160_Biehl_et._al_Beitrag.pdf.

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