Mid Sweden University

Bakgrund Svenska kommuners roll inom arbetsmarknadspolitiken har blivit alltmer central för att stödja samhällets mest marginaliserade individer. Förändringar i regelverken för arbetslöshets- och sjukförsäkringen har resulterat i att fler arbetslösa och sjukskrivna individer hänvisas till kommunernas ekonomiska bistånd, och kommunerna förväntas i sin tur aktivera dessa individer med syfte att föra dem närmre självförsörjning. Trots denna utvidgade funktion inom välfärdssystemet har kommunal arbetsmarknadspolitik hittills beforskats i begränsad omfattning. Det aktuella forskningsprojektet syftar till att skapa arenor för samverkan och erfarenhets- och kunskapsutbyte mellan forskare, kommuner och samordningsförbund med intresse för det danska arbetsmarknadsinitiativet Beskæftigelses Indikator Projekt (BIP). BIP har väckt intresse bland svenska verksamheter som en potentiell modell för arbetsmarknadsinkludering. Syfte Syftet med forskningsprojektet är att skapa lärande- och samverkansarenor för praktiker som implementerar eller inspireras av BIP. Vi strävar efter att fördjupa förståelsen för praktikens förutsättningar, motiv och förväntningar i relation till BIP. Ett ytterligare syfte är att dessa arenor ska ge möjlighet för praktiker och forskare att tillsammans identifiera och utforska kritiska forskningsfrågor som ska ligga till grund för framtida långsiktiga forskningsprojekt. Metod Projektet har en interaktiv och cyklisk forskningsdesign där forskare och praktiker gemensamt skapar förutsättningar för lärande om BIP. Genom workshops och fokusgruppintervjuer med fokus på interaktion och erfarenhetsutbyte möjliggörs lärande. Denna interaktion utgör empiri för forskarnas analyser, vilka återkopplas i kommande träffar med praktikerna för vidare diskussion och utveckling. Resultat Projektet pågår mellan 2024 och 2026 och omfattar samverkan med åtta kommuner och fem samordningsförbund. Deltagarna inkluderar chefer, verksamhetsutvecklare, projektledare samt handläggare och arbetsmarknadskonsulenter. Projektets design förväntas generera följande resultat: Kunskapsutbyte. Samverkansarenorna skapar möjlighet till lärande mellan deltagande verksamheter och kan ge nya perspektiv på BIP. Kunskapsutbytet sker genom forskarledda workshops, fokusgrupper och seminarier. Identifiering av forskningsfrågor. Genom samverkansarenorna identifieras forskningsbehov utifrån verksamheternas egna upplevda utmaningar och kunskapsluckor. Detta skapar förutsättningar för utveckling av forskningsfrågor som kan bidra till en mer kunskapsbaserad praktik. Dessutom uppmärksammas outtalade aspekter inom arenorna som kan ge upphov till nya forskningsfrågor. Forskningsansökningar. Projektet lägger grunden för en mer omfattande forskningsansökan, med syfte att fördjupa förståelsen för de förutsättningar och konsekvenser som BIP har för individer långt från arbetsmarknaden. Vetenskapliga publikationer. Data analyseras bland annat genom olika former av diskursanalys. De två första vetenskapliga manuskripten fokuserar på handläggarens roll, då preliminära resultat pekar på den centrala betydelse som tillskrivs handläggarrollen inom BIP och de krav som arbetssättet ställer på handläggaren som individ.   

The role and responsibilities of Swedish municipalities in promoting labor market inclusion for vulnerable groups have significantly expanded in recent decades. Despite this, research on municipal labor market policies remains limited.

This poster focuses on how we, in an interactive research project, create collaborative platforms for sharing empirical experiences between practitioners with researchers serving as facilitators. These platforms aim to co-create critical research questions and address needs-oriented issues regarding the Employment Indicator Project (BIP), a Danish labor market initiative that has gained considerable interest among local welfare actors in Sweden, including Municipal Labor Market Units (AME) and Coordination Associations (a structure for public interorganizational cooperation for labour-market reintegration). The aim of the research project is to generate knowledge about the motivations and conditions for AMEs to implement and maintain BIP within the Swedish welfare system.

BIP aims to assist individuals who are far from the labor market and is based on expectancy theory, which means that case workers need to develop trust in clients' work capabilities and make positive assessments of their job prospects, with a focus on individual responsibility. In Sweden, welfare policy has shifted towards activating citizens who were previously seen as passive recipients of financial support. AME activities have played a key role in supporting these groups.

The project involves broad participation of representatives from eight AMEs and five Coordination Associations. The interpretation and implementation of BIP vary across municipalities, making these collaborative platforms central for exchange of experiences around the approach to enable learning between practitioners.

The study design is built on a continuous cycle of preparation for workshops, enabling workshops, co- analyzing data and knowledge dissemination. Furthermore, a norm-critical perspective will be used to examine how norms affect society's perception of unemployment and social marginalization. Gender perspectives and intersectionality will be considered since BIP primarily affects women's work in a female-dominated sector. The results will be shared and disseminated through Coordination Associations, research networks, conferences but primarily the researcher and the practitioners will co-create a short film that includes both results and reflected dialogue questions to be used for implementation in the different municipalities (AME).

The researchers have extensive experience in researching the welfare system and diversity issues, as well as using a norm-critical approach. Collaboration between researchers and practitioners in AME and Coordination Associations supporting other types of interactive research design that has proven successful in previous projects related to labor market inclusion.This presentation directly addresses the conference’s sub-theme “Connecting social work research and practice, including the co-creation of knowledge,” by demonstrating how knowledge can be developed involving both researchers and practitioners.

To make higher education accessible for all students and to enable inclusive learning, teachers face high demands in pedagogic knowledge and skills. This assumes knowledge of students with neuropsychiatric disorders (NPDs) as well as specific skills on how to implement suitable pedagogical adaptations. Applicable pedagogic adaptations to this growing student group have also been shown to be beneficial for larger general student populations. However, teachers often indicate difficulties finding and executing adequate pedagogical approaches. There are also knowledge gaps regarding how teachers adapt and accommodate their education and what kind of support they need. The study was designed in two phases: in the first phase the aims were to explore (a) teachers’ knowledge of students with NPDs, and (b) teachers' need of support to implement suitable pedagogical adaptations. The aim of the second phase is to develop a digital technological support system for teachers to be used forhands-on inclusive learning skills. This study was conducted with an action research approach where two of the authors also have been teachers in some of the investigated courses. A questionnaire was constructed and distributed to teachers within various subjects at a Swedish university, targeting their experiences and needs ineducational practice with students with NPDs. The questionnaire involved a combination of background items and open-ended items. Experiences and needs were analysed with reflexive thematic analysis. The questionnaire was the first step in a process of developing a digital technological support system for teachers, based on specific gaps of knowledge and their need for support. 85 out of 260 teachers responded to the survey; 68 % of respondents were women. 42 % were seniorlecturing staff, 49 % junior staff and 9% PhD students. 57% reported that they had not sufficient knowledge about students with NPDs. Teachers described various pedagogical knowledge for accommodating students with NPDs, including universal, individual and relational strategies. Examples were to increase clarity and predictability in all educational efforts, being prepared to flexibly adapt to student needs including increasing teacher availability and strengthening the relation by creating trust and safe communication. Teachers also described their own needs of in-depth knowledge, hands-on guidance, expert advice, and common solutions/discussions with colleagues. They also saw the need for improved organisational structures and support. The findings indicate that despite university teachers being aware of different pedagogical strategies, they still need to develop their knowledge. The knowledge gained from this study will be used as the foundation for development of a digital technological support system for teachers, which can be motivated from three perspectives: to strengthen teachers’ knowledge and skills; to strengthen students’ opportunities to participate in higher education; and to enable the organisation to evaluate and reassure their commitments regulated by laws or regulations. Future research in line with this study may be to implement an artificial intelligence (AI) tool in the digital technological support system.

Purpose: Among the diverse tasks of managers, handling employees with common mental disorders (CMDs) is perceived as particularly challenging. Little is known about the organizational resources that managers use in these situations. The aim of this study was to explore the organizational resources that managers use when handling employees with CMDs and how they experience their use. Methods: An interview study inspired by the critical incident technique was designed. Swedish managers (n = 35) were recruited if they were managers in a private company with at least 50 employees and had experience supporting one or more employees with a CMD in the last 2 years. An incident was defined as a situation when a manager needed to support an employee with a CMD. Results: The analysis revealed managers’ use of seven kinds of resources, and how the resource helped or hindered support to employees: (1) routines and structures; (2) frames for action; (3) training and education; (4) expert functions; (5) safety representatives from worker unions; (6) social support from colleagues and management; (7) interaction with employees. Secondary findings were personal and external resources, widening the study’s organizational focus. Conclusions: This study is one of the first to explore managers’ real-life experiences of the support available in their organization when managing employees with CMDs. Managers’ experiences may help organizations provide structures for the management of individual cases of CMD at work. Resources flexible to the needs of managers in specific situations were experienced as supportive by participants in this study. 

Nursing education plays a pivotal role in shaping future nurse professionals who contribute to social justice and health equity. To achieve this goal, nursing teachers must employ effective learning strategies. One such strategy is norm-criticism, which promotes a critical reflection of the normative preconceptions that impact health equity. This study aimed to identify how nursing teachers approach norm-criticism during learning activities in a campus-based clinical learning environment with a norm-critical profile. Employing an ethnographic approach, we analyzed participant observational data using reflective thematic analysis. Our results revealed three overarching themes: “Teaching nursing disengaged from norm-criticism,” “Teaching norms and deflecting norm-criticism,” and “A hesitant norm-critical teaching.” This study concludes that the teachers did not have the tools or lacked knowledge in norm-critical teaching strategies, likely as consequence of inadequate faculty support and guidance. Ultimately, teachers should have access to norm-critical education and opportunities to learn how to carry out norm-critical teaching. 

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore young people’s experiences of resources and strategies for promoting their mental health. Methods: Individual interviews with 33 people aged 16–25 years were conducted using a method inspired by cognitive interviewing, which combines think aloud techniques with probing questions. The interviews were based on the young people’s reflections of the questions in the Swedish national public health survey. Data were analysed with reflexive thematic analysis. Results: The resources and strategies that the young people in this study described as important for promoting mental well-being are related to societal prerequisites needed to navigate life; to their immediate surroundings, including social interactions; and to the young people themselves. These resources and strategies are presented under the following three themes: prerequisites for navigating life, social interactions on one’s own terms, and who I am and what I can do. Conclusions: Young people have a variety of resources and strategies of their own available for promoting mental well-being. However, they cannot promote mental health just on their own; access to social networks and the opportunity to share thoughts and feelings are central. Further, to promote mental health, young people need good social conditions, knowledge, and support from adults so that the existence they struggle to navigate feels comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. 

Bakgrund Den danska BIP-studien (Beskæftigelses Indikator Projektet) har haft som mål att identifiera och mäta nyckelindikatorer som kan användas för att förbättra arbetsmarknadsinsatser och strategier. Studien positionerar begreppen tilltro (förtroende för den arbetssökande) och jobbfokus (inriktning mot arbete) som centrala faktorer för arbetsmarknadsinkludering. BIP-resultaten har fått spridning i Sverige och i en svensk kommunal kontext för arbetsmarknadsinsatser väcker detta frågor om hur dessa begrepp förstås och omsätts i praktiken. Särskilt intressant är vilka normkollisioner som uppstår när handläggare ska balansera relationellt förtroendeskapande med en stark betoning på snabb jobbaktivering. Syfte Syftet med studien är att belysa hur föreställningar om tilltro, jobbfokus och handläggarrollen konstrueras och upprätthålls genom specifika medierade handlingar i det dagliga arbetet med arbetsmarknadsinsatser, samt vilka diskurser och maktrelationer som träder fram i dessa praktiker. Metod Studien genomfördes inom ramen för ett samskapande forskningsupplägg där forskare och praktiker samverkade tätt. Empiriskt material samlades in genom uppstartsmöten, workshops och fokusgruppsintervjuer med anställda vid ett antal kommunala arbetsmarknadsenheter och dess samordningsförbund. Analysen utfördes med medierad diskursanalys (MDA), där handläggarnas berättelser och erfarenheter ställdes i relation till texter från den danska BIP-studien. Genom att sammanföra praktiknära data med BIP-narrativet möjliggjordes en fördjupad förståelse för hur tilltro och jobbfokus medierar (dvs. både uttrycker och formar) handlingsmönster och normer i aktiveringsarbetet. Resultat Analysen visar på tydliga normkollisioner mellan policyideal och praktik. Tilltro framträder i BIP-inspirerad praktik som något som mäts och utvärderas, vilket förskjuter begreppet från en ömsesidig, relationell process till en moralisk prestationsindikator. Jobbfokus etableras som en dominerande norm som styr insatserna mot snabbaste möjliga väg till arbete. Detta kan skapa kortsiktiga lösningar och riskerar att marginalisera deltagare med komplexa behov, då andra former av progression (till exempel social stabilitet eller hälsa) hamnar i skymundan. Handläggarnas roll präglas av en dubbelhet: de förväntas både bygga förtroendefulla relationer och agera utifrån styrande indikatorer som fokuserar på att deltagaren ska nå arbete. Denna dubbelroll leder till spänningar i handläggarnas arbete, där deras professionella handlingsutrymme begränsas av ett ensidigt jobbfokus. Sammantaget belyser studiens resultat hur implementeringen av BIP-begreppen i svensk praktik skapar synliga kollisioner i normer mellan ett relationellt, individanpassat förhållningssätt och en standardiserad individualiserad aktiveringslogik.   

Aim: The aim of this article was to introduce Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) in caring and nursing science, to provide a guide on how to perform such an analysis, and to describe the wider context of discourse epistemology. Design: The article is designed as a methodological paper, including (a) epistemological roots of discourse analysis, (b) an overview of discourse analytical research within caring and nursing science which points out an increased trend, and (c) a guide to conducting a CDA. Analysis: It is important that discourse analysis is available and accessible to nursing and caring researchers. Through the process of encircling discourses, valuable insight is given into fields that otherwise would be lost or would not be available. Conclusion: Our summary stance is that discourse analysis as it is presented in this article is strongly advisable for use in nursing and caring sciences. 

Background: Campus-based clinical learning centres are used for practice and learning in nursing students' education and can be arenas in which to enhance students' awareness and competence in social justice issues. Norm-critical approaches can be used as pedagogical tools in these centres to prepare students for hands-on caring situations in which social norms can bias the outcome. Objectives: To describe nursing teachers' conceptions of learning norm-critical approaches and implementing them in a clinical training centre. Setting and participants: The study is based on interviews with 10 teachers at a Swedish university college. Methods: The data was analysed using a phenomenographic approach. Results: Five categories of description emerged in the analysis that described conceptions related to norm-critical approaches. These categories were: personally developing and meaningful; easily integrated with established nursing concepts; highlighting surrounding power; something to lean on when letting students take the first steps in norm-critical initiatives; and helping implementation in teaching and education. Conclusions: Teachers who are facing the task of providing norm-critical, practical education to nursing students in campus-based clinical learning environments are ambivalent towards the core principles of norm criticism, which they conceive as natural and provoking, at the same time. We therefore need to un-dramatise norm criticism and better prepare teachers in how to use it. Teachers would benefit from follow-up activities and formal collaborations regarding norm-critical teaching, so that they are given context to discuss, reflect, and learn from each other.