The aim of this study was to investigate the illness perception and self-management among Thai women and Thai men with type 2 diabetes (T2D)and to investigate the psychometric properties of the translated instruments used. The study was conducted in a suburban province of Thailand, 220 women and men with type 2 diabetes participated in a cross-sectional descriptive study. The participants were selected using a multistage sampling method. Results showed that women and men with type 2 diabetes demonstrated very similar experiences regarding their illness perception and no differences in self-management. Women perceived more negative consequences of the disease and more fluctuation in the symptoms than men, whereas men felt more confident about the treatment effectiveness than women. Furthermore, the translated instruments used in this study showed acceptable validity and reliability. It is concluded that The Thai sociocultural context may influence people’s perceptions and affect the self-care activities of Thai individuals, both women and men, with type 2 diabetes, causing differences from those found in the Western environment.

The purpose of this study was to examine the life experiences of nineteen Thai women of low socioeconomic status who were living with type 2 diabetes. A qualitative research design was conducted, and the women were identified by the snowball technique. The study find that despite the vulnerable situations caused by diabetes and low socioeconomic status, the women remained calm, with a consciousness to continue their lives with the disease. The Buddhist views on life, specifically natural law, assisted them to consider life with diabetes as simply a natural course. Buddhism served as a spiritual refuge and helped the women to cope with their psychological burden from diabetes.

Illness perception and self-management might be of importance in proactive care for patients with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the influences of socioeconomic status on the illness perception and self-management of Thai people with diabetes.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive method was used to study 220 people with type 2 diabetes in a suburban area in Thailand. The participants were selected using a multistage sampling method. Data were collected through the structured interviews using the revised versions of the Diabetes Illness Perception scale and Diabetes Self-Management scale. Independent sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test was used for income and education subgroups comparisons as well as multiple logistic regression was analyzed the predictors of illness perception and self-management.

Results: The results indicated that socioeconomic status, defined by income and educational level, showed the effects on some aspects of illness perception and self-management strategies in a type 2 diabetes population. Educational level demonstrated more effects on many subscales of illness perception and self-management than on income and was also shown to be a predictor of self-management (OR 2.047, 95% CI 1.014-4.131, p-value 0.046). 

Conclusion: The study found that socioeconomic status had an impact on the illness perception and self-management of people with type 2 diabetes. Educational level demonstrated a significant influence on the perceptions and management of Thai people with diabetes, which was also true concerning income level, although to a lesser extent. Illuminating socioeconomic status in the context of religious beliefs may increase health care professionals’ understanding of patients’ experiences and management of their diabetes. This is especially important when designing appropriate interventions for patients of low education.

The objective of this study was to explore how Thai woman of low socioeconomic status handle their type 2 diabetes. The finding showed that becoming adeptr at handling diabetes required significant Changes in woman's behaviours and required taking advantagrs of influences from social environment.

Artikeln avhandlar metodologiska perspektiv rörande deltagarbaserad aktionsforskning och fallstudie som metod. Aktionsforskningen ses som interaktionen mellan undersökare och medverkande vilket btraktas som ett viktigt inslag i en förändringsprocess.

The article describes methodological issues in Action Research and Case Studies.

There are several regional developmental features in the region and higher education is considered as one of many engines of growth that may be conducive to better integration and that will tie together areas that are important for progress. The project assignment at hand is a trans-regional development initiative that has been made possible due to joined political and regional forces of the Öresund region. The stakeholders collaborating within the project were Malmö University, Metropolitan University College, the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Zealand, Skåne Regional Council, City of Copenhagen, City of Malmö, Swedish Public Employment Service, Employment Region Copenhagen & Zealand, the Basic Health Care College and Copenhagen Technical College. The European Regional Development Fund co-sponsors the project. The working title for the development project at Malmö University is the “Öresund Project”, and it was offered as a part of the Nursing Programmes both at Malmö University and Metropolitan University College in Copenhagen. An overview of the various learning environments and rendered experience from particular activities that have been carried out within the pending project is drawn up in this report. The time range of the project is September, 2011, to December, 2014, and it has been carried through by the assistance of representatives of the employment market, hospital wards, lecturers, administrators and students who have been involved in various ways to implement the work practically, or who have in other ways contributed with valuable ideas, views and standpoints.

Across the social work and social pedagogy educational programmes in Sweden, the nature and process of curriculum designs require engagement with multiple stakeholders within a highly complexcontext. A number of studies have identified diverse models of academic collaborations derived fromvarious theoretical positions and environmental influences. This article explores collaborative creativity embedded in Swedish national and international Erasmus networking. Research participantsconsisted of teaching staff, fieldworkers, experts and researchers.This study goes on to propose knowledge alliances as action models for capacity building in socialpedagogy and social work professional practice. It is concluded that sharing information and perspectives on, for example, contextual aspects and theoretical viewpoints in which scholars and practitioners operate, provides inspiration for capacity building in social pedagogical educational settings.This article has been prepared within the framework of the project ‘Social Professions for YouthEducation in the Context of European Solidarity’ (2019-1-PL 01-KA203-065091).

The key aspects to how the Swedish social insurance system is implemented are a high degree of universalism and the promotion of equality. The aim of this article is to explore certain issues of complexity in recent societal changes, in order to understand how to facilitate the provision of social welfare to disadvantaged migrant groups. The arguments presented in this article draw on contemporary research, current statistical resources and secondary sources in considering institutional aspects of social work and the provision of social pedagogy. The outlined contemporary issues concerning the migration situation in Sweden are reflected upon social segregation and social protection considered to be crucial to social pedagogy regimes. It is found that hidden social structures embedded in policy of e.g., multiculturalism may be counterproductive for the integration of new arrives. It is concluded that social work and social pedagogy practice need to go behind the hidden modes of explaining immigrant groups marginalisation and the occurred mechanisms of structural and institutional logics within and out of the social welfare system. New arrives might need special attention as they are likely to suffer from vulnerability formed by poverty, dependence of social support and poor social cohesion in the host country. Awareness of these issues will make social pedagogy practitioner able to create a focal points of performativity and facilitate treatment of immigrant groups across the social service system.

The essential principles of the Swedish health care structures are that the public sector is responsible for providing and financing health services for all citizens. Local health centers, which employ several categories of medical professionals, provide primary health and community care services. For patients requiring hospital treatment, medical services are available at county, regional and municipality levels. Since last decades the resources allocated to health care have been constantly reduced, a trend that is expected to continue along with the increased service costs. Initially, the discussion about medical services was restrained to structural matters. Examples of implemented changes are the closing of hospitals, separating of emergency care as well as caring responsibilities, supporting collaboration between and among various hospitals, and increasing cooperation between hospitals and other parts of the health care system. With the help of economic directives and mandatory referrals, patients are guided to primary and community based health care providers instead of the more expensive hospital care providers. This presentation introduces the students to the distinctive qualities of Swedish community care service organizations and the dilemmas and possibilities that follow.

A major challenge in contemporary welfare societies is the delivery of services affirming people’s expectations for their life standard, health and social care services. For decades, there has been a search to understand new ways of conceptualising social pedagogy as a field of practice, as a theory, and as a programme design and implementation. Despite the growing body of literature on social pedagogy, to date, little has been written on the subject of the unique complexities of social pedagogy knowledge expertise when bridging the supporting relationships between an individual and the social dimensions in his/her world. Based on research conducted in Northern Europe, particularly focusing on Denmark and Sweden, the aim of this special issue of International Journal of Papers of Social Pedagogy (PSP) on Contemporary Issues in Social Pedagogy in Northern Europe is to convey the central importance of social pedagogy for the study of vitality and diversity behind social pedagogy thought. The presented research projects in this special issue are, in their foundation, associated with a constructivist approach that views the body of knowledge development as an active and cooperative process of knowledge construction and its application in social pedagogy discipline. This article intends to provide a general perspective concerning the presence of various knowledge forms according to the search for, and implementation of, thinking and acting in a social pedagogy inspired way, and working under various conditions.

In the last few decades, the traditional concept of family has weakened while the development of numerous new constellations has gained a lot of attention. Convention sees family as a nuclear social formation, where heterosexual parents raise their children well. This view attests to the potential for healthy functioning in a variety of family arrangements, and to the stability of these social environments. In the turmoil of our rapidly changing world, the value of system orientation is changing and questions are being raised over what is an ordinary landscape of family life, its constellations and optimal functioning. This article raises family-relevant issues and discusses social pedagogy in family social work, particularly related to social care in Sweden intended for socially vulnerable populations such as the elderly, members of minority ethnic groups, and persons with disabilities suffering from discrimination and social exclusion. It is concluded that – in these populations – the family constellation, be it traditional or modern, is not really the issue, since public social care service constructions have mostly replaced traditional caring relations within families with leveling institutional structures. The social pedagogy in family social work professional practice is conducted using socio-ecological approaches for assessment, treatment and service delivery, for the improvement of individual wellbeing referred to as the individual, social and sociopolitical life-world context.

This study explores some of the developments and challenges in participatory inquiry involving lay experts such as people with intellectual disabilities, their advocates and service staff in sheltered occupational sites. The core outcomes in this study are the collaboration between all involved actors identifying and implementing the service improvements needed. It was concluded that an inclusive joint research methodology may be a key and fundament for the development of supporting and empowering social care practice for this said population.

Currently, as a part of transcultural education, a growing amount of alternative cross-border educational programs are offered. Critics have suggested that practices focus less on contemporary gender issues in international educations than on issues of language and culture. Globally, employees in health and social care professions are predominantly female, which thus attracts reflective learning on issues connected to gender. This article illuminates an example where Swedish and Danish nursing students participating in an exchange program in Öresund Region have shown gender responsiveness and preconceptions during their clinical practice abroad. Further, this article proposes some ways forward to a more pedagogical approach to increase vocational awareness of gender issues.

Detta kapitel syftar till att ge läsaren insyn i hur samarbetsdimensioner i omsorgsarbete återspeglas inom vård- och handikappomsorgen. Genom att ta del av resultatet av en empirisk studie belyses styrkor och utmaningar relaterade till samarbete och samverkan kring integrerad hälsovård och omsorg i gruppbostaden.

Most academics, students and administrators consider internationalization as a priority area for global growth and a movement forward in management of the modern higher education. Over the past few years there has been a significant rise of integration processes between the Swedish region of Scania and the Danish region of Sjaelland. This study has its starting point in such a particular ongoing integration process as well as in the quest for sustainable development and increased mobility in the Oresund Region. Students and academic staff from Malmo University and Metropolitan University College, Copenhagen participated in a collaborative cross-border scholarship program supporting mobility and labor market compatibility for nursing students in the Oresund Region. The program consisted of a one-day scholarship arrangement that was developed in academic partnership and encouraged by local health care institutions and labour market authorities in Skåne and Region Sjaelland. The project was funded by the European Union Regional funding, Interreg IVA.

The coronavirus pandemic affects the whole world. This situation is a very challenging time forall humanity and social services no less. The present article explores how care and differentforms of support can or should be offered to young people in the post-COVID-19 youth work.The objective of this paper is to reflect on how social work practitioners can adapt their dailyclinical practice by focusing their interventions on the social pedagogical dimensions of socialwork. The article presents a generalised discussion of practice logics in social work and socialpedagogy. Because of the meanings derived from knowledge on the importance of relationshipsbetween the helper and the help receiver, social practices in the post-COVID-19 world need toconsider social pedagogical expertise in social work practice and the development of preventiveassistance for young populations. This effort has been prepared as a part of the project “SocialProfessionals for Youth Education in the context of European Solidarity”.

Global economic, cultural and ideological process in society affect social work and the Welfare regimes in developed countries. The article identifies four preventive bases for operating schemes in social pedagogy within social work practice. They are empowering strategies, an appreciatopn of client´s cultural and ethnic preferences, responsive communication and promoting collaboration, along with cultivating alliances with clients and significant actors around the client.

This report presents the results from a participatory development project that was carried out at the nursing program at Malmö University, Faculty of Health and Society. The project was part of a training-course in leadership and management – an Individual Coaching in Group (ICG) - for leaders/prefects at Malmö University College, which is presented in detail in the introductory part of the report. Furthermore, a subject theory and theoretical elements that are significant for this type of leadership/management in an academic environment is presented as an underlying compass. The overall object of the project was to identify elements pertaining to the development and work of the internationalization process of the nursing program in collaboration with students and colleagues to pursue an educational environment with the level of quality and standards that have been stipulated in the Bologna process (Ds 2004). The operating objective was to develop a program presentation, which would suite an international teaching auditorium within the nursing education. The method used was a project organization that consisted of work teams and various meeting flora. Deming's model (1993) for participatory development work was used to structure the implementation of project processes and the work of making a film about the nursing education. The forming of the project, its structure and processes are rendered in the part of the report where the results are presented. One outcome was a screen adaptation of the nursing education. The film showed that the didactic models of the nursing education contain not only traditional features of the trade but more creative and novel teaching models as well. The project work as such has also visualized how good and prolific collaboration between representa¬tives from the trade, i.e. clinical organizations and prospective employers, and the nursing education, i.e. students and lecturers at Malmö University can be. In conclusion, the project work method of filming the educational work at the nursing program proved encouraging to the people involved to further fuel their discussions and reflections on aims and objectives as well as content of the nursing education per se. An active and prolific participation in the origination and shaping of the educational work by students, the student union, lecturers, instructors/supervisors from the clinics and developers of health care and nursing has lead to their reflecting critically on everyday educational work as much as it has evoked pride in their nursing education. The most successful element of the project management was the nature of its structure, supportive conduct of the involvement of the colleagues as well as its creativity and skills. The project was successful in its amalgamating settings in which the nursing education may be fostered and brought up to date in an academic environment. To purposefully promote a similar integration in the future would provide a powerful investment in terms of improved quality of the nursing education as well as render a positive work environment in which the appointed goals may be achieved. The method of using a project orientated organization is favorable to this direction and will keep the nursing education on track.

The present study follows the PAR line of research conducted in daily activities centres for people with developmental and learning disabilities. The general aim of the inquiry is to identify, understand and interpret the sense that socio-ecological context and social pedagogy concerns of integration into mainstream community form complex and fluid collaborative structure, resulting in both opportunities and constrains on learning.

There is only 20 minutes’ drive between Malmö in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark and yet the nursing students from both cities were attending exchange programmes in Australia, Thailand and all over the world, rather than crossing the bridge over the Öresund strait. Since 2012, a mutual programme between the two cities helped students to experience each other’s health systems and to get to know a similar, but still quite different caring culture. This article describes a pilot study in this kind of internationalisation of higher education.

A present-day universitys faces the demands of growing globalization. In consequence the graduating and post-graduating educations are forming more mobile and globalised students exchange programmes. The Malmö University, Department of Nursing offers students and teachers a continuous exchange programme within international exchange networks. The programmes contain lectures, seminars, debates and social events focusing on improvements of patient care. However, after many years of this exchange programmes there is still lack of knowledge about its efficiency and its benefits to the students’ professional role development. Through a qualitative methodology, the study explores how students´ experience of international exchange as a professional learning environment influence their nursing skills. The preliminary results show that students during their exchange programmes perceived a broader view of nursing and the nature of care. The students reported some memorable aspects during their international exchange period that facilitated them widen insights to nursing in various social contexts and health care systems. Some of these experiences were reported as challenging their attitudes and influential on their selection of further career direction.

A substantial number of young people are facing severe difficulties due to wider social, political and economic change. Using a review of the litterature and a descriptive research approach this paper explores issueas of youth education, training, employment and social capital on the Swedish welfare landscape, as important factors in the education of social professions, to understand and meet the needs of young vulnerable populations.

This paper summarise the course conducted at bachellor nursing education. The course module was developed as a part of a deeper collaboration within the “Preferred Partners Project”, and was aimed at international pedagogical issues in nursing education. As both Swedish and foreign students attended this educational program conducted at Malmö University the project was a part of the Malmö University concept related to Internationalisation at home (IaH).

The aim of this project was to develop new ways of administrating creative innovativeness being initiated into theories of social entrepreneurship and by creating new space/arenas, which have the capacity to elaborate and combine something already existing but in a new (innovative) fashion. The objective of the current developmental work was to attain a profounder knowledge of the potentials of establishing health care and nursing care education that are suited for, and accommodated to, the Swedish and Danish employment market alike.

För att hantera komplexiteten i tjänsteåtaganden har det inom offentliga organisationer utvecklats en specialisering och medföljande differentiering av verksamheter. Samarbete betraktas som en eventuell problemlösning på dilleman som varje enskild organisation inte klarar av var för sig. i kapitlet konstateras att samarbete är ett komplicerat fenomen bestående av dynamiska processer och relationsmönster

During the project work a course Nurse Responsibility for Management of Patient Cantered Care in the Region of Öresund, 15 ECTS outline was formed for which a didactic form of study was developed, which then was offered to Swedish and Danish nursing students in the fall semester of 2012 and 2013.

The overall objective of the Project was to promote and foster the kind of capacity building that would support cross border work and mobility as well as integration of the Öresund region.

In increasingly globalised societies higher education meet challenge to integrate the international and intercultural dimensions into their services, strategic plans, education programmes and research. There were few discussions around the concept of “Internationalization at home” (IaH) during the last years in the academic community. This article generally outlines a process of IaH in higher education, by giving examples from the bachelor programmes of Social Work and Nursing Education at Malmö University, Sweden. The internationalisation of the curriculum at home was shown to have a much greater impact than individual mobility alone. The authors of the article present their own analysis about possibilities to understand the culture, profession in the process of IaH improving professional and intercultural competences. Modern society poses a challenge for professionals – to think globally and to act locally.

Today’s welfare system faces a variety of social challenges in terms of social vulnerability, inequality and the presence of segregated and parallel societies. Within this complexity, the professional practitioner meets opportunities for action, institutional frameworks, and the role of higher education as a future social innovator. The objective of this paper is to suggest an inquiry concerning how social work students form their conception on the complexity of every-day social work practice and professional expertise. The focus is to investigate social work students’ process and formation of knowledge regarding challenge based learning (CBL). Methodologically the examination will be based on multi-method data triangulation design. In conclusion this paper suggests the use of socio-ecological and social learning theory to develop more dynamic teaching models to enhance the understanding of the challenging pathways linking social structures in development of students’ professional self.

This study was aimed to create a practical supervision model, in which three levels of academic work are weaved together: undergraduate studies, PhD stidies and research programs. The research methods used in development of the supervision model include literature studies, seminars connected to the subject and abductive reasoning. This work resulted in development of a multipart model called TRIAD SUPERVISION. This TRIAD model of supervising is meant to be used at bachelor-level in nursing education where the supervision may become a didactically conducted process of learning. It is concluded that the TRIAD way of crating learning environment may be a smooth introduction to empiric concepts of students.

Offentliga institutioner och verksamheter består av en mängd aktörer vilka skall kunna samarbeta för att gemensamt lösa uppgifter och uppkomna problem. I kapitlet belyses synvinklar och utvecklingstendenser inom den offentliga sektorns tjänster relevanta för samarbetet

Kapitlet utgår utifrån begreppen hälsa, välbefinnande och välfärd, främst inom ramarna för den offentliga sektors verksamhetsområden. Det konstateras att som en effekt på det relativa perspektivet på hälsa och välfärd fordras ett omfattande samarbete både inom och mellan olika organisatoriska tjänstesystem.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the Irena Daily Activity (IDA) assessment which measures occupational performance in adults with developmental disabilities. The instrument's content validity was investigated by elucidating its general appropriateness, its clinical applicability and the feasibility of the measurement procedure. Data were collected from a multidisciplinary panel of clinical experts working in day activity centres. Each expert independently judged and reviewed the IDA instrument's content validity. The results show that the content validity index (CVI) values ranged from 0.8 to 1.0 for the instrument's general appropriateness and clinical applicability, and from 0.7 to 1.0 with respect to the significance of the IDA domains' clinical applicability. The applicability of the IDA items were judged as satisfactory (CVI ≥ 80) with respect to their importance for planning treatment and intervention. The feasibility of the measurement procedure was estimated as satisfactory in relation to the items (CVI ≥ 0.70) and satisfactory with respect to the time needed and material used, with CVI values ranging from 0.8 to 1.0. The results of this study support the use of the IDA as a feasible and time-efficient assessment that provides insights regarding the occupational performance of adults with developmental disabilities. A limitation of this study was that it could not illuminate all-important aspects of validity. In conclusion, the IDA has the potential to become a reliable and valid clinical assessment, but additional research on psychometric properties is still needed. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd.  

This study addresses caring staff experiences of hindrances and help in the support of daily occupations among people with developmental disabilities. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions about the staff perceptions of their work experiences. The respondents (n = 81), corresponding to 94.1% of all care staff employed in a geographically defined care area in southern Sweden, worked in various day activity units supporting the daily occupations of their clients. A constant comparative method of data analysis was used. Staff expressions were classified in two main categories of caring dynamics: an operational level and a managerial level. Four areas were identified at the operational level: encountering realities of practice, attitudes to the clients and work demand, using the potential of knowledge and strategies and applying helping actions to the client. The managerial level included two areas, generalized work strategy and individualized work strategy. It is suggested that to develop the quality of interventions for supporting daily activities among persons with developmental disabilities, efforts should be made to identify caring dynamics as experienced by the caring staff.