| dc.description.abstract | This study is based on the project "Prosjekt Felles utvikling," in Vest-Agder. This
project was meant to improve the expertise of professionals in the health services and
the schools in the youths’ communities, and thus contribute to the improvement of
mental health. Support for young people with difficulties in various areas would be
given by means of network meetings where one pursued dialogue through "open
conversations." The purpose of this study was to collect experiences from youths who
had received this method in Flekkefjord, and thereby evaluate and contribute to
adjustments of the method. The study is based on qualitative interviews with six youths
who received the method in the period 2004 to 2008. When we managed to achieve a
dialogue with the youths and their private and professional network, we were able to
provide help that the youths in the study liked and benefited from. My assessment is
that we were successful in two cases, partly successful in two other cases, and did not
succeed in the two last ones. The study supports previous findings which show that the
method, insofar as one achieves a dialogue, can contribute to helping the youths. "Open
dialogue" in social networks is a demanding method, in the sense that it requires
personal conviction, in addition to considerable expertise and practical facilitation. It is
also a method that gives hope of real help, partly because it so closely involves young
people themselves and their private network. In my study, the youth’s school and the
home appeared to be the most important arenas which the health services need to
include in their work. My findings confirm the complexity of the challenges of
providing assistance to troubled youths.
Keywords:
Open Dialogue, dialogue, private and professional networks, youths, mental health,
mental health problems, mental disorders. | en_US |
