Search results for ‘Author:"bjornsdottir kristin"’ Sort:
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Stuck in the land of disability? The intersection of learning difficulties, class, gender and religion
- Authors:
- BJORNSDOTTIR Kristin, TRAUSTADOTTIR Rannveig
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 25(1), January 2010, pp.49-62.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This paper explores the contrast between the formal rights to full social inclusion of young adults with learning disabilities in Iceland to and their lived in experiences. The life history data used is presented fully elsewhere, as part of a wider doctoral project by the primary author on the role of cultural factors, gender and identity on young adults with learning disabilities. In this paper feminist intersectional theory is used to analyse the factors of gender, class and religion as well as those of disabilities. A framework based on five themes, ((1) historically and geographically contextual, (2) socially constructed, (3) power relationships that operate at, (4) the macro-social structural and micro-social psychological levels and are (5) simultaneously expressed) that characterise disability, class, gender and religion as interrelated systems of oppression is detailed by the authors in the bulk of this article’s text. The complex political, economic and ideological forces at play are discussed. This research demonstrates how the young adults with learning disabilities who participated as research collaborators in this study denied their devalued social construction and attempted to affirm themselves as competent social actors, thereby challenging existing social hierarchies.
Gambling for capital: learning disability, inclusive research and collaborative life histories
- Authors:
- BJORNSDOTTIR Kristin, SVENSDOTTIR Aileen Soffia
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36(4), December 2008, pp.263-270.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The aim of this paper is to reflect on research collaboration between a research participant with learning disability and a nondisabled doctoral student. It explores the inclusiveness of the research partnership and how collaborative life histories can be empowering both for participants and researchers. It is suggested that it is possible to make any kind of research inclusive, although doctoral projects can perhaps not be fully inclusive because of academic requirements. It is argued that people with learning disabilities should have the opportunity to be involved in research and that collaborative writing between nondisabled researchers and people with learning disabilities is no less valuable than other disability research and should be taken seriously by policy makers and academia. A second aim of the paper is to reflect on the authors positions, as a nondisabled researcher and a researcher with learning disabilities, in the field of disability studies.
Perception of integrated practice in home care services
- Authors:
- GUDNADOTTIR Margret, BJORNSDOTTIR Kristin, JONSDOTTIR Sigridur
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Integrated Care, 27(1), 2019, pp.73-82.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: As a result of demographic changes, older people are increasingly living at home, with multi-morbidity and complex care needs. This calls for enhanced integration of homecare nursing and social services. The purpose of this paper is to describe the clinical collaboration, scope and impact of integration from the perspective of staff in a setting identified as fully integrated. Design/methodology/approach: In this qualitative study, data consisted of interviews with managers and care workers in social services and homecare nursing (n=14) in daily clinical collaboration, followed by five focus group discussions (n=28). Data were analysed using framework analysis. Findings: Although the homecare services studied were ostensibly fully integrated, the study showed that the process of integration was incomplete. Interdisciplinary coordination between nursing and social services team managers was described as strong and efficient, but weaknesses were identified in collaboration between care workers. They lacked acquaintance with one another, opportunities for communication and knowledge of the contribution of members of other teams. They felt unclear about their own role in coordinated teamwork and lacked a shared vision. Originality/value: This paper’s originality lies in the model of integrated care studied and its focus on actual care practices. The findings highlight that integration does not automatically permeate between different levels of service. Time and space must be allowed for conversations between health and social service teams to promote integration. (Edited publisher abstract)
'It's my life' autonomy and people with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- BJORNSDOTTIR Kristin, STEFANSDOTTIR Guorun V., STEFANSDOTTIR Astriour
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 19(1), 2015, pp.5-21.
- Publisher:
- Sage
- Place of publication:
- London
This article discusses autonomy in the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities. The article draws on inclusive research in Iceland with 25 women and 16 men and employs ideas of relational autonomy from the perspectives of the Nordic relational approach to disability. In this article, the authors examine autonomy in relation to private life, that is, homes and daily activities. The article demonstrates how practices have improved with time and seem less paternalistic. However, the article also demonstrates that the assistance people with intellectual disabilities receive in their homes often has institutional qualities, and they are often met with belittling perspectives from staff and family members. Furthermore, many did not have access to important information needed to develop individual autonomy and independence, including making their own choices. The research findings suggest that people with intellectual disabilities can with appropriate support develop individual autonomy and make their own choices. (Edited publisher abstract)