Natalie Heynsbergh, RN, PhD, is a Research Fellow at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia and has a background in acute medical/surgical nursing. She completed her doctoral studies in 2019 focused on developing and testing a smartphone app as a supportive resource for family caregivers of people living with colorectal cancer.

Natalie has an interest in improving family caregivers’ access to resources and support using digital technology solutions. Her ongoing work includes exploring how a smartphone app can be adapted to family caregivers of people living with various cancer types as well as being inclusive of patients and caregivers in gender and sexual minority groups in Australia. For more information contact IFNA member, Natalie Heynsbergh.

LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/natalie-heynsbergh-71b598a7

Twitter: @NatHeynsbergh

Snaebjorn Omar Gudjonsson, RN, MSc, is a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist (CNS) at Akureyri Hospital (SAk), Iceland. He is employed by the department of psychiatry which uses DNV-GL quality procedures and has received international accreditation for its operation. Snaebjorn has been a Quality liaison at the psychiatric ward in recent years, i.e., working on implementation and policymaking in therapeutics. The hospital provides specialized health care services in the northern and eastern part of Iceland and has adopted the Calgary Family Assessment and Intervention models to guide practice. Snaebjorn serves as the assistant coordinator of the implementation group. Research related to the implementation of family nursing at SAk is being led by the University of Akureyri. 

Snaebjorn is also one of the two implementation coordinators of Multifamily Group Therapy at the outpatient department of psychiatry at SAk. The project is a collaboration with Centre de Terapia Interfamiliar (Elche, Spain) and Centre Neuro Psychiatrique Saint Martin (Namur, Belgium). These institutions are among several in Europe that are participating in an Erasmus project: Digitalizing a network for peer collaboration and learning in family and community resources for workers in the social, educational, and mental health sectors. One of the main products will be the creation of a platform for sharing and learning about community and family resources.

Snaebjorn also serves on behalf of SAk in a collaboration with the National University Hospital, University of Akureyri, and the University of Iceland where data is being collected from participants with Serious Mental Illnesses (SMI). The results of this study will be used to evaluate the relationship of recovery and quality of life with services and treatment of individuals dealing with SMI in the mental health system in Iceland.

In his master’s thesis, Snaebjorn examined the recovery of patients with severe depression in inpatient rural psychiatry. The results were published in 2020 in the Nordic Journal of Psychiatry. Snaebjorn is also a co-author of a recent article (2020) focused on the impact of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental-health services in Europe. 

For more information, contact IFNA member Snaebjorn Omar Gudjonsson.

Henny Hraunfjord is a doctoral candidate at the University of Iceland and a nursing manager at a respite and rehabilitation ward for children with chronic illnesses and/or disabilities at Landspitali the National Hospital of Iceland.  Henny is a member of an International Pediatric research group, FAMA – CI research group, led by Dr. Erla Kolbrun Svavarsdottir, which includes study participants from four countries and examines the adaptation and impact of pediatric chronic illness on family life from the Nordic and southern European perspective. Henny has also worked with Dr. Erla Kolbrun Svavarsdottir and Dr. Anna Olafia Sigurdardottir on studies focused on family nursing education and nurses’ attitudes towards family nursing and on the benefits of therapeutic conversations in pediatric nursing. In her dissertation, she will be addressing emotional support needs and the adaptation of families of children with chronic illnesses and nurses’ attitudes towards family nursing. IFNA member, Dr. Erla Kolbrun Svavarsdottir and Dr. Suzanne M. Thoyre are members of Henny’s dissertation committee. For more information, contact IFNA member Henny Hraunfjord.

Twitter: @HennyHraunfjord

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/hennyh