Prof. Dr. Christina Ramsenthaler, MSc PhD

Work at ZHAW

Position

• Professor of Research Methods and Statistics
• Project lead for (e)SENIORS projects

Focus

The focus of my research strategy is: patient-centred outcome measures (PCOMs) in various disease groups (palliative care, older people, community care, acute care, intersectionality), how they can be used to foster patient-centred care for professionals and informal caregivers, & how they can be developed and implemented for maximum and sustainable clinical utility. I work with PCOMs at both the individual and the population level to guide individual care, but also to monitor care quality, transitions and intersectionality, and investigate the effects of social inequality on healthcare systems nationally and internationally. Central to my work is the development of the logic model of using PCOMs as an intervention, understanding the structure, processes and outcomes which are needed and can be affected by employing PCOMs routinely. The target populations of my research are healthcare professionals of various disciplines and informal caregivers. Methodologically, I am further developing methods and methodology regarding: the use of routine data and their validity for investigating epidemiological effects and outcomes; the use of big data to monitor unmet needs; new psychometric approaches for investigating the measurement error associated with proxy assessment; new psychometric methods within an item response theory and a structural equation modelling framework for investigating the longitudinal construct validity and minimally important difference of PCOMs; quantitative methods for hybrid trials within implementation research.

Teaching

• Quantitative Methods 1 (Modul lead, MSc Nursing)
• Quantitative Methods 2 (Modul lead, MSc Nursing
• Module Master's thesis
• Questionnaire design and further quantitative methods
• Statistical models with R (Joint PhD programme, USZ, UZH & ZHAW)
• B4 Case Study Research (MSc Nursing)

Experience

• Lecturer / Reader
  Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, UK
  03 / 2020 - today
• Visiting Scholar of Research Methods and Statistics
  Cicely Saunders Institute, Department of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, King's College London, London, UK
  01 / 2017 - today
• Senior researcher
  Department of Palliative Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
  12 / 2020 - 09 / 2021
• Senior lecturer / reader
  Institute of Sport and Sport Sciences, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
  03 / 2018 - 01 / 2021
• Research fellow
  GESIS- Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences, Mannheim, Germany
  04 / 2017 - 02 / 2018
• Research fellow
  Department of Palliative medicine, University Medical Center Munich, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany
  04 / 2016 - 04 / 2017
• Research assistant, PhD student
  Cicely Saunders Institute, Department of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, King's College London, London, UK
  10 / 2012 - 03 / 2016
• Research assistant
  Cicely Saunders Institute, Department of Palliative Care, Policy and Rehabilitation, King's College London, London, UK
  11 / 2010 - 10 / 2012
• Research assistant
  University Oldenburg & ipac Institute for Palliative Care Oldenburg, Germany
  04 / 2009 - 02 / 2011

Education and Continuing education

Education

• Professional Certificate / Teaching in Higher Education
  ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
  01 / 2023 - 01 / 2024
• PhD / Palliative Care
  King's College London, London, UK
  10 / 2012 - 06 / 2017
• Professional Certificate / Medical Statistics and Epidemiology
  University College London, London, UK
  01 / 2014 - 01 / 2015
• Professional Certificate / Rasch Measurement Theory
  The University of Western Australia, Australia
  01 / 2013 - 01 / 2014
• Master of Science / Palliative Care
  King's College London, London, UK
  01 / 2010 - 01 / 2012
• Diploma (equivalent to 120 ECTS MSc) / Psychology (Clinical Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology, Pedagogical Psychology)
  University of Bremen, Institute of Psychology
  10 / 2005 - 03 / 2009
• Pre-Diploma / Psychology
  University Oldenburg, Institute of Psychology
  10 / 2003 - 07 / 2005

Continuing Education

Certificate in Good Clinical Practice
King's College London, London, UK
03 / 2024

Network

Membership of networks

• German Guideline Program in Oncology
• Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull
• POS and IPOS group at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King's College London
• German Association of palliative care
• European Association of Palliative Care

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9996-1818

Projects

• Care for Rare Navigator: Digital AI-supported counseling service for families with rare diseases / Team member / ongoing
• Person-centred care of persons with dementia receiving community care services: co-design of an intervention focusing on developing competencies in measuring, interpreting, and care planning based on person-centred outcome measurement / Project leader / ongoing
• Understanding the Interactions of Influencing Factors on Restraint Use in Swiss Intensive Care Units: A Mixed Methods Multi-Case Study / Team member / completed
• Prevention Admission into Nursing Homes / Team member / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Ramsenthaler, C. (2026) 'Stichprobengrössenplanung in quantitativen Studien : warum sie unverzichtbar ist', Pflege, 39(2), pp. 103–103. doi: 10.1024/1012-5302/a001068.
• Stock, N. L. et al. (2026) 'Digitale Kompetenzen von Gesundheitsfachpersonen : deutsche Übersetzung und inhaltliche Validierung von DigiHealthCom und DigiComInf', Pflege, 39(3), pp. 121–130. doi: 10.1024/1012-5302/a001073.
• Hriskova, K. et al. (2026) 'Digital patient-reported outcome measures in palliative home care : a feasibility study', Palliative Medicine, 40(5), pp. 632–643. doi: 10.1177/02692163251409294.
• Burrell, T. et al. (2025) 'Cool facial airflow hastens exertion recovery in chronic breathlessness: randomised crossover trial of different fan airflow speeds', BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, 15(5), pp. 633–641. doi: 10.1136/spcare-2024-005103.
• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2024) 'Empowering informal caregivers and nurses to take a person-centred view : adaptation and clinical utility of the Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale (IPOS-Dem) for use in acute and community care settings', BMC Geriatrics, 24(1030). doi: 10.1186/s12877-024-05608-8.
• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2024) 'Meaningful patient and public engagement in dissemination : embedding co-production in dementia research', Frontiers in Dementia, 3(1426019). doi: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1426019.
• Johnson, M. J. et al. (2024) 'Benefits of specialist palliative care by identifying active ingredients of service composition, structure, and delivery model : a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression', PLOS Medicine, 21(8), p. e1004436. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004436.
• Aworinde, J. et al. (2024) 'Co‐design of the EMBED‐Care Framework as an intervention to enhance shared decision‐making for people affected by dementia and practitioners, comprising holistic assessment, linked with clinical decision support tools : a qualitative study', Health Expectations, 27(1), p. e13987. doi: 10.1111/hex.13987.
• Bolzani, A. et al. (2023) 'Measurement equivalence of the paper-based and electronic version of the Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale (IPOS) : a randomised crossover trial', Palliative Medicine, 37(5), pp. 760–770. doi: 10.1177/02692163231157871.

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

• Gulliksen, E. et al. (2025) 'Symptoms and unmet needs in advanced liver disease : interim analysis of an integrated palliative care outcome scale (IPOS) dataset'.
• Muraru, S. et al. (2025) 'Minimal clinically important difference of the EULAR systemic sclerosis impact of disease (ScleroID) questionnaire anchored to patient-reported state and HAQ-DI', in Annual European Congress of Rheumatology EULAR, Barcelona, Spain, 11-14 June 2025.
• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2025) 'A person-centred outcome measure for generalist palliative care in dementia : construct validity, factor analysis, internal consistency, reliability, and responsiveness of the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale – Dementia (IPOS-Dem)', in 19th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care, Helsinki, Finland, 29-31 May 2025.

Other publications

• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2026) 'Forschung gemeinsam mit Betroffenen, Angehörigen und Fachpersonen für eine nachhaltige, person-zentrierte Versorgung von Personen mit Demenz in der Spitex', NOVAcura, 57(1), pp. 51–59.
• Van Es, A. et al. (2025) 'Implementierung von patientenzentrierten Messinstrumenten in der spezialisierten häuslichen Palliative Care : Lernmomente und was hat sich in der Praxis bewährt?', in Nationaler Palliative Care Kongress, Biel, Schweiz. 26.-27. November 2025.
• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2025) 'Identifying the top three symptoms to manage in dementia : a consensus workshop on the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale Dementia (IPOS-Dem)', in 35th Alzheimer Europe Conference, Bologna, Italy, 6-8 October 2025.

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Hauswirth Siegenthaler, C. et al. (2025) 'In der Praxis bewährt : nachhaltige PROMs-Implementierung in der Palliativversorgung im Akutspital', in Nationaler Palliative Care Kongress, Biel, Schweiz. 26.-27. November 2025.
• Ramsenthaler, C. et al. (2025) 'Validity and reliability of a child and family-centred outcome measure for children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions : validation study of the Children's Palliative Care Outcome Scale', in Palliative Medicine. Sage, p. 39. doi: 10.1177/02692163251335482.
• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2025) 'A person-centred outcome measure for generalist palliative care in dementia : construct validity, factor analysis, internal consistency, reliability, and responsiveness of the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale – Dementia (IPOS-Dem)', in Palliative Medicine. Sage, p. 374. doi: 10.1177/02692163251335482.
• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2025) 'Can an electronic person-centred outcome measure be implemented in a resource-constrained, task-focused setting? Co-productive development of an implementation strategy in the community dementia care setting', in Palliative Medicine. Sage, p. 460. doi: 10.1177/02692163251335482.
• de Wolf-Linder, S. et al. (2022) 'Person-centred outcome guided palliative care for people with dementia : SENIORS-D research protocol', in National Research Day Palliative Care, Bern, Switzerland, 25 August 2022.

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