Working with Individual Plans: users' perspectives on the challenges and conflicts of users'
needs in health and social services
Sammanfattning
In Norway, an Individual Plan (IP) is a statutory right and a tool for cooperation
between the client in need of long-term, coordinated services and the public
services. This study analyses the explicit needs of users, how the various actors in
the IP process met these needs, as seen from the users’ perspective, and, finally,
how disability influenced the outcomes. Participants expressed physical, psychological
and social needs. These needs were similar for persons with physical or
psychiatric health conditions, or for persons with an innate or acquired disability.
However, time elapsed since a disability had been acquired did make a difference.
The municipality or district of residence, the administrative and legislative
boundaries, the interpretation of those and the coordinators’ position within
the hierarchy of the system all affected how well users’ needs were met, indicating
the existence of tension. This tension between the external conditions or
framework of services and user participation may be an explanatory factor for
the slow implementation of IPs.