Hildfrid V. Brataas

Interdisciplinary collaboration experiences in creating an everyday rehabilitation model: a pilot study

Background When functional impairment occurs, assistance to achieve self-help can lead to qualitatively more active everyday life for recipients and better use of community resources. Home-based everyday rehabilitation is a new interdisciplinary service for people living at home. Rehabilitation involves meeting the need for interprofessional services, interdisciplinary collaboration, and coordination of services. Everyday rehabilitation is a service that requires close interdisciplinary cooperation. The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge about employees’ experiences with establishing a new multidisciplinary team and developing a team-based work model. Method The study had a qualitative design using two focus group interviews with a newly established rehabilitation team. The sample consisted of an occupational therapist, two care workers with further education in rehabilitation, a nurse, a physiotherapist, and a project leader. Data were analyzed by thematic content analysis. Results The data highlight three phases: a planning phase (ten meetings over half a year), a startup phase of trials of interdisciplinary everyday rehabilitation in practice (2 months), and a third period specifying and implementing an everyday rehabilitation model (6 months). During these phases, three themes emerged: 1) team creation and design of the service, 2) targeted practical trials, and 3) equality of team members and combining interdisciplinary methods. Conclusion The team provided information about three processes: developing work routines and a revised team-based flow chart, developing team cooperation with integrated Trans- and interdisciplinary collaboration, and working with external exchange. There is more need for secure network solutions.

Former Work Life and People With Dementia

Twelve persons with dementia were interviewed about their former work lives. Their motivation for choosing their past work was influenced by values of their contemporary culture. Those who had come to terms with their illness had positive feelings about their past contributions in their former paid work. However, they often felt that unpaid work was taken for granted and not fully recognized by family or society. Some wrestled with accepting their illness; they were grieving their losses, regardless of former success. Caregivers may use parts of work narratives to elevate the self-esteem and quality of life of persons with dementia.

Life stories of people on sick leave from work because of mild mental illness, pain and fatigue.

BACKGROUND Many people experience some form of mild mental illness, chronic pain and fatigue feelings that lead to long-term absences from the workplace. OBJECTIVE The article examines narrations about developmental experiences and adult life of people in need of back to work rehabilitation. METHODS Narrative interviews were analyzed within a qualitative content analyses design. The sample was purposive, with 16 working-age adults at rehabilitation because of mild mental illnesses, chronic pain, and fatigue feelings. Ethical approval, was obtained from The Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics, Health Region Central Norway. Reference no.: 2010/1323. RESULTS There were stories about more or less stressful childhoods. In adult life, there were turns at various ages from meaningful work engagement, to struggle in private life from long lasting strain, stressful family situations or crises. CONCLUSIONS Illness may develop when experiencing crises or strain over time in private situations, this in combination with expectations and requirements in working life. Not only working environments, but also the private situations, life history events, and self-esteem of individuals, should be taken into consideration in the rehabilitation program. There is a need of research on working life that support the employees positive self-image, and on effective rehabilitation when needed.

Nettverkserfaringer hos personer med behov for arbeidsrettet rehabilitering

This article analyzes network experiences of persons who have participated in a program for rehabilitation back to work. The study was qualitative, with a descriptive and interpretive research design, using qualitative in-depth interviews. Results show how the informants related to their network before rehabilitation and how they during the rehabilitation opened up to learn about their own network understanding. There were noticeable changes in their way of how to deal with their networks. There is a need of more knowledge about how persons in need of rehabilitation back to work experience and relate to different networks.