Young people’s everyday life calls for new solutions – Professor Katja Joronen promotes youth health through research
What are your main research interests?
My field of research is health promotion among children and young people. I focus especially on mental well-being and the promotion of mental health, emphasising everyday environments such as schools and local communities.
I am interested in local environments from the health promotion perspective. In our group, we make extensive use of the School Health Promotion Study, which is a real treasure trove for researchers. This national survey enables us to learn about young people’s own views about their well-being and the support they feel they receive or fail to receive.
I am also interested in social media as part of young people’s developmental environment. In the TUBEDU project funded by the Research Council of Finland, we conduct multidisciplinary research on how mental health themes are addressed on social media and how young people interpret, comment on, and use such content to support their own well-being.
What makes your research significant?
Our research shows that young people’s well-being is shaped in many local environments and relationships. For example, having good communication with a parent is strongly linked to many areas of a young person’s well-being. It is important to understand where young people are supported and where they are left without support.
The aim of health promotion is to equip individuals to make healthier choices and lead a more balanced life. You cannot force another person to change, but structures and living environments should support young people’s strengths and resources. Through my research, I want to strengthen young people’s capacity to face everyday anxiety and low mood as natural parts of human life. One inspiring way to do this is through participatory drama.
Where do you draw inspiration for your work as a professor?
My curiosity about people and life has its roots in my childhood in a small Karelian town, and it was further strengthened during my training as a nurse. I recognise in myself an ethos of striving for a better world and a desire to support people on their journey.
As a researcher, I believe that studying phenomena related to health and well-being requires interdisciplinary collaboration and the involvement of young people already at the planning stage. Together, we can understand the complexities of health and well-being and find solutions that no single discipline could reach on its own.
I am also interested in planetary health issues. My experience of collaborating on the development of multidisciplinary services for children in South Africa has deepened my understanding of how the well-being of individuals, communities and our planet are interconnected – and why research matters on a global scale.
What would you like to research next and why?
I want to develop multichannel ways of supporting the mental well-being of children and young people in their everyday lives. For example, art and nature-based experiences offer young people meaningful and communal ways for promoting their sense of belonging and empathy – not only within services, but as a part of life.
I am also keen to study young carers, as their situation remains largely invisible in Finland. They shoulder considerable responsibility for their loved ones without any formal status, which often affects their health and future opportunities. Many do not identify as carers at all, because responsibility has always been part of their everyday life: a young person may think it entirely normal to check in the morning whether their mother has taken her medication, or to skip a school day to take care of something for a relative. We need research so that these young people become visible and receive the support they need.
What do you do in your free time?
I go jogging alone and take my dog for walks. A book club and a drama club bring me joy and help me unwind from research. I also volunteer with my husband as a peer leader in marriage enrichment groups.
Welcome to the inaugural lectures of the new professors on 11 May 2026
Katja Joronen
- Nominated Professor of Nursing Science at the Unit of Health Sciences of Tampere University on 1 August 2025.
- Completed her doctoral thesis at the University of Tampere in 2005 (Adolescents' subjective well-being in their social contexts).
- Registered nurse.
- Apart from Tampere University, research and teaching at the University of Turku and Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. Research exchange in California, United States.
- Nearly 100 scientific articles and books chapters.
