Merethe Hustoft

Field of work

As a recent graduate, I worked as an occupational therapist in Skien Municipality from 1997 to 1998. The following year, I served as an occupational therapist at the epilepsy unit, neurology department, and burns unit at Haukeland University Hospital (1998-1999). In Bergen Municipality, I became a specialist occupational therapist in rehabilitation, working there from 1999 to 2012. Following my tenure in Bergen, I became the project manager for the "Leve HELE livet" initiative in Stavanger Municipality (2012-2014), focusing on the implementation of reablement teams and health-promoting and preventative measures. From April 2014 to May 2020, I was employed as a Ph.D. fellow at the Regional Centre for Hsbilitation and Rehabilitation, researching the impact of interprofessional teams in specialist rehabilitation services: *Do Interprofessional Teams Matter?*

In January 2019, I started my career here at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) within the occupational therapy programme. In 2023, I gained the opportunity to take on the role of Deputy Head for the Centre for Interprofessional Workplace Learning (TVEPS), with a 50% position focusing on the development of interprofessional competence and interprofessional identity among health and social care students at both the University of Bergen (UiB) and HVL. In addition to my role at HVL, I posit a 20% position as a researcher at the Regional Centre for Habilitation and Rehabilitation. I teach both at the master’s and bachelor’s levels within TVEPS and the occupational therapy programme.

I hold a Master's degree in Evidence-Based Practice in Health Sciences from Bergen University College (2012), where my dissertation focused on the implementation of early supported discharge teams in municipal rehabilitation services: The experiences of an early supported discharge team. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of Bergen, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care (2020), with research on *Do Interprofessional Teams Matter?*

In September 2024, TVEPS was awarded research council funding (12 million NOK) for the project: IP-Future: IP-Future | University of Bergen. TVEPS, participating alongside the project lead from the global health and rehabilitation department here at HVL, received UTFORSK funding (3 million NOK) for the project IP-LINC: Climate and Health, Interprofessional Learning, Innovation, and Collaboration (2025 - 2028). In 2024, TVEPS, in collaboration with Experts in Teams (EiT) Nordic, received project funding from Nordplus for the project: Students as Change Agents in Grand Societal Challenges (2025 - 2026).

I have developed and continue to develop the TVEPS model both nationally and internationally. I have participated in and continue to engage in research projects involving both patients, interprofessional compentence, interprofessional identity and interprofessional teams within both specialised rehabilitation and education. Furthermore, I have developed and am involved in numerous projects focused on interprofessional collaborative learning.

Courses taught

• Rehabilitation
• Rehabilitation process
• Interprofessional collaboration
• Coordination/Continuity of care
• Occupational therapy knowledge base
• Evidence practice practice
• Function
• Research process
• Quantitative methods
• Occupational Science
• Academic writing

Research areas

• Rehabilitation patients (REKOVE)
• Interprofessional collaboration
• Professional competence development
• Interprofessional competence development
• Interprofessional identity development
• Coordination/Continuity of care
• Questionnaires (valitity/reliability)
• Health services research

Research groups

• Implementation and methodolgy research
• Rehabilitation and health promotion
• Educational research in health and social sciences professions