Co-research

Dagfinn Bjørgen and research scientist Reidun Norvoll are collaborating on the project “God pårørendeinvolvering i et brukerperspektiv” [Good involvement from a user perspective].

KBT is competent in co-research. We mainly work with qualitative research and are the competence base for the user-driven method User Interviews User. If you want help with your research project, or you want to be a co-researcher, please feel free to contact us.

We work on the following goals:

• Contributing with co-researchers in projects.
• Validation of the user perspective in research.
• Contributing with user experience in research projects.
• Development and testing of methods.
• Impacting research agendas and prioritization of issues.
• Impact on planning and implementation of research.
• Support for projects we believe to be relevant to our main goals.
• Dissemination and availability of research results.

There has been more focus on the relevance and quality of research and how research can be improved through the involvement of user experience. According to the Ministry of Health and Care Services, there must be user representatives in all research projects in which health institutions are involved (Oppdragsdokument til Helse Midt-Norge 2015, s. 9.).

Research with, not on

KBTs perspective on scientific theory and research strategy is promoting the subjects (persons) understanding of phenomena, and to contribute to this being included in knowledge development. There are value-bearing, democratic, quality-based and deontological arguments for user involvement in research. KBT is of the opinion that user involvement leads to better quality in research; broader expertise and insight leads to more precise focus areas, interpretations and recommendations. This again will lead to research that meets the needs of health care service users.

We believe user experiences is useful throughout the entire research process and work for direct inclusion of co-researchers from start to finish; from planning, collecting data and recruitment, to analysis, documentation and dissemination. Dissemination and the sharing of research results are an important part of KBTs work to make research available and applicable. In this way, we have a “translator” role when it comes to using a language both subjects, service users and the general population can understand.

Engaging co-researchers with user experience includes a larger ethical dimension which deals with power relations. This is why language and concepts, stigma and authority are topics that engage KBT. It may require increased resources, and we are committed to spending the time necessary. Contributions will be honored / credited.

KBT has competence in research design and methods with good interaction between service users and researchers, and can provide training and advice. We also have a wide network of contacts with various user environments (User Organizations, User/Peer Driven Centers, User Committees, etc.) and can assist with information and recruitment.

Research collaboration and publications

KBT cooperates with universities, colleges and other research institutes. Nord University, NTNU Department of Mental Health, University of Oslo (UiO), Volda University College, Nasjonalt senter for erfaringskompetanse innen psykisk helsearbeid (Erfaringskompetanse.no) and Nasjonalt senter for psykisk helsearbeid (NAPHA) are amongst our partners.

KBT is involved in the formation of a National Network for Co-research, for people engaged in research and knowledge development in health and social services. The purpose of this is for people with user and next of kin experiences to collaborate with researchers and health professionals in order to develop and share knowledge and information. The plan is to create a website and hold regular conferences.

Here you will find some of the research projects our employees have been / are engaged in:

• Heidi Westerlund og Dagfinn Bjørgen var forfattere av kapitlet «Rollen som evaluatør med brukererfaring» i boka Medforskning – å forske sammen for kunnskap om psykisk helse (2009) av Marit Borg (red.) og Kristjana Kristiansen (red.).
• Heidi Westerlund og Dagfinn Bjørgen var forfattere av heftet Samarbeid mellom forsknings- og brukermiljøer (2011) i samarbeid med Nasjonalt senter for erfaringskompetanse innen psykisk helse.
• Dagfinn Bjørgen var hovedforfatter av Alternativer til tvang I basert på forskningsprosjektet «Alternativer til tvang sett fra et bruker- og fagperspektiv» (2014).
• Juni Raak Høiseth var medforfatter av “Learning from clients: A qualitative investigation of psychotherapists’ reactions to negative verbal feedback” (2016), ledet av Heidi Brattland.
• Dag Øivind Antonsen har deltatt i et forskningsprosjekt om brukerstyrte plasser/senger, og var medforfatter i publikasjonen More than just a bed: mental health service users’ experiences of self-referral admission (2016).
• Dagfinn Bjørgen og Juni Raak Høiseth var medforfattere i rapporten «God pårørendeinvolvering i et brukerperspektiv» (2017), hvor Reidun Norvoll var hovedforfatter fra Universitetet i Oslo.
• Dagfinn Bjørgen og Juni Raak Høiseth deltar i prosjektet «Tilhørighet på arbeidsplassen» i regi av Olav Tangvald-Pedersen.
• Karl Johan Johansen, Dagfinn Bjørgen og Ingvild M. Kvisle deltar i prosjektet «Operasjonalisering av erfaringsdrevet innovasjon gjennom integrasjon av erfaringskonsulenter i helsevesenet» i samarbeid med Health Leadership Academy, McMaster University i Ontario, Canada.
• Karl Johan Johansen, Ingvild M. Kvisle og Dagfinn Bjørgen deltar i interregprosjektet «RESENS» i samarbeid med Mittuniversitet, Nord universitet, kommuner og private aktører i Norge og Sverige.

For a complete list of publications and projects, see «Publications» and «Projects».

Courses for co-researchers: User involvement in research

KBT collaborates with the Department of research and development (AFFU) at St. Olavs, and NTNU on the course “User Involvement in Research”. The goal is to educate potential co-researchers with user experience. The course is also offered to fellows and research communities.

Feel free to contact us if you would like to engage one of our employees in a research project or if you want more information.