The Users' Role in Primary and Secondary Healthcare in Finland and Norway

Authors

  • Dag Olaf Torjesen Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Norway
  • Timo Aarrevaara Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland
  • Martin Stangborli Time Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder
  • Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen Institute for advanced Social Research, University of Tampere

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v21i1.14893

Keywords:

User influence, Healthcare, Professional bureaucracies, Finland, Norway

Abstract

Healthcare has traditionally been heavily influenced by health professionals and managers, but it is increasingly recognised that patients' experiences and voices can play key roles in the development and design of sustainable healthcare services. In this article, we take an exploratory approach to user involvement (UI) in healthcare in two Nordic countries – Finland and Norway. Our theoretical and analytical approach draws on recent works by Dent and Pahor (2015) and Vrangbæk (2015), focusing on three types of participation – choice, voice and co-production. According to our results, these three types of UI have become more visible and acknowledged at the level of national policies in both countries. However, it seems that UI is more entrenched in the governance structures of Norwegian healthcare. The types of involvement are also different. In Finland, the emphasis seems to be on the consumerist ways of involvement, while in Norway, the focus has been more on co-production and voice.

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Author Biographies

Dag Olaf Torjesen, Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder, Norway

Dag Olaf Torjesen, PhD, is Associate Professor at Department of Political Science and Manage- ment, University of Agder. Torjesen has more than 15 years teaching and supervision experience at the master level and is heading an executive master program in health management at University of Agder. Torjesen is supervising the Phd-project: “Local adaption to a national health care reform”, and involved in comparative research within the Nordic region, e.g. governance and institutional change in Nordic healthcare systems, integration between primary and secondary health care provid- ers and the role of users in healthcare.

Timo Aarrevaara, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland

Timo Aarrevaara is a Professor of public management at the University of Lapland, and has profes- sional experience in public administration as well as in research and teaching. Professor Aarrevaara has been the principal investigator in a number of research projects, including “The changing aca- demic profession in Finland” based on the international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) project, “The changing academic profession: the impact of globalization, diversification and institu- tional reorganization on academic work and employment conditions in Finland” (EUROAC-FIN) and a work package leader in the Public Engagement Innovations for Horizon 2020 (PE2020). He is a co-editor of Springer’s The Changing Academy Series.

Martin Stangborli Time, Department of Political Science and Management, University of Agder

Martin Stangborli Time is PhD Research Fellow at the Dept. of Political Science and Management, University of Agder. In his PhD Project he focuses on the intertwinement of different governance levels (e.g. the global, regional (EU), national and local) within the health policy sector. Furthermore, he is doing research on the EU's influence on Nordic health care systems. Martin holds an M.A. in political science from the University of Oslo.

Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen, Institute for advanced Social Research, University of Tampere

Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Institute for Advanced Social Research, University of Tampere. She is also a part-time researcher at University of Oslo, Norway and visiting researcher at National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland. Her research interests include health care systems and health care reforms, primary health care practices, integrat- ed care, private health care services and marketization.

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Published

2017-03-01

How to Cite

Torjesen, D. O., Aarrevaara, T., Stangborli Time, M., & Tynkkynen, L.-K. (2017). The Users’ Role in Primary and Secondary Healthcare in Finland and Norway. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 21(1), 103–122. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v21i1.14893

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1 (2017): Responses to the Global Financial Crisis – Lessons From the Public Sector in the Nordic Countries

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Dag Olaf Torjesen, Timo Aarrevaara, Martin Stangborli Time, Liina-Kaisa Tynkkynen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration agree to publish their articles under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This means means articles are free for anybody to read and download, and to copy and disseminate for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given, a link is provided to the license, and any changes made are clearly indicated. Authors retain copyright of their work.

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