Ira Malmberg-Heimonen

Oslo Metropolitan University · Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy

Although family group conferences (FGCs) are primarily known from child welfare services, they have also been used in several adult contexts. Nevertheless, we lack reliable evaluations addressing the effects of FGCs in general, and their effects in adult settings in particular. This study analyses, using a randomised controlled design, the social s...

Since the 1990s, evidence-based practice has become part of social work, grounded in the notion that social work should be a research-based profession. However, recent studies show that social workers struggle with bridging research and practice. This study analysed Norwegian social workers’ use of knowledge in their daily practice, drawing on data...

Family interventions have been introduced in several European countries as social inclusion measures for disadvantaged families. Compared with adult social work, in social work for families, social workers aim to utilise a whole-family approach; they follow up all family members, acknowledge multiple target areas and coordinate the services for the...

Purpose This randomized controlled study evaluates the effects of coordinated follow-up within a family intervention project on parents’ participation in activation programs and employment. The trial has been registered on Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03102775). Methods Of 2634 families, 1429 families were randomized to be offered follow-up...

This cluster-randomised study analyses the implementation of a family intervention model (the HOLF model) on four target areas: parental employment, the financial and housing situations, and the social inclusion of children. The study compares family coordinators implementing the HOLF model including tools, schemes and supervision structures, with...

Aim: Every year, about 5% of children in Norway experience severe child maltreatment and need support from the child welfare services. However, research-supported interventions for this group are lacking. The current study piloted an intensive home-visitation intervention, Family Partner, which aims to reduce child maltreatment among at-risk paren...

Blant forskere og praktikere har det de siste tiårene vært et økende søkelys på evidensbasert praksis (EBP) i sosialt arbeid. EBP vært gjenstand for omfattende kritikk, blant annet har forskere og sosialarbeidere hevdet at det tilhører positivistiske tradisjoner, og utgjør en trussel mot tradisjoner i sosialt arbeid. Dette har ført til forvirring,...

Background Around one-third of workdays lost in Norway are due to musculoskeletal conditions, with persistent (chronic) pain being the most frequent cause of sick leave and work disability. Increasing work participation for people with persistent pain improves their health, quality of life, and well-being and reduces poverty; however, it is not cle...

Background Around one-third of workdays lost in Norway are due to musculoskeletal conditions, with persistent (chronic) pain being the most frequent cause of sick leave and work disability. Increasing work participation for people with persistent pain improves their health, quality of life, and well-being and reduces poverty; however, it is not cle...

Background Around one-third of workdays lost in Norway are due to musculoskeletal conditions, with persistent (chronic) pain being the most frequent cause of sick leave and work disability. Increasing work participation for people with persistent pain improves their health, quality of life, well-being, and reduces poverty; however, it is not clear...

Although interprofessional collaboration is emphasized as important in schools, little is known about how it should be organized. We analyzed the effects of an organizational model of interprofessional collaboration, the LOG model. The model aims to improve interprofessional collaboration by identifying and improving various meeting places for coll...

Denne artikkelen belyser metodologiske problemstillinger ved eksperimentelle studier på velferds- og utdanningsfeltet. Evalueringer med eksperimentelle design er stadig vanligere på samfunnsvitenskapelige områder, men de kan være utfordrende å gjennomføre. Intervensjonene involverer gjerne flere aktører. De har ulike nivåer av implementering og fle...

This cluster-randomised study investigated the effects of a Norwegian early warning system, the IKO model. IKO is a Norwegian acronym for identification, assessment, and follow-up, and the model aims to improve schools’ abilities to identify and support students who are at risk of dropping out during the school year. The study involved 7677 first-y...

This protocol is for a feasibility study and pilot trial of a multilingual support intervention. The intervention's aim is to improve language training for refugees in Norway by introducing multilingual support assistants using the refugees’ primary languages. The research question for this pilot study is whether a full-scale randomised controlled...

Samarbeid med profesjoner i og rundt skolen er en forutsetning for at lærere skal kunne gi elevene tilpasset opplæring, men det er uklart hvor tydelig denne sammenhengen er. I denne artikkelen undersøker vi læreres vurderinger av kvalitet i tverrprofesjonelt samarbeid og av deres forventninger om å mestre tilpasset opplæring. Videre undersøkes hvor...

This chapter is based on the results of a Norwegian adult family group conference (FGC) project and discusses how the project’s methodological approach contributed to a better understanding of FGCs. In the research project, the effects of the FGCs were evaluated using a randomized controlled design, where extensive qualitative data was included to...

Purpose: Evidence-based practice (EBP) has increasingly become a part of social work education, but there is a lack of knowledge about students’ attitudes toward it. This study evaluated Norwegian social work students’ attitudes toward research-supported treatments (RSTs). Method: Attitudes were measured with the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Sc...

Although a positive working alliance is important for creating changes for families and individuals, little is known about the various factors that improve the alliance between social workers and parents in vulnerable situations. The Norwegian Directorate of Labour and Welfare has developed a model for Holistic follow-up of Low-income Families (the...

Increased child poverty in Europe has urged the need for poverty alleviating measures , such as family intervention projects. In this project, family coordinators follow-up low-income families on multiple areas. The cluster-randomised evaluation compares effects of governmental and local family intervention projects on social work practices in Norw...

Increased demand for interprofessional collaboration within the educational field also increases the need for the development and evaluation of interventions to improve collaboration. In Norway, the LOG model was developed and implemented in compulsory schools to facilitate interprofessional collaboration by increasing arenas for more efficient use...

Final report from the HOLF research project

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...

Final report from the evaluation of the IKO model.

I kapitlet undersøker vi hvordan veiledere i NAV vurderer arbeidsrelasjonen til brukere, og hvordan brukere opplever arbeidsrelasjonen til veilederne. NAV-veilederen er bindeleddet mellom brukere og NAV. Brukerveiledningen i NAV skal være kunnskapsbasert og målrettet. Relasjonen mellom veileder og brukere er derfor et sentralt verktøy, i mage tilfe...

Using as an example a project where the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Directorate developed a comprehensive model for the follow-up of low-income families, this article demonstrates the process of developing a program theory for policy-initiated interventions. The data consist of interviews with program developers, political documents from early stag...

This is the protocol for a cluster-randomised study involving 35 Norwegian primary schools (5th–7th grades) participating in a three-year project. The aim is to implement and evaluate the LOG model, a model with the goal of improving inter-professional collaboration in schools. LOG is a Norwegian acronym for Leadership, Organization and Implementat...

Denne andre rapporten i IKO-prosjektet beskriver implementeringserfaringer og de første effektanalysene basert på forskjellige datakilder. Disse dataene gir oss et bilde om hvordan IKO-modellen har blitt implementert, hvilke erfaringer ansatte har gjort seg i forbindelse med IKO-modellen og hvilke forskjeller vi ser når vi sammenligner det frafalls...

Objective: This study reevaluates the effects of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of job search interventions on labor force participation. In the trial, various methods of job search interventions were included, of which about half were research-based JOBS (Job Opportunity and Basic Skills) interventions and the other half were practice-based,...

This is the protocol for a cluster-randomised study involving a total of 42 upper secondary schools in a three-year project. The population for the study comprises all first year teachers and students in 2016 in 42 upper secondary schools; it includes 7681 students and 2075 teachers. While 20 schools have been randomised to the experimental group,...

This paper presents a protocol for a cluster-randomised study that evaluates the effectiveness of a skill-training programme for social work professionals with the aim of improving the follow-up of low-income families within Norwegian labour and welfare services. The protocol describes the programme as well as the research design of the trial. Whil...

Using an example from a recent cluster-randomized controlled trial, we discuss the benefits of the methodological approach but also important aspects that need to be considered when implementing and evaluating complex interventions. The intervention case to be used is a skill training program for social workers, the Comprehensive, Methodological an...

The aim of this study is to analyze whether and to what extent welfare generosity moderates the risk of income poverty and material deprivation among disadvantaged groups, that is, people with ill health, low education and lack of employment. The data are based on the 2009 European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (cross-sectional)...

Using a cluster-randomised design, this study analyses the effects of a government-administered skill training programme for social workers in Norway. The training programme aims to improve social workers' professional competences by enhancing and systematising follow-up work directed towards longer-term unemployed clients in the following areas: e...

Recent developments within activation policies emphasise tailor-made and individualised services; however, little is known of what the effects of these initiatives are. The aim of this study is to analyse, in a cluster-randomised design, the long-term effects of an individualised follow-up model on welfare recipients’ self-sufficiency. The follow-u...

Objective Using a cluster-randomized design, this study evaluates whether a skill training program for social workers increases reemployment among welfare recipients. The program focuses on systematizing follow-up work within the areas of encounters with users, system-oriented efforts, and administrative work. Methods Data consist of baseline and...

Few studies estimate the longer-term effects of family group conferences (FGCs), as previous research has been mainly qualitative or has focused only on the shorter-term effects of FGCs. This study analyses, using a randomised controlled design, the longer-term effects of adult FGCs in terms of social support, mental health and re-employment. A tot...

Comparative studies have generally demonstrated high levels of social capital in the Scandinavian welfare states. It has also been shown that social capital is generally higher among more privileged groups of people than among less privileged groups. However, less is known about how the different types of social inequalities relate to various types...

Although the coordinator is essential in mobilizing and remobilizing the social network of individual participants during the family group conference (FGC) process, we lack knowledge on the coordinators’ meaning and their interaction with various FGC actors. The data in this study come from nine interviews with FGC coordinators conducted as part of...

I et nettverksråd blir familie og venner invitert til et møte for å diskutere løsninger og lage en handlingsplan for hvordan hovedperson og nettverk i fellesskap kan skape ønskede endringer i hovedpersonens livssitua- sjon. I denne artikkelen presenteres hovedfunnene fra et prosjekt hvor nettverksråd er blitt implementert i sosialtjenesten i Oslo o...

The aim of the article is to examine whether and to what degree the unequal distribution of social capital in the population explains the relationship between socioeconomic position and health in Norway. Theoretical insight and empirical evidence seem to suggest that social capital mediates the effect of socioeconomic position on health outcomes. H...

Previous findings have generally demonstrated the positive mental health benefits of social capital. However, the mental health benefits of social capital for social assistance recipients have not been fully demonstrated. This study analyses the mental health benefits of individual-level bonding and individual-level bridging social capital for 551...

Because of high unemployment rates among youth in Europe, comparative research has focused on identification of those risks and opportunities associated with the integration process from unemployment to work. The integration process of immigrant youth, however, received much less attention, despite their initially higher risk of unemployment than t...

In recent years, there has been a shift in labour market policies towards enforcing unemployed workers’ participation in labour market programmes by means of financial sanctions. Requirements of activation and financial sanctions have changed the nature of social work and generated a conflict between client needs and policy requirements. The aim of...

The aim was to examine the effects of group training techniques in job-search training on later reemployment and mental health. The participants were 278 unemployed workers in Finland in 71 job-search training groups. Five group-level dimensions of training were identified. The results of hierarchical linear modeling demonstrated that preparation f...

In their efforts to increase labour market integration, contemporary welfare states emphasize the importance of financial incentives, active job-searching and participation in labour market programmes. However, the effects of these policies have been minor and in some cases even inconsistent. The aim of this study was to examine whether and how fin...

This chapter analyses various occupational outcomes of labour-market measures among young unemployed people in Finland, Sweden, France, and Germany. It explains that these countries vary considerably in their reliance on active labour-market policy, Sweden having the longest experience in this respect. The chapter shows that participation in a sche...

Introduction In the great majority of the EU countries, the principal emphasis in social policy has been on tackling the risk of social exclusion after people have become unemployed (Gallie, 2002). Increasing youth unemployment levels have resulted in training and labour market schemes becoming significant policy instruments across Europe (Dietrich...

This chapter examines young women's experiences of unemployment in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Spain. It describes how different predictors and buffers affect mental health in different countries. It starts by comparing the labour market context of women and cross-country differences regarding welfare arrangements. It then presents a short overvie...

Introduction There is a vast body of knowledge regarding the interrelation between mental health and unemployment, which predominantly shows that mental health problems increase during states of unemployment. A high level of work commitment and frequent states of jobseeking increase the risk for mental health problems among the unemployed (Warr and...

Previous studies have shown that women generally adjust to unemployment better than men. This study shows that young women value work equally as highly as men, and have negative feelings when unemployed, which indicates the existence of a closed gender gap. However, children have a different influence on men’s and women’s unemployment experiences....

Endast avhandlingens sammandrag. Pappersexemplaret av hela avhandlingen finns för läsesalsbruk i Statsvetenskapliga biblioteket (Unionsgatan 35). Dessa avhandlingar fjärrutlånas endast som microfiche. Abstract only. The paper copy of the whole thesis is available for reading room use at the Library of Social Sciences (Unioninkatu 35) . Microfiche c...