Arafat Rahman: "Social support can be very important for patients' overall well-being"
Arafat Rahman works at the Department of Marketing of Hanken’s unit in Vaasa. At present, his thoughts and efforts are focused on the fieldwork: how to collect the best possible data for his research? In his PhD project, Arafat is interested in how service provider contributes to customers’ well-being, and especially how health care provider contributes to patients’ well-being.
He is now collecting data by interviewing providers and patients in Ostrobothnian heath care centers, both private and public. “I am trying to understand how organisational socialisation and support contribute to the patients’ physical and psychological wellbeing. Social support can play important role in the relationship between providers’ support and patients’ well-being”, he says. For example, providers encourage patients to get well by practicing prescribed health behaviour at home. However, the presence and support of family members and important others in the home environment can greatly contribute to this rehabilitation process.
“Hanken is highly ranked, in the top 5 or 6 of the universities focusing on service and relationship marketing”, he answers, when asked why he chose Hanken for his PhD study. He did not know much about Finland, let alone Vaasa, but he has been contented with his choice. “The number of students is significantly smaller here than in the universities where I studied earlier. Still the research that are being carried out here are very sophisticated and novel. I have learned a lot from the doctoral courses and they have been very useful for my research”, he explains. He also thanks warmly his supervisors Professor Peter Björk and Associate Professor Annika Ravald. “They have been very helpful and have supported my work all the time.”
Arafat moved to Vaasa about three years ago. He originally comes from Bangladesh, where he completed his baccalaureate and master degrees in business administration from Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka. After that, he completed another master degree in international marketing management from the University of Leeds in the UK. For his PhD, he has two research papers almost ready: one in the review process and the other to be submitted within spring 2018. The third paper is in the process of development as it is based on empirical data.
The cozy and somewhat quiet Vaasa has been a good place to study but there is one thing Arafat expects: “CERS is a very renowned research centre. I would be glad to have more interaction with Helsinki colleagues. Compared to Helsinki campus, in Vaasa there are less activities.” He says it would be great to have some of the Centre’s activities such as workshops and seminars in Vaasa. “There are so many learning opportunities in them.”
More about Arafat’s research:
Arafat Rahman & Peter Björk (2016). Transformative Service: Leveraging Future Progresses through an Inclusive Approach. Article in a conference publication. International Research Conference in Service Management, La Londe, France.
My Research is a series of articles presenting the work of doctoral students, working at CERS, Centre for Relationship Marketing and Service Management at Hanken School of Economics. CERS is one of the leading institutions for research within services, and a founding member of the Nordic School of thought within Marketing.