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Bilde av Risør, Mette Bech
Bilde av Risør, Mette Bech
General Practice Research Unit in Tromsø mette.bech@uit.no +4777623340 93026145 You can find me here

Mette Bech Risør

Professor

Job description

I am employed in a 20 % position. My primary tasks in my position are: to develop research projects, teach PhD students, and supervise both at master and PhD level. 

I am a trained social anthropologist with several years of experience in medical anthropology. My primary research interests and research fields focus on illness experiences (for different patient groups), healthcare-seeking practices and ways of navigating the healthcare system, especially concerning clinical encounters and relationships in the context of the healthcare system and organisation. More recently, this has led to a particular interest in bodily sensations, the anthropology of the senses and the way symptoms and diagnoses are configured, as well as diagnostic pathways for patients with contested diagnoses and healthcare-seeking practices as morally situated. I link this to an interest in health discourses as mediators for both medical practice and the constitution of the patient. My research interests have been realized mainly in projects dealing with patients with medically unexplained symptoms and chronic cancer patients.

I am a professor in medical anthropology at the Department of Public Health Science, Department of General Medicine and the Research Unit for General Practice at the University of Copenhagen. In addition, I hold a a 20% position as professor in medical anthropology at the General Pratice Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø.

I am scientific coordinator for the network Medical Anthropology At Home, MAAH. The network has a mailing list, which you can sign up for on request, and we organize conferences in Europe every two years. See more about this here: https://ifsv.ku.dk/maah

 

No conflicts of interest

  • Silje Rebekka Heltveit-Olsen, Lene Lunde, Anja Maria Brænd, Ivan Spehar, Sigurd Høye, Pär-Daniel Sundvall et al.:
    Local management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: a longitudinal interview study of municipality chief medical officers
    Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Oda Martine Steinsdatter Øverhaug, Johanna Laue, Svein Arild Myhra Vis, Mette Bech Risør :
    ‘There’s a will, but not a way’: Norwegian GPs’ experiences of collaboration with child welfare services – a grounded theory study
    BMC Primary Care 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Christina Sadolin Damhus, Mette Bech Risør, John Brandt Brodersen, Alexandra Brandt Ryborg Jønsson :
    Reply: How do we avoid polarization of interdisciplinary research on cancer diagnosis?
    Health 2024 DOI
  • Christina Sadolin Damhus, Mette Bech Risør, John Brandt Brodersen, Alexandra Brandt Ryborg Jønsson :
    Rethinking the logic of early diagnosis in cancer
    Health 2024 DOI
  • Julie Høgsgaard Andersen, Mette Bech Risør, Lisbeth Frostholm, Mette Trøllund Rask, Marianne Rosendal, Charlotte Ulrikka Rask :
    Managing persistent physical symptoms when being social and active is the norm: a qualitative study among young people in Denmark
    BMC Public Health 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Cathrine Maria Boge-Olsnes, Mette Bech Risør, Gunn Kristin Øberg :
    Exploring the potential of a standardized test in physiotherapy: making emotion, embodiment, and therapeutic alliance count for women with chronic pelvic pain
    Frontiers in Psychology 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Cathrine Maria Boge-Olsnes, Mette Bech Risør, Gunn Kristin Øberg :
    How life events are perceived to link to bodily distress: A qualitative study of women with chronic pelvic pain
    Health Care for Women International 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Silje Rebekka Heltveit-Olsen, Lene Lunde, Anja Maria Lyche Brænd, Ivan Spehar, Sigurd Høye, Ingmarie Skoglund et al.:
    Experiences and management strategies of Norwegian GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal interview study
    Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Cathrine Maria Boge-Olsnes, Mette Bech Risør, Gunn Kristin Øberg :
    Chronic pelvic pain sufferers’ experiences of Norwegian psychomotor physiotherapy: a qualitative study on an embodied approach to pain.
    European Journal of Physiotherapy 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Alexandra Brandt Ryborg Jønsson, Iben Emilie Christensen, Susanne Reventlow, Mette Bech Risør :
    Responsibilities of Risk: Living With Mental Illness During COVID-19
    Medical Anthropology 10. March 2022 ARKIV / DOI
  • Christina Sadolin Damhus, John Brandt Brodersen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Luckily—I am not the worrying kind: Experiences of patients in the Danish cancer patient pathway for non-specific symptoms and signs of cancer.
    Health 03. May 2022 DOI
  • Iben Emilie Christensen, Mette Bech Risør, Lone Grøn, Susanne Reventlow :
    Senses of Touch: The Absence and Presence of Touch in Health Care Encounters of Patients with Mental Illness
    Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 17. March 2022 DOI
  • Mette Bech Risør, Kjersti Lillevoll :
    Caught up in Care: Crafting Moral Subjects of Chronic Fatigue
    Medical Anthropology 2021 ARKIV / DOI
  • Ditte R Hulgaard, Mette Bech Risør, Gitte Delholm Lambertsen, Charlotte Ulrikke Rask :
    Systemic family therapy for severe functional disorders in youths. A qualitative study in a psychiatric setting
    Journal of Family Therapy 05. January 2021 ARKIV / DOI
  • Maria Fredriksen Kvamme, Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang, Trond Waage, Mette Bech Risør :
    ‘Fixing my life’: young people’s everyday efforts towards recovery from persistent bodily complaints.
    Anthropology & Medicine 2020 ARKIV / DOI
  • Ditte Roth Hulgaard, Charlotte Ulrikke Rask, Mette Bech Risør, Gitte Delholm :
    Illness perceptions of youths with functional disorders and their parents: An interpretative phenomenological analysis study
    Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 2019 DOI
  • Maria Fredriksen Kvamme, Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang, Trond Waage, Mette Bech Risør :
    Careful expressions of social aspects: How local professionals in high school settings, municipal services, and general practice communicate care to youth presenting persistent bodily complaints
    Health and Social Care in the Community 2019 DOI
  • Ditte R Hulgaard, Charlotte Ulrikke Rask, Mette Bech Risør, Gitte Delholm :
    ‘I can hardly breathe’: Exploring the parental experience of having a child with a functional disorder
    Journal of Child Health Care 2019 DOI
  • Mette Bech Risør, Nina Nissen :
    Configurations of diagnostic processes and practices: an introduction
    Publicacions URV 2018 DOI
  • Magdalena Skowronski, Mette Bech Risør, Rikke Sand Andersen, Nina Foss :
    The cancer may come back: experiencing and managing worries of relapse in a North Norwegian village after treatment
    Anthropology & Medicine 2018 ARKIV / DOI
  • Silje Vagli Østbye, Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang, Ida Pauline Høilo Granheim, Kjersti Elisabeth Kristensen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Epistemological and methodological paradoxes: secondary care specialists and their challenges working with adolescents with medically unexplained symptoms
    International Journal of Mental Health Systems 2018 ARKIV / DOI
  • Helle Haslund, Mette Bech Risør :
    Vi har efterhånden fundet vores egne ben som forældre: Forældreskab og sundhedspleje i spændingsfeltet mellem velfærdsstat og privatsfære.
    Tidsskrift for forskning i sygdom og samfund 2018 ARKIV / DOI
  • Silje Vagli Østbye, Maria Fredriksen Kvamme, Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang, Hanne Haavind, Trond Waage, Mette Bech Risør :
    ‘Not a film about my slackness’: Making sense of medically unexplained illness in youth using collaborative visual methods
    Health 2018 ARKIV / DOI
  • Sara Marie Hebsgaard Offersen, Mette Bech Risør, Peter Vedsted, Rikke Sand Andersen :
    Cancer-before-cancer. Mythologies of cancer in everyday life
    Medicine Anthropology Theory 2018 ARKIV / DOI
  • Eva A.M. Van Eerd, Mette Bech Risør, Marcus Spigt, Maciek Godycki-Ćwirko, Elena Andreeva, Nick Francis et al.:
    Why do physicians lack engagement with smoking cessation treatment in their COPD patients? A multinational qualitative study
    Npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine 2017 ARKIV / DOI
  • Magdalena Skowronski, Mette Bech Risør, Nina Foss :
    The significance of cultural norms and clinical logics for the perception of possible relapse in rural Northern Norway – sensing symptoms of cancer
    Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare 2017 ARKIV / DOI
  • Magdalena Skowronski, Mette Bech Risør, Nina Foss :
    Approaching Health in Landscapes: An Ethnographic Study with Chronic Cancer Patients from a Coastal Village in Northern Norway
    Anthropology in Action 01. March 2017 ARKIV / DOI
  • Rikke Sand Andersen, Mark Nichter, Mette Bech Risør :
    Introduction. Sensations, Symptoms and Healthcare Seeking.
    Anthropology in Action 2017 ARKIV / DOI
  • Tone Seppola-Edvardsen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Ignoring symptoms: The process of normalising sensory experiences after cancer
    Anthropology in Action 2017 ARKIV / DOI
  • Johanna Laue, Hasse Melbye, Mette Bech Risør :
    Self-treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requires more than symptom recognition – a qualitative study of COPD patients’ perspectives on self-treatment
    BMC Family Practice 2017 ARKIV / DOI
  • Camilla Hoffmann Merrild, Mette Bech Risør, Peter Vedsted, Rikke Sand Andersen :
    Class, social suffering, and health consumerism
    Medical Anthropology 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Stina Lou, Camilla Palmhøj Nielsen, Lone Hvidman, Olav Bjørn Petersen, Mette Bech Risør :
    What do you think? the collaborative practices of choice and care in a Danish obstetric ultrasound unit
    Anthropology & Medicine 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Tone Seppola-Edvardsen, Rikke Sand Andersen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Sharing or not sharing? Balancing uncertainties after cancer in urban Norway
    Health, Risk and Society 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Mikka Nielsen, Anders Petersen, Mette Bech Risør, Mette Rønberg :
    Introduktion.Diagnoser: Organisation, kultur og mennesker
    Tidsskrift for forskning i sygdom og samfund 2016 DOI
  • Magnus Hjortdahl, Peder Andreas Halvorsen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Rural GPs’ attitudes toward participating in emergency medicine: a qualitative study
    Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • May-Lill Johansen, Mette Bech Risør :
    What is the problem with medically unexplained symptoms for GPs? A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies
    Patient Education and Counseling 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Johanna Laue, Hasse Melbye, Peder Andreas Halvorsen, Elena Andreeva, Maciek Godycki-Cwirko, Anja Wollny et al.:
    How do general practitioners implement decision-making regarding COPD patients with exacerbations? An international focus group study
    The International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Stina Lou, Camilla P. Nielsen, Lone Hvidman, Olav Bjørn Petersen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Coping with worry while waiting for diagnostic results: a qualitative study of the experiences of pregnant couples following a high-risk prenatal screening result
    BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Nina Nissen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Diagnostic fluidity: working with uncertainty and mutability
    Publicacions URV 2018
  • R.S. Andersen, M.T. Høybye, Mette Bech Risør :
    Expanding Medical Semiotics
    Medical Anthropology 2024 DOI
  • Silje Rebekka Heltveit-Olsen, Lene Lunde, Anja Maria Brænd, Ivan Spehar, Sigurd Høye, Ingmarie Skoglund et al.:
    Experiences and management strategies of Norwegian GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal interview study.
    2022
  • Mette Bech Risør :
    Caught up in care – chronic fatigue and self-management
    2021
  • Mette Bech Risør :
    AFFECTIVITY IN CLINICAL ENCOUNTERS: THE POTENTIAL OF ‘ACTIVITY’ IN DIAGNOSING CHRONIC FATIGUE
    2021
  • Maria Fredriksen Kvamme, Mette Bech Risør, Catharina Elisabeth Arfwedson Wang, Trond Waage :
    Suffering, agency and care in medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). An ethnographic study of the social course and reframing of MUS in Norwegian youth
    UiT Norges arktiske universitet 2020 FULLTEKST / PROSJEKT / SAMMENDRAG
  • Tone Seppola-Edvardsen, Mette Bech Risør :
    Kreftpasienter etter endt behandling - hvordan forstå og håndtere kroppslige sensasjoner og symptomer?
    2020
  • Peder Andreas Halvorsen, Mette Bech Risør, Hasse Melbye :
    The Stethoscope 2030: Towards Personalized Diagnostics With Digital Auscultation
    2019
  • Mette Bech Risør :
    Subjectivities at stake - the crafting of agency and personhood during clinical assessment of CFS/ME
    2018
  • Mette Bech Risør :
    Subjectivities at stake – the crafting of agency and personhood during clinical assessment of CFS/ME (chronic fatigue)
    2018
  • Maria Fredriksen Kvamme, Mette Bech Risør :
    “We know what it really is but…” Explanations, concepts and metaphors applied to medically unexplained symptoms in youth by health and other involved professionals in a Norwegian city
    2017
  • Mette Bech Risør, RS Andersen :
    Caught in bureaucratisation? Different disciplinary approaches to symptom negotiations in Northern GP-clinical practice
    2017

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    Research interests

    Mette Bech Risør is a professor in medical anthropology. She has many years of experience with research in functional disorders, however her research interests also span other fields, such as symptom perception/interpretation, illness perceptions, health systems and health practices in everyday life. Theoretically she is inspired by critical theory but also by phenomenology/life world concepts and theories on health, illness and doctor-patient relations. She has operationalised these theories and others in analyses of knowledge production, illness explanations and rationality/reasoning.

    Mette Bech Risør has huge experience with collaborating interdisciplinary with health professionals, not only practically but also with a focus on the potentials for methodological development. She has a broad experience with teaching and supervision and has chaired and started several larger research projects. She is a member of the editorial board (former editor-in-chief for 15 years) and main initiator of the journal: Journal of Research in Sickness and Society.

    Teaching and supervision

    I currently teach at the PhD course 'Qualitative Methodology and Methods in Health Research', at UiT. I supervise PhD students at UiT, and bachelor's and master's students from various programmes. 

    I have been course leader of several PhD courses in qualitative methods and analysis, taught theoretical and empirical anthropology, taught medical students about social issues in health etc.  

    Current research

    - everyday life and healthcare-seeking for patients with both mental and somatic disorders

    - coherent patient pathways and healthcare-seeking for men with genital lesions

    - cooperation regarding citizens on sick leave between general practice, the job center and the citizen him/herself

    - complex multimorbidity, what does that mean and for whom? (in progress)

     

    ResearchGate
    ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7912-5804

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