User participation in minority groups meeting with serviceproviders

Session Nr.1: "Collabortaions between parents and service providers for young adults with learning disabilities in Norway"

The article focuses on the strategies that parents adopt when they interact with service providers who support young adults with learning disabilities living in their apartments or are about to leave home to live on their own. The background for the study is that the Norwegian authorities expect a stronger parent participation and collaboration with service providers in the services delivery for their children. Also, there is limited research on the theme in the country. The effort is to understand the nature of the strategies parents employ in interactions with service providers, the reasons for adopting the strategies, and suggestions on how to improve collaboration and service delivery.  The article is a result of qualitative research with nine parents of young adults with learning disabilities. We found out that the parents choose strategies including changes in situation definition, continuous information sharing, balancing between criticism and praise and use of counterforce in their interactions with services providers. The findings indicate that there is the need for changes in the collective consciousness of service providers, increased focus on balance of power between parents and service providers, understanding the role of parents, strengthening both administrative and information flow and promote personal and structured empowerment processes.

Session Nr.2: "User participation in Sámi and kven culture of healthcare"

User participation as a term has since 1990 developed from a radical term to a well-established term within welfare services.

The reorganization of Psychiatric Services for Children and Youth in Sámi and Kven areas was carried out as a project, based on the Parent Management Training Oregon (PMT-O) model. This is a treatment and prevention program for families with children displaying antisocial behaviour. The involved parties had various roles at various levels within the organization, with different responsibilities and from different cultural backgrounds: Sámi, Kven and Norwegian. Based on an empirical material from this project, we want to discuss the opportunities and challenges of user participation with the following question:

How is user participation by Sámi and Kven users, expressed in the healthcare?

Method

The research method are is case study in the interpretative research tradition (Myers, 1997; Myers & Avison, 2002), and within a larger action research project.

Results

There are still a lack of knowledge in terms of how effective user participation actually is, especially tied to Sámi and Kven users and their culture. More knowledge will open up greater awareness but also a critical perspective of the term through project implementation and participation.

Session Nr.3: "Columbia River Treaty Reneweal: report from a Field Course"

The great river he once knew (wild, majestic, compelling) – transformed;

Reduced to a series of placid, controlled, “false” lakes.

The ones he led upstream long ago (abundant, free-roaming, life-giving) – exiled;

imprisoned by repetitive, towering, sterile concrete walls.

The people who proudly honored him (vibrant, spiritual, whole) – obscured;

marginalized by the disregard of foreign politics and economies.

The richly named riverine landscape (iconic, memorable, storied) – muted;

erased by immense, suffocating tombs of water.

The fabled dog, himself (wise, intrepid, capable) – disoriented;

stunned by the unimaginable cruelty of an alien trickster.

Ken Pratt, field course participant 2015

The renewal of the Columbia River Treaty is an exceptional event that has engendered the formation of new alliances: indigenous peoples, inter-faith pastoral groups, environmental advocates, among many. These groups are working separately and together to exhort governments to add ecosystems to the original purpose of the treaty: hydroelectric power and flood control. It is an exciting, holistic and seminal political event. We took a field course along the river. Our hosts were grateful that a group of educators was willing to drive along the river and place ourselves in their important places as learners and listeners; at a fish hatchery, at the Okanagan Nation Alliance’s En’owkin House, at University of British Columbia, Okanagan (UBCO), in Revelstoke, at a sacred Salmon Ceremony at Kettle Falls, at the Rocky Reach Dam and finally in Wenatchee with Bill Layman, who shared his dedication to the last 10,000 years’ history of the Columbia River