‘Easy ride or born to be wild'? The travelling of evidence-based social work to Sweden

Abstract

The starting point of this article is an interest in understanding what happens when the concept of evidence-based practice (EBP) travel between countries. Understanding knowledge as something constructed between actors who shape and trade ideas and experiences, the aim is to study how EBP has been received, interpreted and practised in Swedish social work in comparison to some of the other Nordic welfare states. This is done through a scoping study literature review of research on evidence-based practice (EBP) in Swedish social work within the Swedish welfare system. The review shows that two research units (CUS and IMS) at the public authority National Board of Health and Welfare have had significant influence on the travelling of EBP to Sweden. Further, the review shows that a guideline-model version of EBP has been given priority in the diffusion process. The results also show that the interest in EBP among managers has increased over the past few years, and that their attitude toward the concept is generally positive. At the same time Swedish social workers rarely make use of research in their work, seldom use evidence-based methods, and seems to be unsure of the meaning of the concept. SAMMANFATTNINGUtgångspunkten för denna artikel är ett intresse i att förstå vad som händer när evidensbaserad praktik (EBP) som begrepp reser mellan länder. Genom att förstå kunskap som något konstruerat mellan olika aktörer som skapar och förhandlar idéer och erfarenheter syftar artikeln att studera hur EBP har blivit mottagen, tolkad och utövad i svenskt socialt arbete i jämförelse med några av de andra nordiska välfärdsstaterna. Detta är genomfört genom en omfångsstudie av publicerad forskning EBP i socialt arbete i Sverige. Översikten visar att två forskningsavdelningar (CUS och IMS) hos den statliga myndigheten Socialstyrelsen har haft stor betydelse i införandet av EBP till Sverige. Dessutom visar översikten att riktlinje-versionen av EBP har getts företräde i spridningen. Resultaten pekar också mot att intresset hos gruppledare och chefer har ökat under de senaste åren, och att deras attityd gentemot EBP, generellt är positiv. Samtidigt använder sällan svenska socialarbetare forskning i sitt arbete eller evidensbaserade metoder och tycks även vara osäker på begreppets betydelse.

Vetenskapligt kunskapsutnyttjande och nyttjande av kunskapskällor bland hälso- och sjukvårdskuratorer

“…Likt de resultat som påvisats från ett flertal nationella kontexter har även svensk forskning visat att socialarbetare i låg utsträckning använt sig av forskning i sitt arbete (Bergmark & Lundström, 2011;Liedgren & Kullberg, 2022). Nordgren och medförfattare (2022) fann att socialarbetare som arbetade som LSS-handläggare använde olika kunskapskällor i sin yrkesutövning.…”

Citing the Empirical Shreds on Social Welfare and Methods of Social Work Employing Bibliometric Analysis From 1971 to 2020

“…Moreover, the experts of social work were appointed in every institution due to the need for the welfare of human beings (Jia & Li, 2021;Kurnia et al, 2021;Malfitano et al, 2021). It is revealed that social welfare officers were recruited in health and other institutions to take proper care of the people and particularly the affected (Lei et al, 2021;Liedgren & Kullberg, 2021;O'Sullivan & Cooper, 2021). As the implications of social work were adopted by the developed nations in every sphere of life (Lei et al, 2021;Liedgren & Kullberg, 2021;O'Sullivan & Cooper, 2021;Sanfelici, 2021;Shanks & Mejdell Bjerland, 2021;Sicora et al, 2021;Smolle & Espvall, 2021).…”

“…It is revealed that social welfare officers were recruited in health and other institutions to take proper care of the people and particularly the affected (Lei et al, 2021;Liedgren & Kullberg, 2021;O'Sullivan & Cooper, 2021). As the implications of social work were adopted by the developed nations in every sphere of life (Lei et al, 2021;Liedgren & Kullberg, 2021;O'Sullivan & Cooper, 2021;Sanfelici, 2021;Shanks & Mejdell Bjerland, 2021;Sicora et al, 2021;Smolle & Espvall, 2021). It was primarily declared as a full-fledged discipline then it was transformed into every sphere to ensure the welfare of the people.…”

“…It has further modernized the implications that are being employed in different institutional settings including education. The majority of scholarships are conducted in developed countries (Holosko, 2021;Liedgren & Kullberg, 2021;Sanfelici, 2021;Shanks & Mejdell Bjerland, 2021;Zhu & Andersen, 2021).…”