Improving follow-up with low-income families in Norway. What is new and what is already regular social work practice?

ABSTRACT

Policymakers emphasise knowledge-based practices and evaluate their effectiveness. The Norwegian Directorate of Labour and Welfare has developed a model for Comprehensive follow-up of Low-income Families (the so-called HOLF model). The model includes several elements common in social work, such as relational and empowering practices, in addition to the implementation of intervention-specific tools and principles. Because most of the family coordinators are professional social workers, we measure pre-implementation practices related to intervention elements relevant to the HOLF model (i.e. relational skills, empowerment, comprehensive follow-up processes, goal-focused meetings, and the coordination of services). The data stem from a baseline survey conducted among 58 family coordinators in 29 Labour and Welfare offices in a cluster-randomised trial. The results demonstrate that family coordinators had high levels of relational skills prior to the intervention, were goal-focused in their meetings and emphasised empowerment, whereas comprehensive follow-up processes and the coordination of services were less apparent. Hence, this study shows the importance of measuring various social work competences prior to programme implementation, as some practices the intervention aims at improving might already be more or less prevalent.

ABSTRAKT

De som utformer politikk legger vekt på kunnskapsbasert praksis og praksisens effektivitet. Arbeids- og velferdsdirektoratet har utviklet en modell for helhetlig oppfølging av lavinntektsfamilier (den såkalte HOLF-modellen). Modellen inneholder flere elementer som er forholdsvis vanlige i sosialt arbeid, for eksempel relasjonsbygging og brukermedvirkning, i tillegg til mer intervensjonsspesifikke verktøy og prinsipper. Fordi de fleste familiekoordinatorer er profesjonelle sosialarbeidere, måler vi praksis før implementering relatert til intervensjonselementer som er relevante for HOLF-modellen (dvs. relasjonelle ferdigheter, brukermedvirkning, helhetlig oppfølgingsprosesser, målrettede møter og koordinering av tjenester). Dataene er hentet fra en baseline spørreundersøkelse gjennomført blant 58 familiekoordinatorer i 29 NAV-kontor i et klynge-randomisert eksperiment. Resultatene viser at familiekoordinatorer hadde høye nivåer av relasjonelle ferdigheter før intervensjonen ble implementert, var målrettet i møtene og vektla brukermedvirkning, mens helhetlige oppfølgingsprosesser og koordinering av tjenester var mindre fremtredende. Studien viser viktigheten av å måle ulike deler av praksis før implementering, fordi deler av den praksis som intervensjonen er utformet for å forbedre allerede kan være mer eller mindre utbredt.

KEYWORDS:

• Intervention elements
• family intervention
• evaluation
• follow-up
• social work practice

NØKKELORD:

• Intervensjonselementer
• familieintervensjoner
• evaluering
• oppfølging
• sosialt arbeids praksis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Anne Grete Tøge is Oslo Metropolitan University, and holds a PhD in Social Work and Social Policy. She is engaged in several cluster-randomised trials (C-RCT) in Norway, investigating the effects of interventions aimed at improving follow up of low-income families, reducing school drop-outs and improving interprofessional collaboration. Her research also includes a number of studies on the health effects of the 2008 economic recession and individual unemployment experience in Europe.

Ira Malmberg-Heimonen has a comprehensive expertise on RCT-studies within the social and educational fields. She is and has been the leader of several long-term RCTs. She is interested in intervention studies generally and the implementation of evidence-based methods especially.

Tone Liodden has a PhD in sociology and is employed as a senior researcher at the Work Research Institute at Oslo Metropolitan University. She is currently working on projects that focus on social work, low-income families and organisational conditions; one of them is a RCT-study. Her research interests also include migration, asylum, bureaucracy and decision-making.

Marianne Rugkåsa is an associate professor in social work in the Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Oslo Metropolitan University. She has a PhD in social anthropology. Her filed of research is welfare state, welfare policy, social work and ethnic minorities.

Krisztina Gyüre is a PhD candidate in Social Work and Social Policy at Oslo Metropolitan University. She has been involved in cluster-randomised trials within the social and educational fields. Her interest areas are labour market integration, integration of migrants and intervention fidelity.

Berit Bergheim is a Senior Lecturer in social work in the Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Oslo Metropolitan University. Her field of research includes relational social work and peer supervision.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Norwegian Directorate of Labour and Welfare [grant number not applicable].