Katri Aaltonen
D.Soc.Sci., Ph.D. (Pharm), Docent
Department of Social Research katri.m.aaltonen@utu.fi +358 29 450 4693 +358 50 475 5862 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1737-264X |
Health policy; social policy; pharmaceutical policy; pharmacoepidemiology
PI, Research project MultiMed; Co-PI Research projects CoWest, Pikkuiset
My doctoral degree in pharmacy (2017) is from the University of Eastern Finland, and my doctoral degree in sociology (2025) from the University of Turku. I was awarded a Title of Docent (academic title awarded in recognition of scientific and teaching merits) by Tampere University in 2024. At the University of Turku, I have worked since 2019, currently as an Academy Research Fellow. Previously I worked as Research Council of Finland Postdoctoral Researcher (Economic burden of medicines on households: De-commodification and re-commodification (DE-RE)). Prior that, I worked as Researcher and Senior Researcher at Kela since 2010.
Secondary positions:
- Senior Researcher at the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela)
- Researcher at the Wellbeing Services County of Southwest Finland (Varha).
My research interests include health and social policy, equity considerations and access to services and medications, quality use of medications, citizens' opinions and experiences, and evaluating the effects of policy reforms.
Current research projects:
- PI: Multilevel governance and decentralization of medicine budgets - Striving for quality and sustainability (MultiMed). Funding: Research Council of Finland Academy Research Fellowship, Grant 354657
- co-PI: Strengthening collaboration towards effective and integrated services for children, young people and families with children in Southwest Finland and Western Uusimaa (CoWest). Funding: Research Council of Finland, Grant 373060
- co-PI: PIKKUISET. Funding: State grant, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
- Austerity, health payments and economic well-being (2025) Aaltonen, Katri
(G5 Article dissertation ) - Epidemiological outcomes and policy implementation in the Nordic countries during the COVID-19 pandemic (2025)
- Archives of Public Health
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antidepressant use in eleven European regions: a comparative time series analysis 2018–2022 (2025)
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Introduction of Biopharmaceuticals in Europe: A Cross-Sectional Study of Early Diffusion Patterns and Data Availability (2025)
- BioDrugs
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Lääkkeistä tinkiminen rahanpuutteen vuoksi (2025)
- Kipuviesti
(D1 Article in a professional journal) - Sosiaaliturva (2025) Ratkaisuja kestävän yhteiskunnan rakentamiseen Väestön terveys- ja hyvinvointikatsaus 2025 Aaltonen, Katri; Korpela, Tuija; Mikkola, Hennamari; Mukkila, Susanna; Ollonqvist, Joons; Saikkonen, Paula
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - The impact of increasing user charges for diabetes medicines: lessons from Finland (2025) Rättö, Hanna; Lavikainen, Piia; Aaaltonen, Katri; Martikainen, Janne; Martinez, Marcos Gallardo; Thomson, Sarah
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Erityiskorvattavuus ja lääkkeiden käytön aloittaminen - Rekisteritutkimus uusista tyypin 2 diabeteslääkkeistä (2024) Rättö, Hanna; Aaltonen, Katri; Kurko, Terhi
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Financial burden of medicines in five northern european countries: A decommodification perspective (2024)
- Social Science and Medicine
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Prescribing patterns before the initiation of novel antidiabetic medicines in public, occupational, and private healthcare: a register study reflecting the guidelines of care in type 2 diabetes (2024)
- BMC Health Services Research
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Suomessa lääkekulut aiheuttavat taloudellista ahdinkoa useammin kuin muissa Pohjois-Euroopan maissa (2024)
- INVEST blog
(E1 Popularised article) - The Effect of Informal Caregiving on Depression : An Asymmetric Panel Fixed-Effects Analysis of In-Home and Out-Of-Home Caregivers Across Europe (2024)
- Journal of Aging and Social Policy
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Analysing the Effects of Healthcare Payment Policies on Poverty: A Microsimulation Study with Real-World Healthcare Data (2023)
- International Journal of Microsimulation
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Austerity, economic hardship and access to medications: a repeated cross-sectional population survey study, 2013-2020 (2023)
- Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Lääkkeistä tinkiminen yleistyi hallituksen kovien säästötoimien aikaan (2023)
- INVEST blog
(E1 Popularised article) - Terveysmenojen korotukset vaikuttivat erityisesti pienituloisiin (2023)
- Kelan Tutkimusblogi
(Other publication) - Citizens’ opinions and experiences related to costs and reimbursements for medications in times of retrenchment: cross-sectional population surveys in 2015 and 2017 (2022)
- International Journal for Equity in Health
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Diabeteslääkkeiden korvauksia leikattiin – miten kävi potilaiden? (2022)
- INVEST Policy brief (Politiikkasuositukset)
(E1 Popularised article) - Diabeteslääkkeiden kulutus väheni omavastuukorotuksen myötä – potilaiden taloudelliset ongelmat ja tyytymättömyys hoitoon yleistyivät (2022)
- Kelan Tutkimusblogi
(E1 Popularised article) - INVEST-flagship/Tervola-Heino-Aaltonen-2021-Analysing-the-effects-of-healthcare-payment-policies-in-conjunction-with: v1.0.0 (2022)
- Zenodo
(I2 ICT program or software application )



