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Alexandra Ullsten

Position: Affiliated Researcher School/office: School of Health Sciences

Email: YWxleGFuZHJhLnVsbHN0ZW47b3J1LnNl

Phone: No number available

Room: -

Research subject

Nursing Science

About Alexandra Ullsten

Alexandra Ullsten, PhD in Musicology/Music Therapy, is a researcher and research leader at the Center for Clinical Research, Region Värmland. In her clinical work she is a music and art therapist at the Central Hospital in Karlstad, Region Värmland, Sweden. In 2010, Alexandra pioneered the implementation of neonatal music therapy in Swedish healthcare. The Central Hospital/Karlstad NICU, became the first hospital in the Nordic countries to offer a family-centred music therapy program for hospitalised infants and their parents.

Alexandra's research focus on interdisciplinary neonatal and pediatric pain research and parent-delivered pain management such as parents' infant-directed lullaby singing during painful procedures in neonatal care. She is the principal investigator for the ongoing interdisciplinary multicenter research project "SWEpap – Parents as pain management during painful procedures in Swedish neonatal care" with funding from Regional Research Council Mid Sweden and others. Alexandra collaborates with researchers in USA, Canada, Colombia, Switzerland, Poland and many other countries. She is co-supervisor for six PhD-students and a member of the international research networks Pain in Early Life (PEARL) and Pain in Child Health (PICH).

Active projects

Completed projects

The role of parents in neonatal pain management - a global survey

Research groups

PEARL - Pain in Early Life

Publications

Articles in journals

Arribas, C. , Cavallaro, G. , Decembrino, N. , González, J. L. , Lagares, C. , Raffaeli, G. , Smits, A. , Simons, S. P. & et al. (2025). A global cross-sectional survey on neonatal analgosedation: unveiling global trends and challenges through latent class analysis. European Journal of Pediatrics, 184. [BibTeX]
Silberstein Katzeff, A. , Ligård, E. , Edlund, S. M. & Ullsten, A. (2024). Family-centered Music Therapy as Procedural Support in the Pediatric Outpatient Unit: A Mixed Methods Pilot Study. Music & Science, 7. [BibTeX]
Arribas, C. , Cavallaro, G. , Gonzalez, J. , Lagares, C. , Raffaeli, G. , Smits, A. , Simons, S. H. P. , Villamor, E. & et al. (2024). Global cross-sectional survey on neonatal pharmacologic sedation and analgesia practices and pain assessment tools: impact of the sociodemographic index (SDI). Pediatric Research. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Beken, S. , Campbell-Yeo, M. , Cavallaro, G. , Decembrino, N. , Durrmeyer, X. , Garrido, F. , Kristjansdottir, G. & et al. (2024). Parents in Neonatal Pain Management: An International Survey of Parent-Delivered Interventions and Parental Pain Assessment. Children, 11 (9). [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2024). Parents' live singing is a preventive and protective intervention for infants during painful procedures. Acta Paediatrica, 113 (7), 1479-1480. [BibTeX]
Carlsen Misic, M. , Olsson, E. , Blomqvist, Y. T. & Ullsten, A. (2024). "Preparation Is Key": Parents' and Nurses' Perceptions of Combined Parent-Delivered Pain Management in Neonatal Care. Children, 11 (7). [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Pölkki, T. & Ghetti, C. (2021). Parents as nurturing resources: A family integrated approach to music therapy for neonatal procedural support. Music and Medicine, 13 (2), 99-111. [BibTeX]
Olsson, E. , Carlsen Misic, M. , Dovland Andersen, R. , Ericson, J. , Eriksson, M. , Thernström Blomqvist, Y. & Ullsten, A. (2020). Study protocol: parents as pain management in Swedish neonatal care - SWEpap, a multi-center randomized controlled trial. BMC Pediatrics, 20 (1). [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. & Axelin, A. (2019). O Parent, Where Art Thou?. Paediatric & Neonatal Pain, 1 (2), 53-55. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2018). Singing, sharing, soothing: Biopsychosocial rationales for parental infant directed singing in neonatal pain management: A theoretical approach. Music & Science, 1, 1-13. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Hugosson, P. , Forsberg, M. , Forzelius, L. , Klässbo, M. , Olsson, E. , Volgsten, U. , Westrup, B. & et al. (2017). Efficacy of Live Lullaby Singing During Procedural Pain in Preterm and Term Neonates. Music and Medicine, 9 (2), 73-85. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2017). Family-centred music intervention - an emotional factor that modulates, modifies and alleviates infants' pain experiences. Acta Paediatrica, 106 (3), 361-362. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2017). Live music therapy with lullaby singing as affective support during painful procedures: a case study with microanalysis. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 26 (2), 142-166. [BibTeX]

Articles, reviews/surveys

Ullsten, A. , Campbell-Yeo, M. & Eriksson, M. (2024). Parent-led neonatal pain management: a narrative review and update of research and practices. Frontiers in Pain Research, 5. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2024). Vanhemman hoiva vie kivun pois! Vanhempien laulamat kehtolaulut edistävät osallisuutta ja läheisyyden tunnetta vastasyntyneiden kivunhoidossa toimenpiteiden aikana. [Parenting pain away! Parents’ live lullaby singing facilitates participation and closeness during painful procedures in neonatal care.]. Kipuviesti, 27 (2), 35-39. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Andreasson, M. & Eriksson, M. (2021). State of the Art in Parent-Delivered Pain-Relieving Interventions in Neonatal Care: A Scoping Review. Frontiers in Pediatrics , 9. [BibTeX]

Chapters in books

Ullsten, A. , Gaden, T. S. & Mangersnes, J. (2020). Development of family-centered care informing Nordic neonatal music therapy. In: Lars Ole Bonde & Kjersti Johansson, Music in paediatric hospitals: Nordic perspectives (pp. 1-23). Oslo: Norwegian Academy of Music. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2020). Muzykoterapia z muzyką na żywo i śpiewaniem kołysanek jako wsparcie emocjonalne podczas bolesnych zabiegów: Uzasadnienie dla śpiewania piosenek w ramach leczenia bólu u noworodków [Live music therapy with lullaby singing as affective support during painful procedures: rationales for parental infant-directed singing in neonatal pain management]. In: Bieleninik, Ł.; Konieczna-Nowak, L., Muzykoterapia dzieci przedwcześnie urodzonych i ich rodzin: Teoria i praktyka (pp. 175-188). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Gaden, T. S. & Mangersnes, J. (2020). Nordic Countries: Family-Centered Cultural Sensitivity: A Cornerstone in Neonatal Music Therapy Implementation. In: Helen Shoemark & Mark Ettenberger, Music Therapy in Neonatal Intensive Care: Influences of Culture. Dallas, TX: Barcelona Publishers. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Söderström Gaden, T. & Mangersnes, J. (2019). Development of family-centred care informing Nordic neonatal music therapy. In: Lars Ole Bonde, Kjersti Johansson, Music in paediatric hospitals – Nordic perspectives (pp. 1-25). Oslo: CREMAH, Norwegian Academy of Music. [BibTeX]

Conference papers

Carlsen Misic, M. , Ericson, J. , Olsson, E. & Ullsten, A. (2025). Combining skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding andparents live singing as neonatal pain management: Results from the SWEpap RCT. Paper presented at ISPP 2025 International Symposium on Pediatric Pain, Glasgow, UK, 17-20 June, 2025. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2024). Building Relations to Stop Pain In the NICU – the SWEpap project. Paper presented at COINN 2024 – 11th Council of International Neonatal Nurses Conference, Aalborg, Denmark, May 6-8, 2024. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2024). Democratize singing! Parents’ intuitive vocalizations during painful procedures in neonatal care: A fusion of music therapy, health musicking and music medicine. In: Symposium: Towards harmonization; Exploring the synergy of Music & Health, Music Medicine and Music Therapy.. Paper presented at The 11th Nordic Music Therapy Conference, Aalborg, Denmark, 26-29 June, 2024. [BibTeX]
Carlsen Misic, M. , Olsson, E. , Ericson, J. , Eriksson, M. , Thernström-Blomqvist, Y. & Ullsten, A. (2024). Parents as pain management in Swedish neonatal care – SWEpap. Paper presented at Swedish Conference on Ultra-Early Intervention, Lund, March 21, 2024. [BibTeX]
Carlsen Misic, M. , Olsson, E. , Ericson, J. , Eriksson, M. , Thernström-Blomqvist, Y. & Ullsten, A. (2024). Parents as pain management in Swedish neonatal care - SWEpap. Paper presented at The 10th SCENE Symposium, Uppsala, May 10-11, 2024. Uppsala: [BibTeX]
Carlsen Misic, M. , Olsson, E. , Eriksson, M. , Ericson, J. & Ullsten, A. (2023). “Having my boy on my chest, humming to him, made us both very calm.”: Parents to new-born infants rated parent-delivered pain management as significantly meaningful during venepuncture. Paper presented at International Symposium on Pediatric Pain, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 1-4, 2023. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Carlsen Misic, M. , Olsson, E. , Andersen, R. D. , Ericson, J. , Eriksson, M. & Thernström Blomqvist, Y. (2023). O parent where art thou?: Family-integrated music therapy forneonatal procedural support. Paper presented at The 17th World Congress of Music Therapy, Vancouver, Canada, July 24–29, 2023. [BibTeX]
Carlsen Misic, M. , Olsson, E. , Eriksson, M. , Ericson, J. & Ullsten, A. (2023). Parents to new-born infants rated parent-delivered pain management as significantly meaningful during venepuncture. In: Örebro University's Nobel Day Festivities Book of Abstracts. Paper presented at Nobel Day Festivites. [BibTeX]
Carlsen Misic, M. , Ullsten, A. , Olsson, E. , Andersen, R. D. , Ericson, J. , Eriksson, M. & Thernström Blomqvist, Y. (2022). Balancing power by including parents as co-researchers: Live parental singing, breastfeeding, skin-to-skin-contact as procedural support in Swedish neonatal pain care. Paper presented at The 12th European Music Therapy Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland,[DIGITAL] June 8-12, 2022. [BibTeX]
Carlsen Misic, M. , Olsson, E. , Ericson, J. , Thernström Blomqvist, Y. , Andersen Dovland, R. , Eriksson, M. & Ullsten, A. (2022). Parent-delivered pain-relieving interventions in Swedish neonatal care, a mixed methods study. Paper presented at 13th International Symposium on Pediatric Pain(ISPP 2022), New Zealand,[DIGITAL], March 24-27, 2022. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2022). Parents as nurturing resources: A family integrated approach to music therapy for neonatal procedural support.. Paper presented at 1st International stand-alone Symposium on Music Therapy with Families, 23-25 September 2022, Vienna, Austria. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. (2022). Parents as pain management: Live parental singing, breastfeeding and skin-to-skin-contact as procedural support in Swedish neonatal pain care. Paper presented at 6ème congrès Douleur néonatale “Tout ce qui pique” [6th congress on neonatal pain], 2022-02-24, Brussels. [BibTeX]
McMurtry, C. M. , Provenzi, L. & Ullsten, A. (2022). Speak Up! The Parent’s Voice and Musical Presence During Painful Procedures in Neonatal and Paediatric Care. Paper presented at 13th International Symposium on Pediatric Pain (ISPP 2022), New Zealand,[DIGITAL], March 24-27, 2022. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Ettenberger, M. & Haslbeck, F. (2022). “The rocky horror NICU show” - challenges and potentials of disturbances in neonatal music therapy: A forum theatre workshop. Paper presented at The 12th European Music Therapy Conference 8-12 June 2022 Edinburgh, United Kingdom. [BibTeX]
Andreasson, M. , Eriksson, M. & Ullsten, A. (2021). State of the art in parent-delivered pain-relieving interventions in neonatal care. Paper presented at The 8th SCENE Symposium, Tallin, Estonia, May 19-20, 2021 [Hybrid: Digital and on site]. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Mangersnes, J. & Söderström Gaden, T. (2019). A Nordic perspective on family-centered neonatal music therapy. Paper presented at 11th European music therapy conference, Aalborg, Denmark, June 26-30, 2019. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Söderström Gaden, T. & Mangersnes, J. (2019). Development of family-centred care informing Nordic neonatal music therapy: Music in Paediatric Hospitals in the Nordic Countries. Paper presented at 11th European music therapy conference, Aalborg, Denmark, June 26-30, 2019. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Volgsten, U. , Klässbo, M. & Eriksson, M. (2019). Live lullaby singing during painful procedures in preterm and term infants. Paper presented at 12th International Symposium on Pediatric Pain (ISPP 2019), Basel, Switzerland, June 16-20, 2019. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2018). Family-centred music therapy during painful procedures in neonatal care. Paper presented at PEARL/PICH2Go-meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, March 25-27, 2018. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2018). Family-centred music therapy during painful procedures in neonatal care. Paper presented at 9th Nordic Music Therapy Congress, Stockholm, Sweden, August 8-12, 2018. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Hugoson, P. , Forsberg, M. , Forzelius, L. , Klässbo, M. , Olsson, E. , Volgsten, U. , Westrup, B. & et al. (2017). Efficacy of Live Lullaby Singing During Procedural Pain in Preterm and Term Neonates. Paper presented at Forum Värmland 2017, Landstinget i Värmland och Karlstads universitet, Karlstad, Sweden, February 14, 2017. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2017). Live music therapy with lullaby singing during painful procedures in neonatal care. Paper presented at Man and Sound Environment 2017, Ljudmiljöcentrum, Lunds universitet, Lund, November 16, 2017. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2016). Live music therapy with lullaby singing as affective support during venepuncture. A case study with microanalysis of two premature born infants. In: Lars Berglund, Musikforskning i dag, Linnéuniversitetet, Växjö, 14–16 juni 2016. Paper presented at Musikforskning i dag, Linnéuniversitetet, Växjö, 14–16 juni, 2016. (pp. 31-31). Växjö, Sweden: Linnéuniversitetet. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2016). Live music therapy with lullaby singing during painful procedures in neonatal care. Paper presented at 10th European Music Therapy Conference Vienna 2016, Vienna, Austria, July 5-9, 2016. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2016). Live music therapy with lullaby singing during painful procedures in neonatal care. In: Nordisk tidskrift for musikkterapi - Nordic Journal of Music Therapy. Paper presented at 10th European Music Therapy Conference Vienna 2016, 5-9 July, 2016, Vienna, Austria. (pp. 79- Oxon, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2016). Live music therapy with lullaby singing during painful procedures in neonatal care. Paper presented at Vårmöte i Perinatologi. 14 April, 2016, Örebro. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2015). Live music therapy with lullaby singing as affective support during venepuncture. A case study with microanalysis of two premature born infants.. Paper presented at The 8th Nordic Music Therapy Congress, Oslo, Norway, 5th - 8th August, 2015. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2015). Live music therapy with lullaby singing as affective support during venepuncture. A case study with microanalysis of two premature born infants.. Paper presented at The 10th International Forum on Pediatric Pain (IFPP), Nova Scotia, Canada, October 1-4th, 2015. [BibTeX]
Ullsten, A. , Eriksson, M. , Klässbo, M. & Volgsten, U. (2015). Live music therapy with lullaby singing as affective support during venepuncture: A case study with microanalysis of two premature born infants. Paper presented at Nobel Day Festivities at School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden, December 10, 2015. [BibTeX]

Doctoral theses, comprehensive summaries

Ullsten, A. (2019). Singing, sharing, soothing: Family-centred music therapy during painful procedures in neonatal care. (Doctoral dissertation). (Comprehensive summary) Örebro: Örebro University. [BibTeX]

Other

Ullsten, A. , Andreasson, M. & Eriksson, M. (2020). State of the art in parent-driven pain and stress relieving interventions in neonatal care – a scoping review. Zenodo. [BibTeX]