Preventative activities in public services : a study of Skolfam

• The purpose of this paper is to explore how preventative activities in public services are practiced, and to identify factors that enable preventative activities within organizations. The case studied, Skolfam, was chosen since it had been shown to facilitate significant change from previously mainly reactive behavior towards a clearly preventive way of working. Skolfam is a work model, used in many Swedish municipalities, for multidisciplinary teams of social workers, school teachers, psychologists, the child, and the foster-care family, that are all committed to support the schooling of the children. The study identified enabling factors related to management, collaboration, follow-up of the child’s school development, and the Skolfam model itself. Furthermore, the study also revealed that persistence is required to gain political support. Additionally, a mindset change was found among stakeholders at a system level that enabled a shift from reaction to prevention. Working towards a common goal, focused on the customer and in multidisciplinary teams were identified as major strengths to that enable prevention. Using an accepted and well documented model that provided structure and focused on the needs of the children in foster care was fundamental. This study contributes findings from a successful preventative public service activity using the Skolfam model. 

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Tillförlitlighets- och kvalitetsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Reliability and Maintenance (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Prevention

process orientation

foster care

customer focus and multidisciplinary teams.

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)