Lifeworld-oriented family support

摘要

Since the spring of 2014, the authors of this article, joined by a wider groupudof students, have been dedicated to researching vulnerable families andudtheir involvement with education systems. In the initial phase, we exploredudthe experiences and challenges that these families face and how they understandudand address these challenges. Next, we were interested in the formsudof support that these families receive, how the network of educational andudsocial welfare services responds to their needs, and the quality of their cooperation.udWe found that both the families and the expert services experienceuddissatisfaction when it comes to their cooperation: families often feel thatudthey are being sent from one door to another with their problems, whichudremain unaddressed, while expert services feel that they cannot cope withudthe problems of vulnerable families, problems that they view as insoluble.udOur pivotal finding is therefore that it is vital to develop more flexible andudconsistent forms of support that respond to the concerns and challenges ofudthe daily lives of vulnerable families (Razpotnik et al. 2015).udIn the action research reported on in the present article, we have focused onudinvestigating the development of a newly emerging flexible and comprehensiveudform of family support that was co-initiated by ourselves (the researchers)udand primarily implemented by volunteers and NGO workers. The mainudcharacteristics of this support are flexibility, presence in the daily lives of theudfamily, building a cooperative relationship, and prioritising the dynamics andudneeds of the family rather than the formal demands of organisations and institutions.udThe article delineates the emerging approach of lifeworld-orientedudsupport, which is implemented and reported on first and foremost by the volunteersudinvolved. Lifeworld-oriented support is a supplementary addition toudconventional forms of family support, represented and reported on predominantlyudby representatives of educational and social welfare organisations.