Att kunna lite kan göra mycket : Socialarbetarens möten med personer med neuropsykiatriska funktionsnedsättningar

Sammanfattning: In this paper we have chosen to focus on social workers and their experiences of interacting with clients with neuropsychiatric disabilities, in example persons with ADHD (Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), Asperger syndrome, autism and/or Tourette syndrome. The main purpose was to look into three areas: What knowledge do social workers mean that they need about neuropsychiatric disabilities and how can their needs of knowledge can be met? How do they experience the meeting with a person with neuropsychiatric disabilities? How does the cooperation function between authorities regarding persons with neuropsychiatric disabilities? Definition of the concept of disability and function from a historical perspective points out that the approach has changed over time. Previous research studies of the interaction in meeting between the client and the social worker shows that the social worker carries two faces, so called aspects. The first aspect is about help and care and the second aspect is about administrative functions. These two aspects can be difficult combining due to their differences. The processing in social work consists of three phases. The first is about the client presenting its issues, the next is about gathering background details about the client and the third phase to decide what action is the most adequate for the client. Recent studies show that persons with neuropsychiatric disabilities do not get the help and support they are in need of. This study is based on a qualitative method where we performed semi-structured interviews. We used a strategic sampling with maximum variation to get more in-depth answers from our informants. Interviews were made with six informants who were social workers who all have encountered neuropsychiatric disabilities on a daily basis. The analysis was based on an inductive driven analysis method which we have chosen to carefully describe. It shares some similarities with Grounded theory (GT), but it cannot really be considered as GT. Our results shows that the knowledge has improved due time but there still are some issues with the cooperation between sections due to the lack of knowledge of these diagnosis. With knowledge and interaction with clients our informants experienced that their approach changed. They felt more secure in their role as a social worker in meeting persons with neuropsychiatric disabilities. The prevalence of these disabilities has increased. Our informants noted that females are more noticeable than before and that the diagnosis can be performed in an earlier stage in life.