Jenny Paananen profile picture

Jenny
Paananen

Academy Research Fellow, Department of Nursing Science
PhD, Docent of Finnish language
Ongoing project: Borderlines of Self, Research Council of Finland (2025–2029) utu.fi/bself

Contact

Kiinamyllynkatu 10
20520
Turku

Areas of expertise

Finnish language
interaction
conversation analysis
doctor-patient interaction
psychotherapy interaction
nursing home interaction
multicultural interaction
patient-centered care
agency
participation
decision making
Finnish as a second language
gestures
interpreting

Teaching

In 2025–2026, Paananen teaches Humanistic perspectives to health and wellbeing (the Centre for Education and Research on Social and Health Services) and From research to publication (Faculty of Medicine).

Paananen lectures about interaction in health and social care for various audiences including doctors, nurses, interpreters, and professionals working in third sector organizations.

Research

Jenny Paananen (PhD, Docent of Finnish language) utilizes qualitative research methods such as conversation analysis and thematic analysis to explore co-operational resources and social involvement in clinical interaction. As data, Paananen uses recorded, authentic interaction (such as primary care consultations, psychotheraoy sessions, and negotiations in dementia care), interviews, and texts.
Currently, Paananen is Academy Reserach Fellow in the project Borderlines of Self, funded by the Research Council of Finland (2025–2029). The project studies self expression in video-facilitated group therapy for young adults with borderline personality disorder. The project is executed in the department of Nursing Science in the University of Turku, and it collaborates with Clinical Psychology and Scandinavian Linguistics in the University of Oslo.
Paananen has previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher in various projects in the universities of Turku, Helsinki, and Tampere. Paananen defended her doctoral dissertation Constructing mutual understanding in multicultural primary care consultations in March 2019.

Publications

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