Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare

The idea behind the faculty is rooted in the definition of health provided by the World Health Organization (WHO): 'Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.'

We provide a combination of far-sighted healthcare education and respect towards traditions rooted in the past. The knowledge you will acquire while studying with us will be fundamental to ensuring proper healthcare in the future.
Prof. Inga Millere, dean, Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare

The disciplines taught by the Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare are built upon the necessity to ensure and develop multidisciplinary education and research in the fields of health care, public health and social welfare, taking a biopsychosocial and holistic approach at inter-personal, group and social level. Public health as an art and science can be traced back to the ancient Greek societies when people started to speculate on how to live a long and healthy life? Due to high-speed urbanisation, ageing population, environmental pollution and ecological issues, the necessity for effective health promotion and social welfare activity is gaining increasing importance.

Studies

The Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare is the only faculty in Latvia offering a wide range of unique undergraduate and post-graduate study programmes. We are focused on producing future nurses, midwifes, nutrition and sports medicine specialists, likewise professionals in the fields of health psychology, supervision, public health, and social work. We are proud to offer high quality interdisciplinary education to our students, allowing them to become public health and social welfare innovators and industry leaders.

The Medical Education Technology Centre offers supporting and safe environment for the students to shape their professional competences through resolution of simulated high-risk situations and tasks. The students may practice, learn and repeat various procedures and manipulations over and over until they reach the desired outcome and feel competent for practical work in real life conditions. The centre also offers the students the opportunity to develop practical health promotion skills at our fitness centre (for health sports specialists) and well-equipped kitchen classroom - for nutrition specialists.

The Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare encompasses progressive education and respect for our traditions. We offer the opportunity to acquire valuable knowledge, industry focused skills and health care competences that will be needed tomorrow, therewith ensuring solid grounds for successful future growth.

Study programmes

Undergraduate study programmes

Nursing – Professional Bachelor's Degree in Health Care

Post-graduate study programmes

Public Health – Master's Degree of Health Science in Health Care
Social Work with Children and Youth – Professional Master's degree in Social Work / Social Worker

Other study programmes are offered in Latvian

admission

Faculty Council

The Council of the Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare is a collegial administrative body of the faculty under the authority of the Dean that exercises the duties and obligations prescribed by the bylaws of the Faculty and by the University’s internal regulations.

End-of-studies thesis subject areas

Department of Nursing and Midwifery

Department website

Subject areas	Potential research leaders
Modeling nurse-patient (midwife-patient) interaction to promote equality in the care process	Staff lecturers
Challenges in health care - demographic change, changing disease treatment and care model, changing care roles and expectations	Staff lecturers
Quality of care research, development of care quality criteria, monitoring. Quality indicators in care.	Staff lecturers
Care documentation as a tool for promoting the quality of patient care.	Staff lecturers
Patient safety in the care process. Nurses are leaders in patient safety culture. The role of nurse leaders.	Staff lecturers
Nursing (care) diagnoses	Staff lecturers
Occupational and environmental health issues (occupational safety, workload, prevention)	Staff lecturers
Lack of nurses / midwives in the labor market. Problems of human resources	Staff lecturers
Issues of professional ethics	Staff lecturers
Limits of competence and professionalism of nurses / midwives and legal responsibilities	Staff lecturers
The problem of population aging (care of seniors and its organization)	Staff lecturers
Improving health care and quality of life	Staff lecturers
Addressing the inconsistencies of a healthy lifestyle	Staff lecturers
Person - centered healthcare	Staff lecturers
Patients' experience in the healthcare process	Staff lecturers
Supervision (management) of chronic patients and the role of the nurse in this process	Staff lecturers
Interdisciplinary cooperation in care	Staff lecturers
Transitional care	Staff lecturers
Complementary and alternative medicine methods, the role of nurses / midwives in it, cooperation with patients / families / society	Staff lecturers
Compliance of nursing / midwifery education with health care practice (and vice versa)	Staff lecturers
Development and testing of care strategies. New care models.	Staff lecturers
Standardized vs. individualized care	Staff lecturers
Promoting the autonomy of nurses / midwives, developing decision-making competence	Staff lecturers
Mentoring in health care and professions	Staff lecturers
Introduction of new materials and technologies in tertiary care (adaptive viscoelastic materials, automated hospital management)	Staff lecturers
E-health; Telemedicine development and care opportunities. Technological innovations in healthcare.	Staff lecturers
Introduction of modern patient monitoring, mobile sensors, integrated care technologies and approaches in healthcare	Staff lecturers
Innovative technologies and digital skills in the care process / nursing (midwifery) education	Staff lecturers
Data security in the healthcare process	Staff lecturers
Professional identity and values	Staff lecturers
Nurses, midwife emotional health, personality factors, motivation	Staff lecturers
Resource management in patient groups	Staff lecturers
Environmental policy research	Staff lecturers
Environment and care	Staff lecturers
Collaborative research / networking practice and research	Staff lecturers
Medical care and nursing care technologies	Staff lecturers
Research of disease prevention, direct nursing care and rehabilitation (in all patient groups)	Staff lecturers
Interdisciplinary care of chronic and complex patients, family-oriented care.	Staff lecturers
Assessing the results and impact of health care reform	Staff lecturers
Development of bioinformatics methods and platforms	Staff lecturers
Innovation testing, efficiency and cost studies	Staff lecturers
Health care systems, their cost-effectiveness and sustainability measurements	Staff lecturers
An innovative ecosystem at many levels (possibly digital) in healthcare	Staff lecturers

Department of Public Health and Epidemiology

Department website

Tematiskā joma	Potenciālie darbu vadītāji
Health promotion and disease prevention	Inese Gobiņa, Anita Villeruša, Lauma Spriņģe, Aija Bukova-Žideļūna, Toms Pulmanis, Inese Stars, Ģirts Briģis, Dzintars Mozgis, Baiba Rozentāle, Anda Ķīvīte-Urtāne, Gunta Lazdāne
Environmental health and risk factors	Ģirts Briģis, Žanna Martinsone, Ivars Vanadziņš, Anita Villeruša, Inese Gobiņa, Aija Bukova-Žideļūna, Anda Ķīvīte-Urtāne
Occupational health, work-related risk factors and prevention	Ģirts Briģis, Žanna Martinsone, Ivars Vanadziņš, Anita Villeruša, Inese Gobiņa, Aija Bukova-Žideļūna, Anda Ķīvīte-Urtāne
Research on health care systems	Ģirs Briģis, Dins Šmits, Dzintars Mozgis, Daiga Behmane, Anita Villeruša
Epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable disease	Inese Gobiņa, Anita Villeruša, Lauma Spriņģe, Aija Bukova-Žideļūna, Toms Pulmanis, Inese Stars, Ieva Strēle, Ģirts Briģis, Dzintars Mozgis, Baiba Rozentāle, Anda Ķīvīte-Urtāne
Health-related behaviour	Inese Gobiņa, Anita Villeruša, Lauma Spriņģe, Aija Bukova-Žideļūna, Toms Pulmanis, Inese Stars, Ģirts Briģis, Dzintars Mozgis, Baiba Rozentāle, Anda Ķīvīte-Urtāne, Dins Šmits

Department of Welfare and Social Work

Department website

Subject areas	Potential research leaders
Social work practice with families.	Mārtiņš Moors, Liāna Deklava
Acceptance and awareness practice in social work	Silva Rupaine, Liāna Deklava
Work-life balance as a social: social work perspective	Anna Broka, Lolita Vilka
Use of smart technologies to provide social services.	Marika Lotko, Mārtiņš Moors
Inter-institutional cooperation in matters of parental custody rights.	Lolita Vilka, Ilze Trapenciere
Benefits and challenges of applying creative strategies and methods in social work with children and youth	Silva Rupaine, Anita Ābele, Liāna Deklava
Provision of care for children left without parental care in Riga foster families.	Mārtiņš Moors, Maruta Pranka
Research and assessment of seniors' social needs	Ārija Baltiņa, MārtiņšMoors, Maruta Pranka
Impact of debts (taxes, maintenance, credit, etc.) on the security and quality of life of families with children: a social work perspective	Lolita Vilka, Ilze Trapenciere, Anna Broka
Legal protection of shelter residents	Lolita Vilka, Ilze Trapenciere, Mārtiņš Moors
Innovation and good practice in providing social services to vulnerable groups in local communities of Latvia.	Lolita Vilka, Anna Broka, Ilze Trapenciere, Anita Ābele
Management and proactivity in in municipalities and local communities of Latvia.	Lolita Vilka, Anna Broka, Ilze Trapenciere
Evaluation of professional knowledge, skills and attitudes of social workers in micro / meso practice	Lolita Vilka, Marika Lotko, Anita Ābele
Community-based social services for persons with mental disorders in municipalities.	Lolita Vilka, Liāna Deklava, Marika Lotko, Anita Ābele
Volunteering as a resource for social work in Latvia	Lolita Vilka, Marika Lotko, Anita Ābele
Credit and debt impacts on the social security	Anita Ābele, Lolita Vilka, Maruta Pranka
Observance of the principles of human rights and social justice in social work in Latvia.	Olafs Brūvers, Marika Lotko
Social logistics in providing social services	Lolita Vilka, Marika Lotko
Social advocacy practice in reducing social inequality	Olafs Brūvers, Marika Lotko
Measuring the efficiency and quality of social work	Liāna Deklava, Mārtiņš Moors, Lolita Vilka

Department of Health Psychology and Paedagogy

Department website

Tematiskā joma	Potenciālie darbu vadītāji
Adaptation and construction of psychological and art-based assessment tools	Inese Paiča, Velga Sudraba, Jana Duhovska
Adapting and constructing cognitive tests	Kristīne Šneidere, Ingūna Griškēviča
Use of Latvian Clinical Personality Inventory in different patient groups	Jeļena Koļesņikova
Developing a personality functioning assessment tool	Velga Sudraba
Alexitimia in different client/patient groups, its impact on health behaviour and the quality of life	Velga Sudraba
Digital tool '3D emotion composition'	Inese Paiča
Visual method '3D emotion composition'	Inese Paiča
Resilience in different patient groups	Velga Sudraba, Elīna Zelčāne
Associations and differences in resilience (different age groups and/or professional groups)	Guna Svence
Association between resilience and other personality indicators (options: well-being, personality traits, coping strategies, self-respect, growth thinking)	Guna Svence
Eco-psychological interventions and recreational practice for different client groups	Ingūna Griškēviča, Kristīne Mārtinsone
Emotion regulation	Inese Paiča, Velga Sudraba
Compliance in different patient groups	Velga Sudraba
The role of self-compassion in health preservation	Elīna Zelčāne
Normal and pathological cognitive aging and associated factors	Kristīne Šneidere, Ervīns Čukurs
Psychological help and support working remotely	Ervīns Čukurs, Ilona Krone
Psychological help and support in working with different groups of clients and patients	Velga Sudraba, Ilona Krone
Health behaviors as disease prevention and online interventions to promote them	Zane Gulbe, Jana Duhovska
Investigation of false memories in different client or patient groups	Kristīne Šneidere, Velga Sudraba
Psycho-oncology	Jana Duhovska
Spirituality as a resource in the professional and personal life	Kristīne Mārtinsone
Professional identity and professional activity in times of change (digitalisation, climate change, pandemics)	Elīna Akmane
Development of professional skills	Aira Aija Krūmiņa
Professional identity and its development	Anita Pipere, Elīna Akmane
Professional activity and its assessment	Kristīne Mārtinsone
Self-help and self-care as a resource in professional and personal life	Kristīne Mārtinsone, Ilona Krone, Jana Duhovska
Social-emotional health for teachers (or other professional groups)	Guna Svence
Associations and differences in social-emotional health and vitality indicators for individuals in different professions and ... (other groups)	Guna Svence
Athletes' personality traits, attitudes, behavior, motivation, cohesion, psychological resilience, physical Self-concept	Gatis Upesleja
Bibliometric analysis	Sanita Šuriņa
Systematic reviews	Inese Paiča, Velga Sudraba, Sanita Šuriņa
Supervisory needs in different professional fields	Baiba Pumpiņa
Supervision in the educational environment	Baiba Pumpiņa, Kristīne Mārtinsone
Adaptation of supervision methods and techniques	Inese Paiča, Ilona Krone
Pedagogical competence in the health care environment	Aira Aija Krūmiņa

Department of Sports and Nutrition

Department website

Tematiskā joma	Potenciālie darbu vadītāji
Possibilities of using different technologies in fitness	Voldemārs Arnis, Indra Vīnberga, Uģis Ciematnieks, Irēna Upeniece
Effect of high intensity interval training on physical readiness indicators and body composition	Voldemārs Arnis, Uģis Ciematnieks, Indra Vīnberga
Effect of different strength training regimes on strength, strength endurance and body composition	Voldemārs Arnis, Uģis Ciematnieks, Indra Vīnberga
Changes in physical activity and use of various physical exercises during the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic	Voldemārs Arnis, Una Veseta, Indra Vīnberga
Aerobic work capacity of students of different study programs and their changes during studies	Voldemārs Arnis, Una Veseta, Indra Vīnberga
Study programme 'Health Sports Specialist' applicants' aerobic work capacity, their relation to various factors and changes in the period of 15 years	Voldemārs Arnis, Una Veseta, Indra Vīnberga
Various group classes in fitness clubs	Maruta Hoferte, Indra Vīnberga, Irēna Upeniece, Anita Gauruča, Uģis Ciematnieks, Daina Lazdeniece-Auniņa
Development of physical features for health promotion	Uģis Ciematnieks, Indra Vīnberga, Una Veseta, Andris Eikens
Opportunities for physical activity for seniors	Maruta Hoferte, Indra Vīnberga, Irēna Upeniece, Anita Gauruča, Una Veseta
Variations of technical sports equipment, exercises and methods	Uģis Ciematnieks, Indra Vīnberga
Study of the volume and intensity of physical activity for health promotion in the different age groups	Uģis Ciematnieks, Indra Vīnberga, Una Veseta
Monitoring of physical activity in the health sports	Maruta Hoferte, Indra Vīnberga, Irēna Upeniece, Anita Gauruča, Uģis Ciematnieks, Una Veseta
The importance and application of physical exercises for women during pregnancy	Maruta Hoferte, Inese Kanneniece
Physical activity and nutrition	Lolita Neimane, Laila Meija, Māra Kampara, Jānis Leitis
Effects of physical activity on personality traits and cognitive processes	Irēna Upeniece, Lāsma Reide
Motivation to engage in physical activity	Irēna Upeniece, Kristīne Šneidere
The prevalence of malnutrition in different patient groups	Lolita Neimane, Laila Meija, Liene Sondore, Māra Kampara
Antioxidants in nutritional products	Lolita Neimane, Andrejs Šķesters
Children and teenagers dietary habits	Lolita Neimane, Laila Meija, Liene Sondore
Nutrition habits of athletes in different sports	Māra Kampara, Jānis Leitis
Overweight and obesity correction options with nutrition	Lolita Neimane, Laila Meija, Māra Kampara, Liene Sondore
Nutritional therapy for various diseases	Laila Meija, Lolita Neimane
Nutrition habits of pregnant women	Laila Meija, Lolita Neimane, Māra Kampara
International students
Critical analysis of nutrition myths vs facts	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Survey on medical students’ knowledge and understanding of nutrition	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Overview on Fad diets and their health consequences	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Alcohol consumption – pros, cons, recommended limits	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Diet and the sleep	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Sustainable diet	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Nutrition for older adults	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Nutrition / Sports Nutrition related topics by student’s choice	Māra Kampara, Mg. sc. sal.
Postprandial (hyperinsulinemic) hypoglycaemia after bariatric surgery	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Long term complications after bariatric surgery	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Quality of life after bariatric surgery	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Malnutrition risk assessment after bariatric surgery	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Obesity treatment methods and latest trends (literature review for the last 5 years)	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Effects of obesity on immune system	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Obesity and sleep apnea	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Malnutrition in obesity before and after bariatric surgery	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Vegan diets for athletes	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Vegetarian & vegan nutrition during pregnancy	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Vegan diet in children and adolescents	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Metabolic rate changes after bariatric surgery	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Ghrelin and leptin – metabolism, weight, obesity	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Covid-19 influence on eating behaviour	Guna Bīlande, Mg. sc. sal.
Eating disorders	Eva Kataja, Mg. sc. sal.
Overweight and obesity in kids	Eva Kataja, Mg. sc. sal.
Nutrition (and/or weight changes) and emotional wellbeing	Eva Kataja, Mg. sc. sal.
Nutrition during pregnancy (and/or lactation)	Eva Kataja, Mg. sc. sal.

Health Management Section

Section website

Subject areas	Potential research leaders
Health system design and performance assessment	Daiga Behmane, Alina Dūdele, Olav Goetz
Health policy	Daiga Behmane
Health and medical technology economic evaluation	Daiga Behmane, Olav Goetz
Quality and patient safety in health care	Igors Trofimovs
Economic efficiency of health care	Alina Dūdele, Olav Goetz, Igors Trofimovs
Safety of health care workforce	Igors Trofimovs
Human resource management in health care	Daiga Behmane / RISEBA
Integrated health care	Daiga Behmane
Chronic care management	Alina Dūdele, Daiga Behmane
Digital health	Ieva Bikava
Information management in health systems	Ieva Bikava
Export of health care services	Daiga Behmane
Communication in health care	Vita Savicka
Pharmaceutical policy	Daiga Behmane, Diāna Arāja