Traditionellt utvecklingsarbete - särskilt det som drivs i projektform - ifrågasätts alltmer. Resultaten blir sällan bestående, än mindre innovativa eller genomgripande. För att driva mer komplexa och långsiktiga processer prövas nya former - nätverk, innovationssystem, kluster, Triple Helix, partnerskap. -För att förändra ett system, krävs ett system för utveckling-, är tanken. Denna bok handlar om ett sådant -systeminitiativ- för utveckling, nämligen utvecklingspartnerskap inom ett EUprogrammet Equal. Tanken är att olika parter, i stället ska blir partners som gemensamt ska driva och ta ansvar för en utveckling. Är det realistiskt? Vad krävs i så fall för att samordna och leda ett sådant system? Boken visar på möjligheter och svårigheter med partnerskap. Den ska vara ett stöd för dig som vill arbeta med utveckling i nya former. Frågorna bygger på erfarna och reflekterande praktikers erfarenheter. De har fått stöd i att synliggöra sina kunskaper av forskare som ifrågasatt och utmanat vedertagna uppfattningar och enkla lösningar.

This book is about how you can work with development or, more precisely, how you can use partnerships to organise development. The book is based on the experience gained in development partnerships in one of the programmes of the European Social Fund, the Equal Programme, but we believe that this experience is generally applicable to other partnerships as well as to other forms of co-operation on development. We can highlight the possibilities and problems relating to working in partnerships and hope that the book can provide support for others, not by providing ready-made answers but rather by asking questions that will encourage reflection.

One of the reasons for producing this book was that we too wanted to learn more about partnerships – especially development partnerships. We wanted to understand their different phases – before, during and after the development work that a development partnership decides to take on. We wanted to know how partnerships can be organised and led, what impact the composition and selection of members has, how feedback to the organisations of each individual partner works, whether the work leads to any results, and if so whether the results are utilised and disseminated. We also wanted to learn more about transnational work in partnerships.

As our work is based on the experience gained in the Equal Programme, in which partnership is a prerequisite for the allocation of funds, our purpose is not to question partnership as an organisational form. Instead, we wish to describe and analyse the experience gained in a way that will help you as a reader to reflect on and make your own well-considered decisions about your partnership. The examples that are presented here are therefore intended as starting points for reflection and dialogue, not as models or templates. The questions that are asked are concretised in some cases by the examples that are presented, but they are also based on the previous and general experience of the participants and the authors.

I Hållbart arbetsliv analyserar och diskuterar författarna konflikten mellan det korta projektet och de önskade långsiktiga effekterna. Bakgrunden är ett stort nationellt hälsoprojekt inom offentlig sektor. Boken visar att det finns många faktorer: delaktighet, förankring, ägarskap, lärande och reflektion, styrning, spridning - som behöver diskuteras inför och under ett utvecklingsarbete. I synnerhet om projektet har som mål att leda till långsiktiga förändringar.

Styrningen av en verksamhet kan vara avgörande för om och hur en framtida satsning på kompetensutveckling inom äldreomsorgen kommer att se ut. Parallellt med och som en kritik mot den offentliga och uppifråndrivna strategin för kvalitetsutveckling har nya styrprinciper vuxit fram i äldreomsorgen, nämligen brukarstyrning och eget val. Dessa nya styrprinciper kan leda till att kompetensinsatser inte prioriteras. I stället kan det mer handla om att välja rätt personal som är anpasslig och som har de kunskaper som krävs i ett kortsiktigt perspektiv. Artikeln, som är tentativ, vill alltså diskutera betydelsen av olika styrprinciper inom omsorgen och vad de kan betyda för personalens kompetens i framtiden. Underlaget bygger på en litteraturgenomgång av forskning i de nordiska länderna och en sammanfattning av erfarenheterna från ett omfattande nationellt program, där avsikten var att kompetensutveckling ska leda till en ökad kvalitet.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore and interpret men's experience of sense of self within the context of recovery from substance abuse and suicidal behavior. A secondary analysis of data from a previous study of four young Norwegian men revealed how a shifting sense of self was constructed through the use of metaphors. The analysis identified three themes related to the participants' sense of self: The Meaning of Being Isolated, The Meaning of Being Close to the Point of No Return, and The Meaning of Still Being on the Edge. By acknowledging metaphorical expressions as a source of important knowledge, this study reflects on how mental health professionals can use metaphors in the recovery process. As part of the treatment alliance and therapeutic communication, we suggest that metaphors may aid the assessment of suicidal ideation, promote a sense of a more active self, and signal acceptance and recognition of subjectivity.

The aim of this study was to illuminate and interpret the experiences of professionals and men living with life-threatening heroin overdoses in Oslo. A case study design was chosen for data collection. A phenomenological hermeneutic approach and triangulation was used to analyse the data. The na?¨ve reading involved awareness of the perceived sense of social isolation, which had consequences for how life-threatening heroin overdoses were managed, comprehended and motivated by the men. Professionals also experienced isolation, since they had no specific goals or guidelines for cooperation, and relevant political documents did not address the phenomenon of life-threatening heroin overdoses. Non-participant observation revealed different types of isolated interventions, involving very short interventions by several kinds of actors. The structural analysis identified three themes: The meaning of being rescued, the meaning of longing for communion and the meaning of being confused. A comprehensive understanding of the complexity in experiencing and preventing life-threatening heroin overdoses in men in Oslo indicated that the meaning of these social phenomena could be understood as bridging the gaps between barriers to treatment, interaction and motivation.

On Devious Paths: The political intention to reduce social inequalities in health in the late 20th century. The ambition of this thesis is to try to detect what happened in the Swedish society when the ideal of equality more and more lost its potential of reality during the 1980s and 1990s. The object in focus is, from this understanding of the contemporary society, to analyse how the Swedish State handled social inequalities in health during this period. This political activity is mainly analysed from Zygmunt Bauman's, Pierre Bourdieu's and Michel Foucault's theories and concepts. Theoretically, the activity can be summarised in three phases:  Initially, there was the unreliability on the field that disturbed the political discussion. When a relative reliability was created the field transformed into an apparatus in Pierre Bourdieu's sense. Finally, as a consequence of the apparatisation, the inequalities in health become a non-problem. The thesis is concluded by thoughts about whether there is a fourth phase, when not even the apparatus is able to mediate the complexity of the problems of the area, when the non-problem no longer works as a state legitimation act, when homo valens (the capable human being) instead of homo saluber (the healthy human being) becomes the supreme ideal in society.

Although there are a great many epidemiological studies of psychiatric diseases and the outcomes of controlled rehabilitation programmes, there is a shortage of studies of routine psychiatric care. This study is a retrospective cohort study of the total number (n = 138) of patients receiving inpatient care at a psychiatric rehabilitation clinic in Jönköping during 1984. The follow-up period is 15 years, 1984-98. The group had a considerable amount of inpatient care, but this decreased dramatically during the time of investigation. Positive indications were that there were no suicides during the last 5 years of the period and that the number of registered crimes showed a marked decrease from 1992. Negative indications were low levels of work and occupation and few social contacts.

Vi har hittills haft begränsad kunskap om funktionshindrade människors liv över tid och om innebörden i att leva med funktionshinder under många år. Vad innebär det att åldras med funktionshinder? Hur gestaltar sig "äldreblivandet" om man redan har betydande funktionsnedsättningar sedan tidigare i livet och kanske tvingats lämna arbetslivet långt före gängse pensionsålder? Hur är det att, som en till åren kommen förälder, fortfarande vara den som hjälper sitt vuxna, funtionshindrade barn? Hur ser den formella och informella omsorgssituationen ut? Det är frågor som den här boken belyser och den fyller därmed ett viktigt kunskapsbehov. Boken utgår från ett livsloppsperspektiv. Den centrala frågan är sålunda hur livet idag gestaltar sig för funktionshindrade människor som vuxit upp och levt under vissa historiska villkor. Här ryms även ett anhörigperspektiv där denna fråga studeras på motsvarande sätt. Bokens sex kapitel diskuterar de här frågorna med olika tonvikt och med utgångspunkt från både fysiskt och psykiskt funktionshindrades förhållanden. Samtliga författare bedriver forskning med anknytning till bokens huvudfråga. Att åldras med funktionshinder riktar sig främst till högskolestuderande inom samhälls- och beteendevetenskap, socialt arbete, social omsorg och vård, liksom till yrkesverksamma inom fältet. Den kan också vara värdefull för en intresserad allmänhet.

Objectives The objective of this study was to describe and analyze municipal decision-makers views on public health nursing and to reflect upon and discuss the relevance of those views to the future of public health nursing in Norway. Design This explorative qualitative study using face-to-face interviews is part of a larger project, comprising 5 studies, that explores perceptions of public health nursing. Sample A purposeful sample of 11 municipal decision-makers was selected for interview during 2006-2007 to reflect variation in community size and perspective. Results Thematic content analysis of the transcribed interviews revealed 4 content categories: contribution, collaboration, challenges, and visibility. The decision-makers expressed satisfaction with the public health nursing services, showed concern about lack of visibility and clear boundaries, and some expressed irritation over lacking collaboration. The interviewees elaborated on their past experiences as the public health nurses coworkers, leaders, collaborators, and service users. Conclusions The respondents recognized public health nursings contribution to public health but they lack sufficient knowledge of its content and tend to take services at local health clinics for granted. Dialogue between nurses and decision-makers is necessary in order to ensure updated evaluation and continued development of public health nursing services.

This article examines how troublesome events are described in children’s emergency calls. In focus forthe analysis are the procedures through which participants methodically deal with contextual informationconcerning the reported emergency event during the early phases of the call, i.e., up to the point where theoperator is able to set emergency priority. This choice is motivated by a set of institutional concerns thatsurface in the interaction typically, but not solely, through the operator’s ways of receiving and managing thecaller’s unfolding report. The initial phase of emergency calls thus offers a locus of order, a phenomenon initself, in addition to offering access to some of the finer details of sequential and categorical organisation ofinteraction in emergency calls. Applying Ryle’s (1968) distinction between ‘thin’ vs. ‘thick’ description(roughly, the description of an observed event vs. description of the meaning of an observed event) to thereporting of emergencies, we argue that determining the relevant level of ‘thickness’ is, above all, a task forthe participants themselves. Hence, our analysis shows that interaction during the early phases of emergencycalls is distinctively geared towards producing a ‘thick-enough’ description of the reported event. Thesefindings are discussed in terms of the methodological problem of how features of the context can enterinteraction analytic accounts of institutional exchanges. Specifically, we argue that relevant features ofcontext ‘brought along’ to emergency calls (to do, for instance, with operators’ institutional agendas orcallers’ situations) are also ‘brought about’ by the participants as part of the interactional work throughwhich one party’s observations are jointly transformed into descriptions that form accountable reports ofemergency events.

Addresses both the physiological and the psychological aspects of human behavior. This title helps users - whether they are students just beginning formal study of the broad field or specialists in a branch of psychology - understand the field and how and why humans behave as we do.

This study is about intensive care patients' experience of strength, body and movement during critical illness in an intensive care unit. The aim of the study is to inquire and understand the ways the body and its experience appear when the phenomena of strength and movement are altered. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with seven patients and analysed from a phenomenological-hermeneutical point of view. The findings showed a body that refuses to cooperate and is often marginally able to cope with the situation at all. It showed relational bonding between the patients and health personnel and/or significant others where the patients were overlooked and at the same time dependent on the same persons. They were waving between life and death through dimension of existence, which is contrasted to earlier experiences. They showed feeling responsible for the family through a role in to reduce their fears. At the same time, they are in a continuous struggle for life in which they balance between vague hope and a situation so challenging that the only thing left is grim humour. They showed progressing and expectations where the slightest changes in the situation in a positive direction create a hope in them.

The aim of this study was to reveal the meaning some people with psychiatric disabilities assigned to important personal experiences in relation to an ongoing rehabilitation process. The data comprises open-ended interviews of eight participants. A hermeneutic approach together with a content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results indicated the importance of not relying on simplified prognoses early in a rehabilitation process when assessing rehabilitation measures and/or work capacity. The phenomenon of rehabilitation seemed to be very complex, diverse, and changed over time depending on different circumstances that arose during the rehabilitation process. These circumstances arose on individual, contextual as well as structural levels and all had an impact on the outcomes. The results also indicated that it seemed to be possible to achieve success, change attitudes, and create a positive image of a future related to a working life if the support was perceived as relevant and the activities undertaken were perceived as contributing to achievement of the individuals goals. Regardless of which path the informants later chose these factors were seen to support an empowerment process and active participation in their own rehabilitation.

I denna rapport sammanfattas de centrala delarna i doktorsavhandlingen Den ofrivilligt frivillige företagaren av sociologen Christer Johansson (2009) vid Linköpings universitet.

Syftet är att beskriva och analysera arbetets betydelse i starta eget-bidragsföretagares liv. Material har samlats in dels genom en ansenlig enkätstudie som omfattar hela populationen nuvarande och tidigare företagare från 1995 i Östergötlands län, dels genom en serie livsberättelseorienterade intervjuer med ett urval aktiva respektive före detta företagare med fokus på deras inställning till arbete.

Resultaten visar bland annat att etableringsmotiven ofta utgår främst från strukturer och omständigheter utanför individen och att dennes handlande när det gäller att starta eget i mycket bygger på ett oreflekterat förhållningssätt.

Analyserna lyfter också fram de identitetsskapande aspekterna av arbete och visar att den del av identiteten som är knuten till arbete i många fall mycket starkt påverkar eller omformar övriga identitetsaspekter.

Starta eget-bidragsföretagarna kan betraktas som s.k. ”nödvändighetsentreprenörer” då de skapar nya arbetstillfällen åt sig själva. Bland nuvarande företagare anser drygt hälften att deras liv tagit en positiv riktning. De mest negativa återfinns i gruppen tidigare starta eget-bidragsföretagare, av vilka drygt en tredjedel anser att deras liv tagit en negativ riktning. Bland fördelarna med företagande framhålls av de studerade personerna framför allt möjligheten till en upplevd egenkontroll i arbetet. Nackdelar som betonas är ekonomisk oro, kompetensbrist och brist på sociala relationer.

Den europeiska unionens incitament att skapa fler och bättre jobb i Europa stöds via den europeiska socialfonden (ESF). Svenska ESF är en statlig myndighet som sorteras under Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet vilken har till uppgift att förvalta Socialfonden i Sverige. Socialfonden stödjer projekt som arbetar med kompetensutveckling för att motverka utanförskap.

ESF-projektet SPIK! står för studier, poolarbete, idrott och kompetens och är ett arbetsmarknadshöjande projekt i Östergötlands län som finansieras av Europeiska socialfonden samt arbetsförmedlingen i Linköping, Motala och Norrköping. Syftet med denna utvärdering är att studera SPIK!-projektets inverkan på deltagarna. Frågeställningarna i utvärderingen är kopplade till SPIK!-projektets egna målsättningar. Vilken är individens sysselsättningssituation efter SPIK!-projektet avslutats? Vilken är individens bakgrund och förutsättningar till sysselsättning? Vilken är individens inställning till SPIK!-projektet?

Utvärderingen visar att 35 % av deltagarna fick någon form av sysselsättning efter projektet. Av dessa 27 deltagare som fick sysselsättning efter projektet var det 41 % som fick arbete på sin praktikplats (vaktmästare eller kanslist i idrottsförening). Deltagarna som erhöll en sysselsättning hade främst genomfört en vaktmästarpraktik. Det visade sig att flera av deltagarna som rekryterats till projektet hade sämre hälsotillstånd än vad de hade angett vid rekryteringstillfället, vilket påverkade projektet och dess förutsättningar då bland annat poolverksamheten istället blev en kurativ verksamhet där det handlade om att stötta individen i dess livssituation.

I projektet deltog personer med olika bakgrund och förutsättningar. Majoriteten av deltagarna har svenskt ursprung och det är en jämn fördelning mellan könen. Resultatet visar att för gruppen som fått sysselsättning träder en profil vilken omfattas av en man, med svenskt ursprung, med yrkesinriktad gymnasieutbildning, med motivation att vilja arbeta, med kortare tid i arbetslöshet och inte har nedsatt arbetsförmåga. Anledning till varför denne inte fått jobb är på grund av bristen av arbete på arbetsmarknaden.

Resultatet visar att 61 % av deltagarna anser att SPIK!-projektet varit bra eller mycket bra. Flera av deltagarna har fått ökad kunskap i form av de olika utbildningarna och praktiken men det har också lett till personlig utveckling. Deltagarna upplever att det kommit ett steg framåt, de söker arbete mer aktivt och fått bättre självförtroende men de har fortfarande några steg kvar för att ta sig ut på arbetsmarknaden. 61 % av deltagarna ansåg att stödet från projektledarna varit bra eller mycket bra och 60 % av deltagarna ansåg att engagemanget från projektledaren varit bra eller mycket bra. Generellt har gruppen som fått sysselsättning högre medelvärden och procentsatser i figurerna, vilket skulle kunna innebära att de upplevt projektet något mer positivt än de som inte fått någon sysselsättning.

More knowledge is needed on different factors that can promote return to work among sick-listed persons. One such factor might be by their interactions with the rehabilitation professionals they encounter. The aim of the present study was to identify and analyze statements about positive encounters with rehabilitation staff, reported by persons who had been absent from work with back, neck, or shoulder diagnoses. A descriptive and explorative qualitative approach was used to analyze data from five focus-group interviews. There were few statements on positive encounters, and they were frequently attributed to sheer luck. Experiences of positive encounters were assigned to two major categories: respectful treatment and supportive treatment. Receiving adequate medical examination or treatment was also mentioned as being positive. Further efforts are needed to study and develop methods for investigating interactions with rehabilitation professionals that laypersons experience as positive and that may contribute to empowerment and influence return to work when sickness absent.

Tredje åldern beskrivs som den period under senare delen av livet då man är fri från arbetslivets krav och skyldigheter men ännu inte i behov av sociala rättigheter i form av vård och omsorgsinsatser. Under de senaste åren har begreppet tredje åldern kommit att användas allt oftare även inom det sociala arbetet, både nationellt och internationellt.

I den här boken problematiseras begreppet tredje åldern med utgångspunkt från aktuell forskning ur en rad olika samhälleliga och sociala perspektiv. Det centrala temat i boken hämtas från livsloppsperspektivet och teorier om socialt medborgarskap. Här diskuterar författarna frågor som: Vilken roll har gruppen "tredje åldrare" i samhället? Vad innebär tredje åldern för det professionella och frivilliga sociala arbetet? Är fri tid enbart en medborgerlig rättighet, eller finns det också samhälleliga skyldigheter under den "fria" tiden?

Tredje åldern - Sociala aspekter och medborgarskap riktar sig främst till studerande på universitets- och högskoleutbildningar på grund-, och avancerad nivå inom socialt arbete, social omsorg, vård-, samhälls- och beteendevetenskap. Den vänder sig också till yrkesverksamma inom fältet och andra som är intresserade av det sociala arbetets utmaningar inom äldreomsorgen.

The authors used a mixed methods approach to examine if the reputation of a housing area has bearing on residential wellbeing and social trust in three pairs of socioeconomically contrasting neighborhoods in a Swedish urban municipality. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations between area reputation and residential wellbeing and social trust, controlling for the random effect of neighborhood and individual level sociodemographic factors. Qualitative data were analyzed to identify mechanisms of how neighborhood reputations were established. The housing area reputation was found to be strongly associated with wellbeing and social trust. The area reputation also seemed to be a determinant of position in the local social structure; residents were found to position themselves in a rank order The results suggest that area reputation is an important and probably underestimated dimension in the development of residential wellbeing and social trust in housing.

The aim of the dissertation is to describe, analyse and discuss those organisational and interorganisational conditions which are of importance for the enablement of middle managers to drive sustainable development in activity areas. The intention is to study the interplay between organisational and inter-organisational conditions coupled to the change competence of the middle managers. The research has been carried out within the framework of an extensive national R&D project within healthcare and caring. The aim of the project was to work with a sustainable development effort which had as its foundation a broad

participation between employees and management.

The study is a qualitative study with an interactive type of approach, which implies an ambition to carry out research with those affected within the framework of a joint knowledge gathering. The interactive research attempts to be of practical use, but the aim is primarily to contribute to theoretical development. The data collection methods which have been used are visits to the workplaces, interviews, “critical-incident” methods, reflective-PMs (within the framework of two education areas), analytical dialog and reflective seminars, informal conversations and feedback meetings. A number of common activities have been organised within the framework of the national project, which have also functioned as data collection and common analyses, as well as national conferences, steering group meetings etc.

The results of the dissertation show that middle managers within the healthcare and caring sector can have a strategic role in the development of this activity area. The intention of my research has not been to generalise the results in the traditional interpretation, but to reveal mechanisms and prerequisites for the middle managers in organising development efforts. The organisational conditions – in the form of economy, responsibility, authority, professionalisation and company culture – strongly affect the prerequisites of the middle manager for driving a development effort. My research demonstrates interesting opportunities for the middle managers concerning achieving a vertical and horizontal integration of the development effort. There are examples of how the middle managers have been able to influence and utilise these prerequisites in order to create room for action in the organisation for driving a development effort. They have availed themselves of goal orientation, created room for learning and reflection and have created an organisational culture that supports development. The inter-organisational prerequisitess – in the form of an external network, research support and collaboration of parties – has been important for the middle managers in their development efforts.

In medical contexts, parties often have reasons to focus on risks: risks of developing diseases or of having children with congenital diseases, risks involved in taking drugs or in using a particular type of therapy, and so forth. In such risk-implicative contexts, doctors and nurses deal with the risk topics sometimes directly, at other times quite indirectly. In this article, we discuss results from studying 5 different health care contexts, We discuss contextual factors that might account for some of the considerable differences in risk talk. Our claim is that the different explicit versus implicit orientations are linked to where and how the different health care experts position themselves vis-A-vis scientific risk formulations and everyday risk perceptions, Our data on the implicit orientations to risk cast doubt on theories of discourse that would hold that all relevant understandings in discourse are made verbally manifest.

This study concerns how the local learning centres (LLC) organisation constructs a network within the practice of adult education in Sweden. In a number of interviews the representatives of the LLC organisation describe the strains of networking; obstacles and strategies to involve new actors in the network. This study seeks to outline the different interest of the LLC organisation and investigate the obstacles and strategies used in the process of constructing a network of adult education. The network construction is described from the viewpoint of the representatives and the study takes on the perspective of actor-network theory. The results of the study show how actors are considered to be „self-evident‟, „interposed‟ or „reluctant‟ towards involvement in the network. The enrolment is compromised by geographical issues and the autonomy of actors. The process of translation is also constrained by formal requirements, financial problems and lack of interest from target groups. The article discusses the strivings of the organisation to receive a strong position as an indispensable actor in a network of adult education. It will be argued that actors resist involvement despite different strategies of enrolment and that the network is still under construction which gives the LLC organisation uncertain prospects.

This article explores videoconferencing in the context of local learning centres in Sweden. The practice is described as a learning space in which adult learners construct socio-spatial relations. The study goes beyond a sociological apprehension of actors and opposes the idea of the material as neutral, passive and conformed by practice. On the contrary, the classroom layouts and the technical artefacts have a profound impact on interaction, communication and learning. The results of the study concern how human actors have to take on different strategies to escape the influence of material actors. It will be argued that the learning space of videoconferencing is a network of interrelations in which control is handed over from humans to material actors. In terms of learning, we may have to rethink the roles of environments and technical artifacts and reconsider such predetermined and static roles of material objects.

This article explores the practice of videoconferencing and draws on interaction in class based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out at local learning centres in Sweden. The study is based on participant observations focusing on communication and the role of the teacher in a videoconferencing class. The results of the study shed light on different functions of the teachers’ questions such as rhetorical, expanding and provocative. Further, talk in videoconferencing lacks systems of proper back-channel cues and communication often fails as a result of low feedback. The study also shows that there is a lack of balance in the distribution of utterances between the teacher and the students and that interaction is often one-way. The teacher becomes an actor in class reacting against low feedback. Questions and statements posed by the teacher are designed to break through the barriers of mediating technology. Also interaction patterns are impaired by misunderstandings and the practice is described as a learning space imbued with the rationale of communication technology.

Den här artikeln beskriver näringslivets och offentliga arbetsgivares syn på utbildning, kompetens och lärande samt diskuterar lärcentras roll som mäklare av högskolekurser. Syftet är att öka kunskapen om lärcentras verksamhet och bidra med ett teoretiskt perspektiv som lägger fokus på relationen och utbytet mellan lärcentra och andra aktörer inom utbildning för vuxna. I artikeln används aktörsnätverksteorin (ANT) för att beskriva och analysera lärcentras försök att etablera nya relationer till omgivande aktörsnätverk och stärka länkar till redan etablerade noder. Resultaten pekar både på likheter och på olikheter i uppfattning mellan lärcentra och arbetsorganisationerna. En samfälld individcentrerad bild kontrasteras mot ett produktionsinriktat perspektiv på kompetensutvecklingsfrågor. Här finns också skillnader i inriktning mellan högskolans utbildningsutbud och den efterfrågan som råder hos arbetsorganisationerna. Artikeln pekar även på förhållandevis svaga kontakter mellan lärcentra och arbetsorganisationerna i regionen. Lärcentras möjligheter att fungera som mäklare av utbildning begränsas inte i första hand av skilda uppfattningar om kompetensutveckling utan snarare av ett ensidigt kursutbud och marknadsföringsstrategier som inte tar tillräcklig hänsyn till förekomsten av olika aktörsnätverk.

This thesis focuses on the practice of local learning centres in Sweden. The aim is to describe and to establish an understanding of relations and the actor-networks that surround the practice. The thesis is based on four different studies. The first two studies focus on the organisation of the local learning centres and scrutinises the relation between the local learning centres, municipal administration and business in the region. What types of relations exist and what strategies are used by the local learning centres to enrol actors into the actor-network? The two latter studies investigate videoconference in the context of local learning centres. Videoconference is described as a socio-technical environment. The studies focus on interaction and communications asking what kind of relations are created between environment, material design and people? The theoretical framework consists of actor-network theory and the notions of space and spatial relations. The methods used in the four studies are interviews and observations. Informants that have contributed to the study are headmasters, teachers and students as well as project managers, politicians and businessmen. The results of the studies show how the local learning centres fails as brokers on an educational market. The reasons are many. The main results of the studies stress a number of obstacles of involvement and shed light on different strategies of enrolment. The results connected to videoconference show how material design and technology impacts the practice. Different strategies are developed by participants to manoeuvre in the videoconferencing classrooms. In conclusion the four studies show how actor-networks influence the practice of local learning centres by representations.

Long-term sickness-absence has increased in many countries and more knowledge is warranted on factors that can promote return-to-work (RTW). Interactions with professionals might be one such factor and especially experiences of positive encounters. The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze sick-listed persons' experiences of positive encounters with professionals within social insurance and healthcare. An inductive and descriptive qualitative approach was used to analyze ttanscripts from 11 semi-structured interviews with persons with experience of long-term sickness absence.

The following five categories of qualities of encounters were found to be of importance: being treated with respect, feeling supported, establishing a personal relationship, perceiving demands as well-balanced, and participating in decisions regarding rehabilitation measures. Several interviewees expressed the opinion that positive encounters with professionals can promote RTW.

Further research is needed to elucidate the aspects of interactions that enhance empowerment and self-confidence in persons on sick leave, in order to develop professional treatment strategies that facilitate RTW.

ALLERGI BETRAKTAS IDAG SOM en av våra stora folksjukdomar. I den här boken fokuserar skribenterna på vad allergi och annan överkänslighet innebär för en människa i det dagliga livet. Det handlar om den påverkan och de begränsningar en allergisjukdom medför, om hur samhället reagerar på allergi och vilka förbättringar man försöker åstadkomma för dem som besväras av allergi. Bokens redaktör Sonja Olin Lauritzen skriver i förordet: ... frågor om allergins psykologiska, sociala och kulturella innebörder spänner över ett brett fält, ett fält som kan belysas från olika vetenskapliga utgångspunkter. Att det finns behov av flervetenskapliga ansatser för en mer mångsidig belysning av allergifrågan har uppmärksammats i olika sammanhang. Avsikten med denna bok är att bidra till en sådan kunskapsutveckling.  Bokens författare skriver bl a om föräldrars syn på möjligheten att undvika allergi, om platsens betydelse för unga män med astma och allergi och om omgivningens möte med allergikern.