Kristina Bakke Åkerblom

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences | HVL · Department of Welfare and Participation

People with lived experience of mental health challenges are extensively employed as peer workers within mental health and substance use services worldwide. Research shows that peer workers benefit individuals using such services and can have essential roles in developing recovery-oriented services. However, understanding how peer workers’ contribu...

People with lived experience of mental health or substance use challenges are increasingly employed as peer workers in mental health and substance use services. The authorities essentially initiate peer workers’ entry in Norway, described as a means of ensuring service user participation and bringing a service user perspective into service developm...

'Participation' is increasingly emphasized in Norwegian public discourse. Here, 'participation' is presented as something that happens and should increase within, together with and beyond the traditional areas of the welfare state. In this chapter, we examine such official representations and understandings of 'participation'. We examine the articu...

Pioneer managers discuss the entrance and development of the peer worker role in Norwegian mental health and substance use services. Seven managers promoted stories about peer workers making a difference in their workplaces and how they adjusted the services. Managers discussed how peer workers challenged the services and themselves as managers and...

Worldwide, there is an increasing interest in employing citizens with lived experience of mental health challenges. They enter mental health services as peer support workers (PSWs). Their objective is twofold – to ensure service users’ involvement in service production and bring a service user perspective to service development. PSWs’ engagement in...

Promoting and sustaining social participation are crucial for creating health systems that deliver health for all. Through a selection of country case studies from the WHO European Region, this policy brief showcases how social participation serves as a core sub-function of health system governance and directly contributes to achieving key health s...

This article offers a unique perspective on the profound implications of engaging individuals with first-hand experiences of mental health and substance use as peer workers (PWs). Through a qualitative approach, the study investigates their significant influence on mental health and substance use services as perceived by managers, health profession...

The thesis offers pertinent insights about effectively utilizing peer workers' roles and contributions. It can guide service organizations aiming to employ peer workers in collaborative roles, thus optimizing their skills and expertise to improve, develop, and innovate their services. This knowledge can further inspire other fields and services tha...

Social participation in health system governance can help develop effective and efficient health services and promote health system legitimacy and transparency. This article presents a framework for social participation that stresses the importance of diverse representation to ensure all relevant voices are heard. The framework is illustrated with...

Erfaringskonsulenter er en prioritert satsning i norske tjenester. Dette kapittelet introduserer boken "Erfaringskonsulenten, funksjoner, roller og involvering". I kapittelet reflekteres det rundt fremveksten av erfaringskonsulenter i norske helse og velferdstjenester. Erfaringskonsulenters funksjoner, roller og involvering støttes av norske myndig...

Background Citizens with experience and knowledge about what it is like to use mental health and substance use services are increasingly employed within similar services as peer workers. Peer workers are portrayed as achieving societal obligations and help ensure that the outputs from service provision are more effective. Even though peer workers h...

The primary objective of this book is to present, analyze and discuss forms of collective mobilization from theoretical, methodological, and practical perspectives set against recent societal developments. Our aim is to investigate how collective mobilization occurs and how it can be facilitated, particularly at local and regional levels, while tre...

Personer som har erfaring med psykisk helse- og/eller rus-utfordringer blir i økende grad ansatt i tjenestene som erfaringskonsulenter. Denne introduksjonen kan forstås som en sosial innovasjon hvor målsettingen er å styrke tjenestebrukernes perspektiver i tjenestene. Det er kjent at introduksjonen har medført utfordringer og dilemmaer i andre land...

Worldwide, there is a growing interest to employ people with lived experiences in health and social services. Particularly in mental health and addiction services, individuals with lived experience of mental health problems enter the workplace as peer support workers (PSW´s). Their aim in the services is to bring in the perspective of service users...

The introduction of peer support workers (PSW´s). How do peer support workers with substance abuse experiences encounter their work situation? A Norwegian report based on qualitative interviews with 42 PSW´s from three different Norwegian city areas.