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- Bromark, Kristina, 1973-
(författare)
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The user as a key actor in user participation : Exploring knowledge production in personal social services with a participatory approach
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The concept of user participation in social work is frequently debated. In Sweden, users are supposed to be active and involved in matters concerning them, a stance which is regulated in policy and law. The involvement of users in practice can be considered a form of knowledge production that can strengthen and develop users as well as the organizations. In practice, however, research shows that actual engagement, education or activation of users is difficult to attain and can be understood as a devaluation of user knowledge. The aim of this dissertation is to increase knowledge of how to understand and enhance the conditions for user participation in personal social services. To study this question, the dissertation focuses especially on young people’s participation in the context of out-of-home care. To explore user participation in personal social services, a participatory approach was applied. Data was gathered with young people and staff using participatory techniques as well as qualitative interviews. To explore challenges and possibilities with user participation, a future workshop was held with staff in personal social services (study I). This was followed by a co-design process in which staff, young people, and researchers collaborated on a support tool (study II), later to be implemented in practice (study III). The implementation process was explored by interviewing both staff and managers as well as a user representative (from a youth council). The co-design and implementation processes are problematized and discussed in the dissertation from a researcher’s perspective (study IV). The theoretical framework for understanding how users can be devalued as knowers is epistemic injustice. The assumption is that the role of a knower can shift, depending on social power and the structures in a context. The findings in this dissertation show that user participation is contingent on the distribution of power and responsibility and on perceptions of knowers and knowledge in practice. Although the general attitude towards user participation is positive, a reluctance in practice is revealed. It appears to be a challenge for staff to acknowledge the expertise of users, despite the fact that the users’ have the capacity and are willing to contribute with their knowledge. Work with user participation is identified as a team effort that requires actions at all levels of the organization as well as increased resources, leadership and a coherent understanding and agreement of the concept. A participatory approach to knowledge production with users is identified as a possible way to enhance epistemic justice and the inclusion of all relevant actors in activities and processes. The dimensions important to user participation can be acknowledged. For the dynamics to be maintained in a wider sense, however, an organizational infrastructure, with routines and methods, is necessary. To sustain epistemic justice in the implementation of user participation, a participatory culture with a solid and coherent understanding of user participation in practice is encouraged. A realization of user participation in practice requires a critical exploration of power and positions, systematic changes to infrastructure and transparency about roles and responsibility.
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| 2. |
- Bromark, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Co-designing a dynamic tool to enhance participation for young people : A participatory design project with young service users and social workers
- 2023
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Ingår i: Children and youth services review. - : Elsevier. - 0190-7409 .- 1873-7765. ; 147
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is an emphasis on user participation in social work. The arguments derive from both a democratic and a consumerist approach, aiming on the one hand to equalize power between users and professionals, and on the other hand, for more efficient and legitimized services. However, research shows that there is a lack of knowledge about methods and conditions for realizing user participation in social services. In this exploratory study, grounded in participatory design, a set of four workshops took place, enabling young people, social workers and researchers to participate in the design process. The data were analysed with affinity analysis, a technique whereby the data are sorted with “I” labels, to stay close to the material. Also, written feedback and reflections from participants as well as oral feedback and reflections were generated, documented and integrated with the affinity analysis. The main findings concern how the participatory approach revealed tensions between the participants’ different perspectives on user participation, which in turn contributed to the shaping of a dynamic tool. The findings imply that the tool needed to be both “fair and square” to ensure equality for all young people, and dynamic and flexible to meet the uniqueness of each young person. Moreover, the tool needed to be both rich and contextualized to meet the need for information and participation throughout the transition process, and simple and accessible to meet the acute nature of many transitions as well as the overall time constraints within social work practice. The research process reached the level of contribution, with involvement in some but not all stages labelled as collaboration. The wide range of expertise involved in the design process provides a good basis for the tool to be able to address the need for increased user participation in social work practice.
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| 4. |
- Bromark, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Practitioners exploring intertwined challenges and possible solutions for user participation in social services
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nordic Social Work Research. - 2156-857X .- 2156-8588.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite a strong emphasis on user participation in social services, scientific knowledge on how to achieve these goals is limited. The aim of this study is to explore what social work practitioners identify as challenging in implementing user participation and what solutions they propose to be necessary to meet these challenges. Future workshops were applied, combining data from brainstorming processes and from the participants’ analytical work, identifying current obstacles and co-creating solutions. The workshops took place at the Personal Social Services section in a suburban area outside a large city in Sweden with 95 participants. The findings are discussed in relation to a model of participation, where creating openings, opportunities, and obligations are essential. The participants highlighted the need to strengthen commitment to user participation, increased access to knowledge and methods that enhance user participation, and support from management, with increased resources to ensure continuous development and maintenance. Practitioners must be able to engage in user participation, and actions need to be taken at all organizational levels. To overcome a complex and intertwined set of challenges, an intertwined set of solutions is required.
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| 5. |
- Bromark, Kristina, et al.
(författare)
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Samskapande processer : om makt, ansvar och epistemisk rättvisa i deltagande forskning
- 2023
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Ingår i: Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift. - : Linköping University Electronic Press. - 1104-1420 .- 2003-5624. ; 29:3-4, s. 325-344
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Participatory research designs are often used to improve the opportunities of marginalized groups to participate in knowledge production. This article is based on experiences from a research project, where participatory design was used to develop and implement user participation for children and young people in out-of-home care. The aim is to discuss opportunities and challenges within different stages of this research project to problematize which participation in participation research involves. Special emphasis is placed on the power relations between researchers, professionals and users through the different stages of the research process – from research design and co-creation to the implementation of co-created knowledge – and to explore how the opportunity maintaining epistemic justice varies among participants throughout this process. This article shows that the conditions for maintaining justice and epistemic justice change when the participatory research process goes from knowledge production to implementation of co-created knowledge. The implementation of knowledge takes place in a context of complex and competing interests, where the responsibility and power of researchers are weakened in favor of the responsibility and power of professionals. At this stage, users' opportunities for power and responsibility is also weakened. This shift of responsibility and power has ethical implications, which users at this stage may feel let down about their expectations of change that were raised in the past stages of the process, are not met in practice.
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