Faglige interesser, (Professional interests)
Organisational anthropology, comparative perspectives on co-ordination of health and social care, user participation, management of complex conditions: addictions and mental health.
Undervisning, (Teaching)
Bakgrunn (Background)
I am a social anthropologist with an interest in the organisation of health and social care. My key interest is collaboration with academics, practitioners and service users to pool different perspectives and produce a fresh look at, and solutions to, old and at times intractable problems, particularly complex conditions such as addictions and mental health issues.
I bring experience from years of action and applied research in the UK and Norway. My PhD in 1997 concerned coordination of care for people with HIV/AIDS in Lothian, Edinburgh. Early 2000 I led a Scotland-wide programme of Research-based Improvement of Scottish Primary Care. I established a Master programme in Quality Improvement of health and social care at the University of Edinburgh (2005 - 2011) and I led the University of Edinburgh branch of CIHR, a national programme to strengthen research skills and research engagment among Scottish allied health care personell (2005 - 2010)
After my return to Norway I have worked on a part time basis at Østfold University College, and I now convene a module on organisation and coordination of health, social care and welfare as part of the Master programme of Psychosocial Work. I also co-convene a module on psychosoail work in the field of mental health. My research has focussed on health and social care partnerships in Norway and Scotland.
My current work concerns Kompetansebroen “The Bridge of Knowledge” as a digital platform to faciltate transfer of knowledge and skills from secondary specialist care to municipal generalised health and social care. It aims to underpin the Coordination Reform and a “shift of care” from hospitals to local community settings. Shift of care policies are shaped by political and professional contests and alliances at national and local levels. What is the role of a website in this complexity?
The “Bridge of Knowledge Østfold” project explores these questions from academic and practice angles. It is a research and development project exploring the feasibility of a local version of Kompetansebroen in Østfold. The project is a collaboration between myself as the representative of the University College Østfold, the Østfold Hospital Health Trust and Østfold municipalities.
The project constitutes a work package in the DIGITRANS research laboratory linked to the Social Work Research Group, and has developed close collaborations with the Østfold University Colelge Faculty of Computer Science.
Samarbeid Collaborations
Prosjekter Norge (Recent Projects).
NFR VAM Program 2016 Forprosjekt - Learning with Scottish partners: exploring models of co-production in development of welfare services across national contexts
HiØ, Avdeling for helse- og sosialfag v/Guro Øyen Huby
2016 - 2017 Tricky Transitions in the care of people with complex addiction and mental health problems. Collaboration Fund Høgskolen Østfold, Fredrikstad Municipality, Østfold Health Trust.
2019 - "The Bridge of Knowledge" Collaboration Fund Høgskolen Østfold, Fredrikstad Municipality, Østfold Health Trust.