Secondary school students’ perspectives on supports for overcoming school attendance problems: a qualitative case study in Germany

2024. Chiara Enderle (et al.). Frontiers in Education 9

Article

Introduction: School attendance problems (SAPs) affect both the education and development of young learners. There is a need to better understand what supports are needed to overcome and prevent SAPs from students’ perspectives. The aim of the current study is to explore students’ perspectives on what challenges they faced, and what they perceived as helpful in overcoming attendance challenges on their pathways towards completing their education.

Method: We conducted interviews with students (n = 9) in a local comprehensive school (Stadtteilschule) in the city-state Hamburg in Germany. Students were in their final year before obtaining a certificate that qualifies them for possible admission to post-secondary education. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: Findings show that students experienced complex challenges to school attendance that were associated with emotional distress, negative school experiences, and reduced well-being. Our findings point to common protective mechanisms in students’ perceptions of what helped them overcome SAPs. The key drivers of school attendance are located within students and their social contexts, including personal resilience, supportive relationships at school, and the social environment.

Discussion: Based on students’ views, we present a model that illustrates the interconnectedness of perceived challenges and supports in the function of risk and protective factors moving across ecological systems in the development of SAPs. We highlight how these areas can guide prevention and intervention to support students in successfully completing their education and transitioning into multiple post-secondary pathways.

Which students skip school? A comparative study of sociodemographic factors and student absenteeism using PISA data

2024. Ulf Fredriksson (et al.). PLOS ONE 19 (5), e0300537-e0300537

Article

Sociala perspektiv på skolans arbete med åtgärdsprogram och särskilt stöd

2024. Joakim Isaksson. Skolsocialt arbete: Skolan som plats för och del i det sociala arbetet, 177-188

Chapter

Föreläsaren: Vad är det viktigaste man som lärare bör tänka på när man skriver åtgärdsprogram för elever i behov av särskilt stöd?

Auditoriet (i gemensam kör): Att uppmärksamma elevens svårigheter på såväl individ- som grupp- och organisationsnivå!

Föreläsaren: Bra! Men varför gör ni inte det då?

Auditoriet: (Tystnad)

Ovanstående situation uppstod under en föreläsning om åtgärdsprogram och särskilt stöd som jag höll på en konferens för lärare och specialpedagoger. Sedan dess har jag fortsatt att upprepa den provokativa frågan i föreläsningar som jag hållit i olika sammanhang angående åtgärdsprogram och stödinsatser för elever i behov av särskilt stöd i skolan. Kanske undrar du som läsare varför jag envisas med att medvetet provocera på detta sätt. Syftet med detta kapitel är att diskutera just detta genom att problematisera arbetet med åtgärdsprogram för elever i behov av särskilt stöd och lyfta fram betydelsen av perspektiv och kritisk analys i detta arbete. Kapitlet är uppdelat i två delar, där den första delen problematiserar olika steg i processen att upprätta åtgärdsprogram, medan den andra delen visar, genom konkreta exempel, betydelsen av miljö och sammanhang i åtgärdsprogrammens skrivningar för att ge en rättvisande bild av eleven.

Perceptions of life and experiences of health care support among individuals one year after head and neck cancer treatment - An interview study

2023. Brith Granström (et al.). European Journal of Oncology Nursing 66

Article

Purpose: To examine how individuals treated for head and neck cancer perceive life one year after the end of treatment and how they experience supportive efforts from health care.

Methods: A semi-structured intervies study of 21 patients was performed one year after the end of treatment. The patients gave their views concerning physical, psychological, and return-to-work issues, and their experiences concerning rehabilitative efforts from health care and particularly the contact nurse were captured. A thematic analysis was conducted.

Results: One year after treatment the patients were still suffering from side effects and from fear of recurrence, but they strived to live as they did before the cancer diagnosis, such as having returned to work and resuming leisure activities. Moreover, the rehabilitative efforts from health care had ended. Having access to a contact nurse, also known as a clinical nurse specialist, was positive, however, the participants lacked regular long-term follow-ups with the contact nurse regarding rehabilitation needs. Improvement possibilities were seen in clarifying the role of the contact nurse and that the contact nurse should show engagement and make the initial contact with the patients.

Conclusion: Desptite the sequelae from treatment, the patients strived to live as before their diagnosis. By regular, engaged, and long-term follow-ups by the contact nurse, remaining needs may be uncovered, and appropiate individualized support and rehabilitation can be offered.

School absenteeism among students in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom:: A comparative study using PISA data

2023. Ulf Fredriksson (et al.). Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE) 7 (1)

Article

School absenteeism is a challenge in many countries. Still, there are few comparisons between countries, which is partly due to a lack of shared definitions of concepts. This article makes use of PISA data to compare self-reported student absenteeism in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (UK). Three data sets are used, from 2012, 2015, and 2018. The self-reported absenteeism, which is referred to as truancy in the PISA studies, was measured as having skipped a whole school day at least once in the two full weeks before students completed the PISA student questionnaire.

The results show great variation between the studied countries, from 24.4% in the UK in 2015 to 1.5% in Japan in 2012. The percentage of students who reported having skipped school is much higher in the UK than in the other three countries. The differences between the countries concerning the percentage of students reporting having been absent from school are significant for all years, except between Sweden and Germany in 2015. Germany and the UK have a similar pattern in development, with the highest percentages in 2015, while Sweden and Japan have small (albeit not significant) increases from 2012 to 2018. The UK is the only country where the changes between 2012 and 2015 as well as between 2015 and 2018 were significant.

It is not possible to see any obvious patterns between the countries that might be linked to differences related to their welfare regimes, education systems, or values. To find such patterns, it may be necessary either to include more countries in a study or to conduct more in-depth studies on each country.

Perspektiv på hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorns mångfacetterade arbete

2022. .

Book (ed)

Införandet av legitimationen för hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorn har ytterligare aktualiserat behovet av kunskapsutveckling om socialt arbete i hälso- och sjukvård. Kunskap och utbildning är ett viktigt inslag i socionomers individuella professionalisering.

Perspektiv på hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorns mångfacetterade arbete ger en aktuell bild av arbetets innehåll och karaktär och en fördjupad teoretisk ram för det sociala arbetet i hälso- och sjukvård som vidgar förståelsen för yrkets utmaningar och för hur dessa kan hanteras. Kuratorn befinner sig många gånger i en skärningspunkt mellan olika intressen och röster. I boken beskrivs och förespråkas en bred kunskapsbas som spänner över institutionella, organisatoriska, juridiska, kulturella och relationella aspekter av det sociala arbetet i hälso- och sjukvård. Vidare beskrivs det komplexa sambandet mellan hälsa/ohälsa och det sociala sammanhanget. Boken är därför ett stöd till hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorn i att inhämta kunskap som stärker det professionella självförtroendet och förmågan att hantera arbetets utmaningar.

Boken vänder sig huvudsakligen till studenter på avancerad nivå som läser den legitimationsgrundande hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorsutbildningen samt yrkesverksamma hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorer, men kan med fördel också användas inom socionomprogrammet och professionsutbildningar inom vård och omsorg.

Perspektiv på relationen patient-sjukvård

2022. Sara Lilliehorn, Joakim Isaksson, Helena Hansson. Perspektiv på hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorns mångfacetterade arbete, 21-36

Chapter

I kapitlet diskuteras kunskapsutvecklingen kring hälsa och ohälsa, individens ökade autonomi i förhållande till staten samt förändringar i organisation och styrning av offentlig verksamhet - skeenden som som vi menar är värdefulla att ha förståelse för när man navigerar som kurator inom hälso- och sjukvården i dag. Dessa förändringar påverkar förutsättningarna för mötet och relationen mellan patienten och sjukvården (inklusive kuratorn) och utvecklingen står ibland i konflikt med det relationsarbete som utgör delar av kuratorns grundfärdigheter och grunduppdrag.

Kuratorn inom cancersjukvården

2022. Joakim Isaksson, Sara Lilliehorn. Perspektiv på hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorns mångfacetterade arbete, 171-191

Chapter

Detta kapitel tar sin utgångspunkt i ett flertal studier om kuratorn inom svensk cancersjukvård som författarna har genomfört de senaste åren. I kapitlet presenteras en syntes av resultatet från dessa studier och syftet är att visa på vad kuratorer möter och ägnar sig åt i sitt kliniska arbete med patienter och anhöriga, men även hur de upplever sin roll och funktion, sin arbetssituation samt det "goda" respektive "svåra" med arbetet. I den avslutande delen av kapitlet diskuteras och lyfts sedan några särskilt viktiga aspekter av resultaten i relation till kuratorns arbete inom cancersjukvården.

Epilog

2022. Joakim Isaksson, Sara Lilliehorn, Helena Hansson. Perspektiv på hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorns mångfacetterade arbete, 239-241

Chapter

I denna epilog summerar vi en del av de utmaningar som hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorn ställs inför i sitt arbete, men vi blickar även framåt och uppmuntrar till tankar kring hur såväl forskning om kuratorn som kuratorns professionella roll kan utvecklas samt hur den legitimationsgrundande utbildningen kan erbjuda goda möjligheter till detta.

Two sides of the same coin – Oncology social workers' experiences of their working life and its pros and cons

2021. Sara Lilliehorn, Joakim Isaksson, Pär Salander. Nordic Social Work Research

Article

From the litterature we learn that social workers in health care are exposed to different stressors connected to the risk for the development of burnout or traumatization. However, there is a lack of studies that focuses on the social workers' own narratives on the burdensome, but also the rewarding aspects, of social work in health care. This study focuses on social work in oncology. Thematically structured qualitative interviews were conducted in a narrative form with 20 oncology social workers, half of whom were less experienced and half of whom were more experienced and with additional training in psychotherapy. The interviews focused on 'pros and cons of practicing social work' and the results were categorized by means of the similarities-differences technique. The burdensome cons concerned 'Organizational and professional barriers' and 'Demanding cases', with the latter divided into 'Impasse because of hopelessness' and 'Impasse because of helpnessness'. The rewarding pros categories all concerned meaningfulness including 'Organizational meaningfulness', 'Meaningfulness from giving', 'Meaningfulness from receiving', and 'Meaningfulness from personal development'. Our findings indicate that the burdensome and rewarding aspects are two sides of the same coin. They are interconnected in the sense that the strain and challenge of being in situations of psychological despair also imply emotional satisfaction due to an experience of meaningfulness.

Riktad kvalitativ innehållsanalys

2021. Joakim Isaksson. Kvalitativa metoder helt enkelt!, 283-302

Chapter

What does an oncology social worker deal with in patient consultations – An empirical study

2019. Sara Lilliehorn, Joakim Isaksson, Pär Salander. Social work in health care 58 (5), 494-508

Article

The oncology social worker is a core profession in the psychosocial care on cancer patients, and has been scrutinised according to its role, function, and delivery of care, primarily from an Anglo-Saxon perspective. There is, however, a lack of studies outside this context, and empirical studies based on individual data. This study is a contribution by exploring the variability in clinical practice from a Swedish perspective. It is based on documentation from one oncology social worker's (OSW's) patient contacts over the course of one year. The essence of the majority of contacts was counseling and the patients displayed a wide variety of motives for seeing an OSW. The function of the OSW is thus multifaceted, and the findings suggest that the OSW, in addition to guiding patients in social legislation issues, also should be prepared to act as an anchor in an acute crisis, contain despair in different phases of the trajectory, and facilitate the 'carrying on as before' or finding a 'new normal'. The paper discusses the importance of the OSW being acquainted with different counseling/psychotherapy perspectives in the illness context, but primarily the importance of having the ability to establish a 'working alliance' with their patients.

Next of kin's motives for psychosocial consultation – Oncology social worker's perceptions of 54 next of kin cases

2018. Joakim Isaksson, Sara Lilliehorn, Pär Salander. Psycho-Oncology

Article

Objective: Although oncology social workers (OSWs) have emerged as a core profession in the provision of psychosocial services, there is a lack of empirical studies that describe their daily clinical work with next of kin (NOK). The overall aim of this study was to explore NOK's motives for consulting an OSW. This can provide us with insights into what types of skills OSWs need to have in order to fulfil their duties.

Methods: From a nationwide survey, we used data from 54 NOK cases that Swedish OSWs met face to face.

Results: About half of the motives concerned help in dealing with personal grief connected to the patients' cancer and distressing symptoms, while the other half concerned needs for help in dealing with the position of being the NOK, relationship conflicts, and assistance with socio-economic issues.

Conclusions: The motives show that NOK does not just ask for help to come to terms with distress related to the patients' situation. Based on the diversity of motives, we suggest that OSWs (at least in Sweden) need a broad education in counselling psychology. Furthermore, health care personnel need to be attentive to the NOK's own voice and not reduce it to the voice of the patient and the patient's needs in referrals.

Kuratorsfunktionen i svensk cancersjukvård - en nationell genomlysning

2018. Pär Salander, Joakim Isaksson, Sara Lilliehorn. Omsorg (3), 62-65

Article

Socialarbetaren (kuratorn) är den profession som i svensk cancersjukvård specifikt står för det psykosociala perspektivet. Föreliggande studie analyserar kuratorns verksamhet med utgångspunkt i patienters motiv till att söka upp kurator. Utfallet ger vid handen att motiven inte i första hand är socioekonomiska eller juridiska, utan i stället psykologiska, och förtrogenhet med det councelling-orienterade samtalet är därför efterfrågat och centralt. Detta bör beaktas när man planerar för legitimation av kuratorer i hälso- och sjukvård.

Cancer patients' motives for psychosocial consultation - Oncology social workers' perceptions of 226 patient cases

2018. Joakim Isaksson, Sara Lilliehorn, Pär Salander. Psycho-Oncology 27 (4), 1180-1184

Article

Objective: Although oncology social workers (OSWs) have emerged as a core profession in the provision of psychosocial services, there is a lack of empirical studies that describe their daily clinical work with patients. The overall aim of this study was to explore cancer patients' motives for consulting an OSW.

Methods: From a nationwide survey, we used data from 226 patient cases that OSWs met face to face. The OSWs were asked to describe how the case was referred to them, the patient's characteristics, and what they perceived as the patient's motives for contacting them as well as additional motives that came up during the consultations.

Results: Patients have different motives for consulting an OSW, and these motives change over the course of consultations; while feelings associated with being diagnosed with cancer were often the initial motive, questions associated with moving on in life and dealing with relationships and the overall life situation were added over time.

Conclusions: The results show that Swedish OSWs' function is multifaceted and that the initial motives among patients rarely predict the content in consultations over time. Based on the diversity of motives, it seems obvious that OSWs (at least in Sweden) need a broad education in the psychology of counselling. It also seems obvious that even if patients initially were referred by health care staff to the OSW due to psychological reactions to being ill, staff should also be attentive to the fact that relational and socio-economic/juridical issues are of great concern for the patients.

Joakim IsakssonSenior lecturer, associate professor

Research projects

Publications

Secondary school students’ perspectives on supports for overcoming school attendance problems: a qualitative case study in Germany

Which students skip school? A comparative study of sociodemographic factors and student absenteeism using PISA data

Sociala perspektiv på skolans arbete med åtgärdsprogram och särskilt stöd

Perceptions of life and experiences of health care support among individuals one year after head and neck cancer treatment - An interview study

School absenteeism among students in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United Kingdom:: A comparative study using PISA data

Perspektiv på hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorns mångfacetterade arbete

Perspektiv på relationen patient-sjukvård

Kuratorn inom cancersjukvården

Epilog

Two sides of the same coin – Oncology social workers' experiences of their working life and its pros and cons

Riktad kvalitativ innehållsanalys

What does an oncology social worker deal with in patient consultations – An empirical study

Next of kin's motives for psychosocial consultation – Oncology social worker's perceptions of 54 next of kin cases

Kuratorsfunktionen i svensk cancersjukvård - en nationell genomlysning

Cancer patients' motives for psychosocial consultation - Oncology social workers' perceptions of 226 patient cases