Active and meaningful everyday life

What needs to be done to strengthen social care in municipal elderly care? What is needed to ensure that elderly service recipients have an active and meaningful everyday life?

Prosjektet "Aktiv og meningsfylt hverdag: Mot en modell for ivaretakelse av sosiale omsorgsbehov i norske kommuner" er et samarbeid mellom Steigen kommune, Deatnu/Tana kommune og Nordlandsforskning hvor formålet er å tilrettelegge for en aktiv og meningsfylt hverdag for kommunenes hjemmeboende eldre. I tråd med anbefalingene i rapporten Hvordan ivaretas den sosiale omsorgen? har Steigen og Deatnu/Tana iverksatt et innovativt arbeid i helse- og omsorgssektoren hvor formålet er å tilrettelegge for en aktiv og meningsfylt hverdag for kommunenes hjemmeboende eldre. Nordlandsforskning skal bistå med kunnskapsutveksling og læring underveis i prosessen, samt dokumentasjon og formidling av erfaringer og gode løsninger. På denne måten skal prosjektet bidra til en av hovedmålsetningene i stortingsmeldingen «Leve hele livet. En kvalitetsreform for eldre», hvor det slås fast at aktivitet og fellesskap er to av fem sentrale områder hvor dagens tilbud til eldre ofte svikter, men hvor det fremover skal gjøres en koordinert innsats.

The project builds on experiences and collaboration from the project "Ageing at home" which was carried out between 2016-2019. Read more about the results from this project here.

The project is funded by the Regional Research Fund North (RFF North)

Steigen's development project

The project "Social care in home care" in Steigen municipality was carried out between 2018 and 2020. The project's objectives were to promote safety and well-being and prevent social problems by facilitating an active and meaningful life in community with others. The project was funded by a competence and innovation grant from the County Governor of Nordland. Occupational therapist Ann Rita Vestvatn led the project. The project was aimed at the municipality's home care service, and four specific measures were systematically worked on: 1. Strengthening the primary contact function with the aim of strengthening social care, 2. professional development among home helpers with a focus on social care work and professional responsibility and belonging in home care, 3. mapping, coordination and dissemination of information - to home residents and residents of the nursing home - coordinating and disseminating information about social activities and arenas in Steigen and 4. establishing a team for social care with the purpose of bringing together key people in the care service and volunteers who, with their different perspectives and competencies, can contribute to strengthening the work with social care. In the report " Social care in home care ", Ann Rita Vestvatn (2020) provides a thorough description of the project's objectives, what was done and what was achieved, what challenges were encountered in the project work and recommendations for the way forward after the project has ended.

Tana/Deatnus development project

The project "Interdisciplinary activity measures to combat loneliness and passivity in Deatnu/Tana" was carried out in 2019-2021, and the project's goal was to promote safety, well-being and prevent social problems, especially by ensuring that seniors living alone have an active and meaningful life in community with others across generations and villages. The project was funded by the Directorate of Health under the grant scheme "Activity measures to combat loneliness and passivity". Mariann Lindi was the project manager. The main activity in this project has been to establish village cafes in the various villages in Tana. The cafes have been aimed at elderly people living at home and other groups who needed an activity offer during the day. Balance training under the auspices of the health and wellness center and cooking were important activities that formed the basis for this social meeting place. The implementation of the project was of course strongly influenced by the corona situation in 2020 and 2021. On March 11, the village cafes closed, as did almost all activity throughout the country. However, for longer periods in 2020 and 2021, the village cafes reopened. An important step to make this possible was that the events were largely carried out outdoors and in accordance with current infection control procedures. Outdoor events proved to be not only a good move to offer social care in an extraordinary situation, but also highlighted how meaningful and health-promoting outdoor activities are. Other project activities have been to establish a multidisciplinary team to coordinate the work. There was also a goal to offer training in social care for different groups of employees.