UiS Open Journals (Univ. of Stavanger)
Not a member yet
457 research outputs found
Sort by
The inclusive, social space-oriented participation of people with disabilities in the Bavaria–Tyrol border region during the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFBackground: Although some individuals in Germany’s and Austria’s Bavaria–Tyrol border region live in one country but work, study, shop and/or access healthcare in the other, realising that lifestyle can be difficult for people with disabilities (PWD). Limited cross-border services currently available to PWD not only suffer from poor awareness and adoption but also fail to meet PWD’s manifold individual needs. Thus facing restricted individual social space, especially in rural areas, the region’s PWD experience various constraints to self-determined lives, which the COVID-19 pandemic’s isolation and heightened border control have only aggravated. Against that background, we sought to identify factors that have enabled or constrained PWD’s individual agency in the Bavaria–Tyrol border region both before and during the pandemic.
Methods: Beginning in April 2020, we conducted 34 semi-structured interviews with PWD, their relatives and employers and various institutional, political and administrative personnel regarding the use of cross-border education, housing, leisure and occupational services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bavaria, Germany, and Tyrol, Austria. In qualitative content analysis, we summarised the most pressing results into eight abstracts that we later compiled into a qualitative online survey completed by 51 of 229 interviewees and other participants (22.27%).
Results: Pandemic-associated developments and policies have been external shocks to an already fragile (cross-border) support system for PWD. Added to pre-pandemic obstacles including a lack of information, consensus and options regarding cross-border activities, new deficits in mobility, housing and funding for support along with prejudices and the effects of digitalisation have further intensified challenges for PWD
Planning of knowledge dissemination in health and social sciences through research-based theatre under the Covid-19 pandemic
Get PDF
Att förkroppsliga Shakti : en intervjustudie om femininitet i samtida svensk tantra
Get PDFIn recent years, contemporary tantra, sometimes referred to as “neo-tantra” has spread substantially throughout Sweden. Emphasizing intimacy and polarity as means to healing and liberation, the movement tends to highlight ideals of “masculine males” and ”feminine females”, while identifying women with Shakti (creativity/immanence) and men with Shiva (consciousness/transcendence). This text examines the use of polarity and more precisely notions of femininity within Swedish contemporary tantra, using qualitative interviews. The purpose is to analyse the relationship between tantric femininity/femininities and the agency and subjectivity of female practitioners. The material is construed from a critical feminist theoretical framework, taking its point of departure in the concept of plural and positional femininities as well as Luce Irigaray’s “sexual difference” (Irigaray 1994) and Rosi Braidotti’s ”nondual materialism” (Braidotti 2011). Irigaray’s position as being one of essentialism is discussed and related to her ventures into yogic and tantric practice. The study suggests that Swedish contemporary tantra in many ways fortifies gender-stereotypical views on femininity while the question of the effects on women’s agency and subjectivity is discussed and left open for further research
More than health care: The implications of cultural diversity for health care practice in Norway
Get PDFThe Norwegian community health centres are one of the main providers of maternal and child health care services. They are often the primary, as well as a regular point of contact, for women during pregnancy and after childbirth. As such, they are a place where encounters between primary health care providers like public health nurses, midwives and immigrant women, are frequent.
Midwives and public health nurses play an important role as state employees in the distribution of universal health provisions at the local level. This is especially important in meeting the diverse needs of service users in a universal health care system. This study investigates the implications of cultural diversity for health care practice in a universal system. It employs a qualitative approach, using data from nine semi-structured interviews with midwives and public health nurses across three Norwegian municipalities. It analyses their experiences in working with immigrant women during pregnancy, and after childbirth, through thematic analysis. The findings illustrate the practitioners’ different approaches to meeting with culturally diverse patients, the challenges they face in their work, and how they overcome them. The discussions address the practice of cross-cultural health care in the absence of national guidelines or formal training using street-level bureaucracy as an analytical concept. This article contributes to knowledge on the practice of cross-cultural health care at Norwegian community health centres in the absence of a culturally cognizant health policy. On a broader scale, this study illustrates the implications of diversity for policy and practice in a universal welfare state.
Gender-based Violence and the Nordic Paradox:: When things are not what they seem – A short critical reflection
Get PDFIntimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a long-standing and global phenomenon, that is considered, both public health and social problem which seems difficult to tackle (Gracia et al., 2019; Wemrell et al., 2021). Although some research suggests that gender equality plays an important role in reducing IPVAW (Gracia et al., 2019; Wemrell et al., 2021), the so-called Nordic Paradox – a situation where seemingly the most gender equal states, i.e., Nordic countries (including, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland) report the highest numbers of IPVAW – appears to contradict this supposition (Gracia & Merlo, 2016). To date, there is no agreement as to why, and whether, this is the case. In this short paper, I shall review three academic articles that aim to address this contradiction, focusing on their methodologies and limitations.
In this essay, firstly, I will discuss how I approached the literature search. Secondly, I will present an overview of IPVAW and the Nordic paradox. Thirdly, I will discuss Gracia and colleagues (2019) and Permanyer and Gomez-Casillas\u27s (2020) analysis, which are based on the same survey (FRA, 2014). Fourthly, I will examine the chosen literature and lastly, I will consider whether, and if so to what extent, high gender equality score and violence against women go hand in hand
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of social workers: - a comparison between Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on everyone’s life. Like many other professionals, social workers have been forced to adapt to these new working conditions and new challenges in order to support clients during the pandemic, as new needs have arisen. Together with professional associations from three nations (Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands), we used a coordinated approach to explore the consequences of the pandemic for social work professionals. This study was conducted during the most severe contact and hygiene restrictions of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter of 2020/2021. The data addresses the changes perceived by social work professionals in relation to their contact and communication with clients, the use of digital technology in the context of work, the professional response in terms of innovation, the working conditions and the psychosocial risks they face.
MethodsCross-sectional data was collected from 7,241 social workers in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands through online surveys.
ResultsThe results show an increase in the workload of professional social workers and compounding problems of clients, together with a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communication and contact with clients. All of this takes place within the framework of changing working conditions and contexts. Our data shows that the use of digital technologies does not cause bigger problems for most of the participating social workers. It should in fact be noted that professionals have many positive associations with the use of digital technology in general.
ConclusionsThere are both remarkable and alarming results concerning the mental health of social workers and their working conditions, as well as the position of the social work profession in general
Unpacking social innovation by nonstate service providers in the challenging social work practice
Get PDFNonstate service providers in the form of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play an important role in the delivery of social services and the development of social work practice, in particular in fragile and conflict-affected countries. In such challenging settings, NGOs also mobilize various resources, implement novel activities or service delivery models that may induce the development of social innovation; however, such perspectives have been overlooked in the social work literature. This study outlines a framework for understanding how social innovation generates by nonstate service providers in a challenging social work context. By analyzing 15 interviews from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the study identified three interrelated key mechanisms that drive social innovation by local NGO service providers: a) transcopy, b) coactive novelty and c) knowledge construction. The processes underlying these mechanisms include transnational networking, copying and adapting, contextual modification, relationship-building, pioneering novel solutions, knowledge production and transfer. This study offers new insights into the role of nonstate service providers in the development of social innovation in a challenging social work context and has several implications for practice