Helena Kilander

Assistant Professor
Department for quality improvement and leadership , School of Health and Welfare
Associate Professor
Presentation Publications

Helena Kilander’s research primarily focuses on quality improvement within health and welfare, as well as sexual and reproductive health. Her work on quality improvement addresses the co-creation of services in health and welfare together with different target groups. Her research in sexual and reproductive health includes the prevention of unintended pregnancies, contraceptive counselling in the context of migration and childbearing, experiences of sexual violence, and sexual risk exposure.

Helena teaches in the Master’s programme in Quality Improvement and Leadership in Health and Welfare and currently supervises four doctoral students in collaboration with various universities.

Helena has previously been a postdoctoral fellow in SAMSKAPA, a programme funded by Forte. She has also served as principal investigator for the project Survive – co-creating support and care in connection with sexual violence. Survive was a collaborative project involving Region Jönköping County, Kommunal Utveckling, the County Administrative Board, and the School of Health Sciences.

Helena is also an affiliated researcher at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health at Karolinska Institutet within the framework of the ongoing project IMPROVE-it 2.0. She previously held a postdoctoral position and served as deputy research leader at Karolinska Institutet in the project IMPROVE-it – Promoting equitable reproductive health: implementation of evidence-based postpartum contraceptive counselling for and with foreign-born women in Sweden.

Article

Wängborg, A., Klingberg-Allvin, M., Saidarab, S., Mattison, C., Larsson, E., Kilander, H. (2026). Exploring Somali-born women’s experiences with contraceptive services in Sweden through a reproductive justice lens Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters. More information
Berglundh, S., Abunnaja, K., Herzig van Wees, S., Larsson, E., Kilander, H. (2025). Arabic speaking women's experience of postpartum contraceptive counselling in Sweden Reproductive Health, 22(1). More information
Baroudi, M., Larsson, E., Kilander, H. (2025). Navigating complex decision in a new setting: perspectives of Arabic-speaking migrant men in Sweden on family planning decision making PLOS ONE, 20(6 June). More information
Poulsen, H., Ros, A., Braithwaite, J., Elg, M., Kilander, H. (2025). Exploring a process-oriented way of working: a case study involving primary and specialised care BMC Health Services Research, 25(1). More information
Kilander, H., Lyssarides, C., Fredlund, C., Lindenfalk, B., Fristedt, S., Nordin, A. (2025). Potentials for improving support and care to survivors of sexual violence: a case study within a multiorganizational setting in Sweden International Journal of Integrated Care, 25(3), 1-13. More information
Herzig van Wees, S., Kilander, H., Salah, K., Saidarab, S., Waengborg, A., Larsson, E. (2024). Co-designing postpartum contraceptive services with and for immigrant women in Sweden: lessons learned from the IMPROVE-it project BMC Health Services Research, 24(1). More information
Gozzi, P. Persson, M. Nielsen, A. Kilander, H. Kågesten, A. Emtell Iwarsson, K. , ... Larsson E. (2024). Contraceptive access and use among women with migratory experience living in high-income countries: a scoping review. More information
Liljeblad, K., Kallner, H., Brynhildsen, J., Kilander, H. (2024). Women's experiences of postpartum contraceptive services when elective caesarean section is the method of birth: a qualitative study BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, 50(2), 107-113. More information
Siösteen-Holmblad, I., Larsson, E., Kilander, H. (2023). What factors influence a Quality Improvement Collaborative in improving contraceptive services for foreign-born women? A qualitative study in Sweden BMC Health Services Research, 23(1). More information
Johansson, L., Vesström, J., Alehagen, S., Kilander, H. (2023). Women’s experiences of dealing with fertility and side effects in contraceptive decision making: a qualitative study based on women’s blog posts Reproductive Health, 20(1). More information
Kilander, H. Sorcher, R. Berglundh, S. Petersson, K. Wängborg, A. Danielsson, K. , ... Larsson E. (2023). IMplementing best practice post-partum contraceptive services through a quality imPROVEment initiative for and with immigrant women in Sweden (IMPROVE it): a protocol for a cluster randomised control trial with a process evaluation BMC Public Health, 23(1). More information
Grundström, H., Kilander, H., Wikman, P., Olovsson, M. (2023). Demographic and clinical characteristics determining patient-centeredness in endometriosis care Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 307, 1047-1055. More information
Hammarstrom, S., Alehagen, S., Kilander, H. (2022). Violence and sexual risk taking reported by young people at Swedish youth clinics Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 127(1). More information
Kilander, H., Alehagen, S., Hammarström, S., Golsäter, M. (2022). Identifying sexual risk-taking and ill health in the meeting with young people-experiences of using an assessment tool Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 36(4), 1189-1196. More information
Kilander, H., Weinryb, M., Vikström, M., Petersson, K., Larsson, E. (2022). Developing contraceptive services for immigrant women postpartum: a case study of a quality improvement collaborative in Sweden BMC Health Services Research, 22(1). More information
Kilander, H., Brynhildsen, J., Alehagen, S., Thor, J. (2020). Examining the pace of change in contraceptive practices in abortion services – a follow-up case study of a quality improvement collaborative BMC Health Services Research, 20(1). More information