Practices In Norway Research Articles

Alcohol Use and Parental Socialization of Emotion in a Population-Based Sample

SYNOPSIS Objective. Although parental alcohol use has previously been studied in conjunction with various facets of parenting, it has scarcely been examined in relation to parents’ emotion socialization behaviors (ESBs), especially in the context of low levels of alcohol use. Our aim was to examine the association between parental alcohol use and parental ESBs, also examining the potential moderating effect of parent sex, parent depression and anxiety, and parental stress on this association. Design. The study was part of the larger research project “Parenting Practices in Norway.” The sample consisted of 4260 parents (2425 mothers) of children aged 4–12 years. Parental alcohol use and parental ESBs were measured through parental self-reports on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test and the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES). Results. Higher parental alcohol use was associated with decreased supportive ESBs and elevated non-supportive ESBs. After dividing participants into groups based on alcohol use (no risk/abstainers; low risk; high risk), only the high-risk group reported significantly lower supportive ESBs compared to the no risk group. The negative association between alcohol use and supportive ESBs became less pronounced as parental stress levels increased. Parent sex or depression and anxiety did not moderate any of the associations. Conclusions. Although these findings are based on alcohol consumption and frequency of consumption, they are nevertheless relevant for selecting the proper intervention or treatment plan for parenting as a means of improving child welfare and mental health and for prioritizing parents toward such interventions or treatment plans based on their specific risks.

Paradigmatic disharmonies and dilemmas in special educational practices for Sámi children and youth in Norway

The Sámi are the only recognised Indigenous peoples in Europe. The traditional homeland, Sápmi, stretches today over the countries Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola peninsula in Russia. The aim of this article is to pinpoint critical issues related to special educational support for Sámi children and youth in Norway. Research on this topic is scarce. Research conversations were held in 2022 with 10 Sámi special education teachers. The Sámi special education teachers’ narratives reveal how their language proficiency, cultural and subject knowledge, and special educational competencies allow them to bridge the paradigmatic disharmonies and dilemmas in special educational practices in Norway to various extent. To illustrate the results the article presents three scenarios depicting the Sámi special education teacher as a strong instrumentalist bridging between paradigmatic disharmonies; as a frustrated player constantly improvising to find the harmony; or playing an instrument that is not included in the symphony.

Intrapartum fetal monitoring practices in Norway: A population-based study

ObjectiveTo describe intrapartum fetal monitoring methods used in all births in Norway in 2019–2020, assess adherence to national guidelines, investigate variation by women’s risk status, and explore associations influencing monitoring practices. MethodsA nationwide population-based study. We collected data about all pregnancies with a gestational age ≥ 22 weeks during 2019–2020 from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. We used descriptive analyses, stratified for risk status, to examine fetal monitoring methods used in all deliveries. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to determine factors associated with monitoring with cardiotocography (CTG) in low-risk, straightforward births. ResultsIn total, 14 285 (14%) deliveries were monitored with only intermittent auscultation (IA), 46214 (46%) with only CTG, and 33417 (34%) with IA and CTG combined. Four percent (2 067/50 533) of women with risk factors were monitored with IA only. Half (10589/21 282) of the low-risk women with straightforward births were monitored with CTG. Maternal and fetal characteristics, size of the birth unit and regional practices influenced use of CTG monitoring in this group. ConclusionsMost births are monitored with CTG only, or combined with IA. Half the women with low-risk pregnancies and straightforward births were monitored with CTG although national guidelines recommending IA.

Scandinavian perspectives on life support at the border of viability.

Advances in neonatal medicine have allowed us to rescue extremely preterm infants. However, both long-term vulnerability and the burden of treatment in the neonatal period increase with decreasing gestational age. This raises questions about the justification of life support when a baby is born at the border of viability, and has led to a so-called "grey zone", where many professionals are unsure whether provision of life support is in the child's best interest. Despite cultural, political and economic similarities, the Scandinavian countries differ in their approach to periviable infants, as seen in their respective national guidelines and practices. In Sweden, guidelines and practice are more rescue-focused at the lower end of the border of viability, Danish guidelines emphasizes the need to involve parental views in the decision-making process, whereas Norway appears to be somewhere in between. In this paper, I will give an overview of national consensus documents and practices in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and reflect on the ethical justification for the different approaches.

Unearthing care: Rooting alternative agricultural practices in Norway and Costa Rica

This article contributes to the growing literature on human-soil relations by exploring how care for agricultural soils unfolds among farmers who engage with alternative agricultural practices across different productions and sites in Norway and Costa Rica. These farmers approach soil as a living being and seek to approach care with macro- and microorganisms in response to soil challenges and economic instabilities. The article follows recent literature on soil care in showing how agricultural practices challenge the dominant approach to soils as passive. However, the article argues the necessity of expanding on existing notions of care. This, I argue, involves ethnographically “unearthing” care: unpacking and situating a diversity of soil care practices, their human and other-than-human entanglements, and how these relations are conditioned by environmental, genealogical, sociocultural, temporal, epistemic, economic, and political mechanisms within and beyond the farm. Considering these variables is essential to keep soil care in the emerging literature from following a romanticizing path toward abstract individualism.

Coding practice for sepsis 2008-21.

Sepsis has a high incidence and mortality rate. Accurate data are needed for health service planning and for research, and there is a need to identify coding practices in Norway. All patients over 17 years of age who had been admitted to Norwegian hospitals with sepsis in the period 2008-21 were identified using diagnostic codes for infection plus organ failure, and specific codes for sepsis, from the Norwegian Patient Registry. There were 317705 admissions with diagnostic codes for sepsis, of which 210391 (66.2%) were sepsis with a known focus, 77627 (24.4%) were of unknown focus and 29687 (9.3%) were codes for both a known and unknown focus. The percentage of sepsis episodes coded with a known focus varied between the health regions. The highest percentage was in the Western Norway Regional Health Authority (72.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 71.8 to 72.5), and the lowest was in the Central Norway Regional Health Authority (59.2%, 95%, CI 58.7 to 59.7). The use of codes with a known focus increased each year on average by 3.2% (95% CI 2.7 to 3.6, from 47.5% in 2008 to 82.3% in 2021), while the use of codes with an unknown focus decreased by 2.3% (95% CI -2.7 to -1.9) from 37.8% in 2008 to 13.0% in 2021. Known and unknown focus combined also decreased by 0.9% per year on average (95% CI -1.0 to -0.8) from 14.3% in 2008 to 4.1% in 2021. The coding of sepsis in Norwegian hospitals has become more uniform.

Recognising the newcomer: education policy and teaching practices in Norway and England

Education policies in different countries recognise the needs and abilities of newcomer students in different ways, with consequences for their social inclusion and academic progress at school. We highlight the importance of context to debates around the politics of recognition in newcomer education by drawing on qualitative research in Norwegian and English secondary schools. Taylor’s (1994) political theory of “recognition” provides the analytical lens through which we explore how teachers perceive newcomer students to be recognised (or not) in national education policies in each country. We underscore teachers’ agency in responding to these policies through their own politics of recognition at school.

Patient activation in adults attending appointments in general practice: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundPatient activation refers to patients’ knowledge, confidence, skills, ability, beliefs, and willingness to manage their health and healthcare. Patient activation is an essential component of self-management and identifying patient activation levels will identify people at risk for health decline at an earlier stage. We aimed to explore patient activation in among adults attending general practice by (1) investigating differences in patient activation according to characteristics and markers of health-related behaviour; (2) examining the associations of quality of life and satisfaction with health with patient activation; and (3) comparing patient activation between persons with or without type 2 diabetes (T2D) and with or without elevated T2D risk.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study and recruited 1,173 adult patients from four Norwegian general practices between May to December 2019. The participants completed a questionnaire containing sociodemographic and clinical variables, the Patient Activation Measure (PAM-13), the quality of life and satisfaction with health items from the WHO Quality of Life-BREF, three questions about exercise (regularity, intensity and exercise time), the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC) and Body Mass Index. We tested differences between groups and associations using Chi-squared tests, Fisher’s exact tests, t-tests, one-way ANOVAs and Spearman’s rho tests.ResultsThe sample’s mean PAM-13 score was 69.8 (0–100) (SD 14.8). In the total population, we found that participants reporting higher patient activation scores also reported more favourable health-related behaviours (exercise and healthy eating). We found positive correlations between the PAM-13 scores and, respectively, the quality of life score and the satisfaction with health score. We found no differences in patient activation between people with or without T2D and those with or without elevated T2D risk.ConclusionsWe found that higher patient activation was associated with favourable health-related behaviours, a better quality of life and better satisfaction with health among adults attending four general practices in Norway. Assessing patient activation has the potential to help general practitioners identify patients who might benefit from closer follow-up in advance of negative health outcomes.

Power in Context: Healing Practices in Churches in Norway and Madagascar

Abstract The aim of this article is to investigate the power dynamics at play in open and announced healing practices in Norway and Madagascar. The main research question is: What characterizes the power dynamics at play in healing practices in Norway and Madagascar? We analyzed empirical material by using a power theoretical approach to describe the exercise of power. Through a study in two different ecclesial and cultural contexts, we indicate the (il)legality of exercising “power over” in healing practices, how the “power from” concept can be misused to justify a “power over” attitude – but can also moderate the use of this attitude – and how crucial it is to practice a relational, mutual interdependency.

Proceedings from the Second Annual Conference of the Norwegian Network for Implementation Research

In 2019, Norwegian implementation researchers formed a network to promote implementation research and practice in the Norwegian context. On November 19th, 2021, the second annual Norwegian implementation conference was held in Oslo. Ninety participants from all regions of the country gathered to showcase the frontiers of Norwegian implementation research. The conference also hosted a panel discussion about critical next steps for implementation science in Norway. The conference included 17 presentations from diverse disciplines within health and welfare services, including schools. The themes presented included stakeholder engagement, implementation mechanisms, evaluations of the implementation of specific interventions, the use of implementation guidelines and frameworks, the development and validation of implementation measurements, and barriers and facilitators for implementation. The panel discussion highlighted several critical challenges with the implementation of evidence-informed practices in Norway, including limited implementation competence and capacity among practice leaders and workforces, few opportunities for education in implementation science, limited implementation research in the Norwegian context, scarce funding possibilities for implementation research, and a lack of long-term perspectives on implementation processes. Overall, the 2021 Norwegian implementation conference showed an encouraging sign of a maturing field of science in Norway. The more voluminous proceedings from the 2020 conference called for several important advancements to improve implementation science and practice in Norway, and the 2021 conference indicates that steps have already been taken in favorable directions in terms of, for instance, research designs and measurements. However, there are still unexploited potentials for improvements in implementation research, funding, policies, and practice. Norwegian implementation researcher should be mindful of the challenges and potential pitfalls implementation science currently face as a scientific discipline.

Use of the ISNT rule for optic disc evaluation in 40 to 79 year old patients seen in optometric practice

The purpose this study was to investigate the association between intraocular pressure (IOP) and the outcome of ISNT rule assessment of the optic disc in healthy patients seen in mainstream optometric practice. Consecutive patients over the age of 40 years and with no known general- or ocular pathology were enrolled from 4 optometric practices in Norway and Sweden during a period of 9 months. The sample was stratified by age group (40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70-79 years) and ISNT rule outcome (obeyed or broken). Subjects underwent a full optometric examination including stereoscopic assessment of the optic disc with the use of the ISNT rule, followed by measurements of intraocular pressure (IOP), central corneal thickness (CCT) and vertical size of the optic disc. Odds ratio (OR) was used to assess the association between IOP and the outcome measure. Stratified and multivariable analyses were employed to investigate the effect of age, gender, CCT, refractive error and disc size on the association. IOP was dichotomized at a cut-off corresponding to the 75th percentile (18 mmHg), whereas numeric covariables were categorized at cut-offs corresponding to the 33rd (ONH 1.6 mm, CCT 545 μm) and 66th percentile (ONH 1.8 mm, CCT 571 μm), respectively. A total of 177 patients (F: 57%, age range 40-79 years) were included. IOP was significantly higher in patients with broken ISNT rule (16.6 vs. 15.5 mmHg, p = 0.046), corresponding to a crude OR of 2.0 (CI 0.95-4.24). In stratified and multivariable analyses the association between IOP and outcome of the ISNT rule was strengthened in males (OR 4.8) and in subjects with small discs (OR 2.2), however only the effect modification by gender reached significance. Further research is necessary to understand the possible implications of these findings on the assessment of optic discs with the use of the ISNT rule.

Prevalence of insomnia and hypnotic use in Norwegian patients visiting their general practitioner.

Sleep problems are common in the general population, but there are few studies on the prevalence of sleep problems and hypnotic use among patients in general practice. To estimate the prevalence of insomnia (based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM], version 5), self-reported sleep problems and hypnotic use among patients in general practice, and explore whether the prevalence depended on patient characteristics. A cross-sectional study with questionnaire data collected by 114 final-year medical students while deployed in different general practices in Norway during 2020. A total of 1,848 consecutive and unselected patients (response rate 85.2%) visiting their general practitioners (GPs) completed a one-page questionnaire, that included the validated Bergen Insomnia Scale (BIS), questions on for how long they have had a sleep problem, hypnotic use, and background characteristics. Associations were estimated using a modified Poisson regression model. The prevalence of chronic insomnia according to BIS was 48.3%, while 46.9% reported chronic sleep problems (sleep problems of ≥3 months) and 17.8% reported hypnotic use. Females, patients with low compared with higher education, and patients who slept shorter or longer than 7-8 h, had higher risk of chronic insomnia disorder (CID), chronic self-reported sleep problems (CSP), and hypnotic use. The oldest age group (≥65 years) had lower risk of chronic insomnia compared with the youngest (18-34) but twice the probability of hypnotic use. CID, CSP, and hypnotic use were prevalent among patients visiting their GP. Insomnia can be effectively treated and deserves more attention among GPs.

The Establishment of Communities of Practice for Electronic Medicines Management.

The Establishment of Communities of Practice for Electronic Medicines Management.

Practic-ing culture: exploring the implications of pre-existing mobility cultures on (post-) pandemic practices in Norway, Ireland, and the United States

Issues of culture have to date been underexplored in practice-theoretical approaches to consumption. As a disruptive force affecting citizen mobility all over the world, the COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique empirical context to explore how culture and practice intersect, specifically concerning how unsettling events affect practices across different cultural and governing settings. Applying a combined mobility-culture and practice-theoretical framework, we conceptualize mobility cultures as setting-specific arrangements of practices that shape and reflect distinct, temporally unfolding, socio-material contexts. Comparing three cities with different mobility cultures in Norway, Ireland, and the United States, we combine 63 qualitative interviews with a contextual analysis of mobility settings to explore how daily urban mobilities have been transformed. We find that existing variation in mobility cultures, including bundles of place-specific mobility-related norms and infrastructures, mediate the impact of disruption, shaping how changes in modes, meanings, and performances of mobilities transpire. Notably, the analysis reveals how underlying cultures of mobility shape how practice trajectories respond and are reconfigured in a pandemic health-risk society. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for understanding how culture and practice intersect and calls for further comparative culture-focused analysis in social science research on consumption. We consider how cross-cultural analysis can inform science and policy efforts focused on transitions toward low-carbon mobilities.

A Privacy-Preserving Audit and Feedback System for the Antibiotic Prescribing of General Practitioners: Survey Study.

BackgroundAntibiotic resistance is a worldwide public health problem that is accelerated by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Studies have shown that audits and feedback enable clinicians to compare their personal clinical performance with that of their peers and are effective in reducing the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. However, privacy concerns make audits and feedback hard to implement in clinical settings. To solve this problem, we developed a privacy-preserving audit and feedback (A&F) system.ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate a privacy-preserving A&F system in clinical settings.MethodsA privacy-preserving A&F system was deployed at three primary care practices in Norway to generate feedback for 20 general practitioners (GPs) on their prescribing of antibiotics for selected respiratory tract infections. The GPs were asked to participate in a survey shortly after using the system.ResultsA total of 14 GPs responded to the questionnaire, representing a 70% (14/20) response rate. The participants were generally satisfied with the usefulness of the feedback and the comparisons with peers, as well as the protection of privacy. The majority of the GPs (9/14, 64%) valued the protection of their own privacy as well as that of their patients.ConclusionsThe system overcomes important privacy and scaling challenges that are commonly associated with the secondary use of electronic health record data and has the potential to improve antibiotic prescribing behavior; however, further study is required to assess its actual effect.

A Comparative Analysis of Public Hospital Pharmacy Systems in Norway and Pakistan: A Pilot Implementation of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' (ASHP) Guidelines.

The objective of the study was to analyze and compare public hospital pharmacy practices in Pakistan and Norway. In addition, the study intended to identify the challenges to improving the public hospital pharmacy system and to propose recommendations that could help reform the practice to enhance patient safety and compliance. A cross-sectional study was conducted to understand public hospital pharmacies’ organizational structure and determine their practices in Norway and Pakistan. The results of the research showed differences in 11 main areas of the pharmacy systems of the sampled hospitals. When compared to Norway, the study found that the public hospital pharmacy system in Pakistan could be improved in nine main areas. The results show that hospital pharmacies in Pakistan could benefit from the experience of similar international structures in relation to universal standards and practices.

Capital, Inequality, and Volunteering

In this paper, I adopt Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical and methodological framework to investigate patterns of inequality in volunteering fields and practices in Norway. Multiple correspondence analyses of national survey data indicate a hierarchically structured social space in Norway according to total volume of capital, while the positioning of different volunteer fields and practices seems to be more egalitarian with regard to capital possession, with some exceptions. This resonates well with established notions of the Norwegian civil society model as social democratic and egalitarian. Based on the discussions and findings, and considering growing social, cultural, and economic differences in many societies, I argue for a new volunteering research agenda better tailored for investigating social inequalities and differentiation in volunteering in different societal contexts, providing a new vantage point for understanding and explaining such inequalities.

Family Type Differences in Children’s Satisfaction with People They Live with and Perceptions about Their (Step)parents’ Parenting Practices

Family complexity is increasing in Europe, experienced by a significant proportion of children. More evidence is needed in Europe how children’s family type influences their well-being, especially their family-related subjective well-being, and to what extent parenting practices are playing a role in these relationships. The aim of the paper is to study perceptions of children who live with two biological parents, with a biological and a stepparent, or with a single parent about the parenting practices of their (step)parents and their satisfaction with the people they live with. The analysis is based on the third wave of the “Children’s Worlds” harmonized dataset of 12-year-old children in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, and Romania. The findings reveal a ‘cascade of children’s appraisals’ by the family types—overall, living with two biological parents is the least and in a stepparent family the most complex family environment for children, reflected in their highest and lowest evaluations of parenting practices and family-related subjective well-being, respectively. The analyses showed that simple and complex family type differences in children’s family-related subjective well-being are entirely explained by parenting practices in Norway, Estonia, and Poland, but not or almost not at all in Finland, Hungary, and Romania. To conclude, in a caring, safe, and participation-enhancing family atmosphere, children can be inclusively flexible and adapt to new parent-figures.

‘Correct German Conduct?’ German Requisition Practices and their Impact on Norwegian Society during World War II

The article analyses the German requisition and quartering practices in Norway in the light of international law and traces their impact on everyday relations between the enemies. With an average of 350,000 soldiers stationed in Norway, the German demand for housing was enormous. Space became a highly coveted resource. It was both the object of power struggles and a reflection of those struggles. The German seizure of private property exacerbated the existing housing shortage and was thus very unpopular. Yet the fact that the Wehrmacht also paid good money for requisitioned private properties and, for the most part, followed ‘proper’ procedure fostered acceptance of the measures. Moreover, the spatial proximity with quartered soldiers inevitably led to frequent contacts between the enemies and resulted in a rapprochement. Many autobiographical accounts of Norwegians lauded the Wehrmacht soldiers’ ‘proper’ or ‘correct’ behaviour and described the relations between Norwegians and German soldiers during the war as harmonious. The Norwegian narratives of the German occupation are thus highly ambivalent, oscillating between a positive assessment of the ordinary soldier, and condemnation of the occupation and Nazi rule. This ambivalence, the article argues, was both the result of German requisition policy, aimed to win popular support, and of the felt need to justify the close contacts with the Germans.

Flying less, mobility practices, and well-being: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway

This article uses a mixed-methods design to study flight-intensive practices in Norway. It explores how practices changed as a consequence of the travel restrictions implemented to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications for people’s well-being. Norway is one of the European countries where people take the most flights per capita and the expectation is for air traffic to increase by approximately 4% annually from pre-pandemic levels. Notwithstanding the industry’s goal of becoming fossil-free by 2050, the rapid reduction of emissions to keep global warming at 1.5°C below pre-industrial levels is unlikely to happen without restrictions in air travel. The article draws on social practice and well-being perspectives to investigate the possibility of flying less in post-pandemic times. Using survey data and regression analysis, the study analyzes the infrastructures, norms, values, resources, and competencies associated with reductions in pre-pandemic air travel. Engaging in walking and cycling and taking collective transport for short-distance travel were found to correlate with flying less for long distances. In-depth interviews with domestic travelers suggest that flying less for work might be a synergic satisfier as it contributes to more than one human need without hampering any others. This has implications for the well-being of people who engage in flight-intensive practices for work as it will likely be enhanced if work-related travel is significantly reduced when the COVID-19 pandemic is over.