User Interviews User Evaluation – Meråker municipality

The goal with the User Interviews User Evaluation in Meråker municipality was to contribute to an understanding of what the municipal services were successful with, and what could be improved, based on the service users’ experiences.

The interviews were conducted by Mariann Gladsø and Svanhild Johnsen in November 2007, and the report was written with guidance from Heidi Westerlund in 2008.

One conclusion was that the service users were very satisfied with the mental health care in the municipality of Meråker, and that service users’ rights in general were respected. One challenge for the employees of the municipality was to become more aware of when and how oral information was given. Another challenge was the lack of much needed personal helpers/personal assistants.

An important subject on the dialogue conference in March 2008 was the availability of help with mental health issues in out-of-office hours. Other topics discussed were the possibility of having one-to-one conversations when in labour, the communication at the General Practitioner’s office, experiences with the mental health services for the Sami population and the community centre. Mental Helse [the organization for Mental Health] wanted a meeting with the municipality to discuss the possibilites of service user involvment and training for service user representatives.

Authors:
Mariann Gladsjø
Svanhild Johnsen
Heidi Westerlund

Report in Norwegian:
Bruker Spør Bruker-evaluering – Meråker kommune (2008)