«YOUTH» AND «YOUTH WORK»: MEANING OF CONCEPTS

Youth is the predominant component of modern Ukrainian society, major factor of socio-economic progress, the driving force of youth work. The purpose of the article is to analyze the semantic content of the basic concept of «youth» in the context of the development of youth work as a field of scientific and practical activities. Research methods: on the basis of the analysis of scientific literature and legal documents, comparison of scientific sources and regulations characterizing a subject of research, the basic aspects of conceptual-terminological content of concepts «youth» and «youth work» are covered; synthesis and generalization of scientific and regulatory sources helped to form definition of the basic concepts of the study. The article analyzes the definition of «youth», «youth work» in the scientific and formal business literature; the main tasks of youth work are defined; It is noted that young people are the bearers of great intellectual potential, new and modern knowledge from various spheres of public life. The research uses such methods as analysis, comparison and generalization of scientific sources on the researched problem. The study highlights the main needs of young people: social and economic; adherence to a healthy lifestyle; involvement in public life; national and patriotic identity; tolerance; assessment of the effectiveness of public policy; the values of youth are determined in the following directions: values of youth, efficiency of youth policy (assessed by youth); civic and political activity of youth; participation and role of youth in the processes of state reformation; training, education; mobility and migration guidelines for young people; family and family values of young people.We have determined that youth work is work with young people, which is aimed at: personal and professional development with the acquisition of relevant competencies; youth participation in public life; involving young people in planning and decision-making at the local, regional and national levels.

Samenspel tussen jongerenwerk en specialistische jeugdzorg

Een deel van de jongeren die in het jongerenwerk partici- peert ontvangt specialistische jeugdzorg, vanuit bijvoorbeeld verslavingszorg, jeugdreclassering, jeugd-ggz of intensieve gezinsbehandeling. Hoewel profes- sioneel jongerenwerk voor een brede groep jongeren in kwetsbare situaties positief bijdraagt aan hun persoonlijke ontwikkeling en maatschappelijke participatie, is er weinig bekend over de betekenis van het jongerenwerk voor jongeren die specialistische jeugdzorg ontvangen. Voor dit verkennende onderzoek zijn interviews afgenomen met: 1) zeven jongeren (16+) die specialistische jeugdzorg ontvangen en in jongerenwerk participeren; 2) zeven jongerenwerkers en 3) zes jeugdhulpverleners werk- zaam in specialistische jeugdzorg. Een thematische analyse maakt inzichtelijk dat het jongerenwerk op vijf manieren van betekenis is voor jongeren in specialistische jeugdzorg. Jonge- renwerkers zijn ten eerste toegankelijke gesprekspartners die deze jongeren motiveren om problemen serieus te nemen en daarbij professionele hulp te accepteren. Het jongerenwerk biedt deze jongeren daarnaast een omgeving om 2) betekenisvolle relaties op te bouwen, 3) hun zelfbeeld en eigenwaarde te versterken, 4) hun maatschappelijke participatie te vergroten en 5) onder- steuning te vinden om hun zelfstandigheid te vergroten. De resultaten maken inzichtelijk dat het jongerenwerk ook voor deze specifieke groep jongeren groeikansen biedt voor hun persoonlijke ontwik- keling en maatschappelijke participatie. Daarnaast leert dit onderzoek dat participatie van deze doelgroep in het jongerenwerk een positieve invloed kan hebben op de jeugdhulpverleningsprocessen en -resultaten. Hiermee bieden de resultaten gemeenten en de jeugdzorg een beter begrip van hoe het jongerenwerk als preventieve voorziening van betekenis is voor jongeren in specialistische jeugdzorg en een bijdrage kan leveren om de druk op de jeugdzorg te verlichten. Engelstalige versie van de samenvatting A substantial share of all young people who participate in professional youth work settings receive specialised youth-care services, such as addiction care, mental healthcare or intensive family treatment. Nevertheless, little is known about the unique value of youth work settings for young people who are receiving specialised youth-care services. In this exploratory study, we investigated the unique value of youth work for young people in specialised youth-care programmes. Interviews were conducted with: 1) seven young people (16 years of age and older) who were receiving specialised youth-care services and participating in youth-work settings; 2) seven youth workers and 3) six professionals working in specialised youth-care services. Thematic analysis demonstrates that participation in youth-work settings is significant for this group in five ways. First, youth workers provide these young people with accessible dialogue partners who can motivate them to take problems seriously and accept professional help for their vulnerabilities. Youth workers also offer an environment within which to 2) build meaningful relationships; 3) strengthen self-concept and self-esteem; 4) enhance social participation and 5) receive support that helps to increase independence. These findings thus suggest that youth work offers growth opportunities for this specific group. They further indicate that participation in youth work settings can reduce the duration and intensity of the youth-care services provided. The results can help municipalities and youth-care professionals to enhance their understanding of the importance of professional youth work to young people who are receiving specialised youth-care services and how youth work can contribute to reducing high healthcare costs.

Methodical principles and prevention-focused outcomes in professional youth work: A longitudinal analysis

Previous research has suggested that professional youth work settings empower socially vulnerable youngsters, strengthening their personal development and social participation. It is expected that youth work can prevent personal and social problems of youngsters, which may have longer term positive social returns. How the underlying methodical way of acting of youth workers contributes to prevention-focused outcomes remains unclear. This article presents a four-wave longitudinal cohort study (16 months) that investigated longitudinal associations between 12 individual methodical principles that youth workers apply in interactions with youngsters and four prevention-focused outcomes: prosocial skills, self-mastery, social network and civic participation. The sample consisted of 1,597 Dutch youngsters with a mean age of 16.5 years (SD = 3.60). Findings: Linear mixed models analysis found that all individual methodical principles were longitudinally associated with one or more outcome. The strongest associations were observed with regard to prosocial skills and civic participation. Depending on the outcome measure, methodical principles seem to be more effective for boys, for youngsters who participate for 3 years or longer in youth work settings and for youngsters between 10 and 19 years old. With regard to the effect of methodical principles on improving self-mastery, 9 of the 12 principles appeared to play no positive role in increasing self-mastery of youngsters. Applications: This study provides youth workers with a better understanding of which methodical principles are positively associated with prevention-focused outcomes as well as reinforcing the evidence-based practice of professional youth work.

Tieto valinnanvapauden edellytyksenä

Asiakkaan valinnanvapauden lisääminen on osa suomalaisen sosiaali- ja terveyspalvelujärjestelmän uudistamista. Valinnanvapauden toteutumisen edellytyksenä on, että asiakkailla on tietoa valittavina olevista palveluista ja että he kykenevät käyttämään tietoa valintojen tekemiseen. Nuoret tuntevat kuntoutuspalvelut huonosti, vaikka heillä olisi tarvetta niille. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan Kelan vuosina 2015–2016 toteuttamaa nuorten kuntoutuspalveluiden viestintäkampanjaa (Mikä Kunto?), jonka tarkoituksena oli lisätä nuorten ja nuorten kanssa työskentelevien tietämystä Kelan järjestämistä kuntoutuspalveluista. Tulosten avulla pohditaan, millainen on tiedon merkitys valinnanvapauden edellytyksenä nuorten kuntoutuspalveluissa. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin keväällä 2016 puhelinhaastatteluna ja internetkyselyin. Tutkimuksen informantteina ovat viestintäkampanjan kohderyhmänä olleet 16–30-vuotiaat nuoret (n = 584), kuntoutuksen palveluntuottajat (n = 19), etsivät nuorisotyöntekijät (n = 102) ja Kelan palveluneuvojat, jotka vastaavat kuntoutuksen palvelunumeroon (n = 49). Informanteilta kysyttiin, ovatko he huomanneet kampanjan ja onko kampanja vaikuttanut nuorten yhteydenottojen määrään ammattilaisiin kuntoutusasioissa. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin kampanjasivuston kävijämääriä. Enemmistö kuntoutuksen palveluntuottajista ja Kelan palveluneuvojista oli huomannut kampanjan. Sen sijaan puolet etsivistä nuorisotyöntekijöistä ja kolme prosenttia nuorista muisti kampanjan. Ammattilaisten mukaan nuoret olivat olleet vain vähän yhteydessä heihin kampanjan vaikutuksesta. Kampanjasivuston markkinointi näkyi sivuston kävijämäärissä. Viestintäkampanjan sijaan nuorten ohjautumista kuntoutuspalveluihin saattaisi olla parempi edistää tarjoamalla henkilökohtaista neuvontaa kuntoutuksesta mahdollisesti hyötyville nuorille. Jos tarjolla ei ole tukea palveluista saatavilla olevan tiedon hyödyntämiseen, nuoret saattavat jäädä palveluiden ulkopuolelle, jolloin palveluntuottajan valinnasta tulee toissijainen kysymys. AbstractInformation as a precondition for patient choice. How a marketing campaign succeeded to add knowledge on youth rehabilitation services?Authors:Anna-Marie Paavonen, M.Soc.Sci, Research assistant, Research at KelaJenna Mäkinen, M.Soc.Sci, Research assistant, Research at KelaAnna-Liisa Salminen, PhD, Docent, Head of Research Team, Research at Kela One precondition for patient choice in the public health care system is that comparative information on service providers is available. If patient choice is to improve the quality of health care patients should be able to use the available information appropriately. Finnish studies have shown that the youth is poorly informed about the vocational and mental health rehabilitation services. This study examines the effects of a marketing campaign (Mikä Kunto?) which aimed to raise youth awareness of rehabilitation services. The campaign was carried out by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) in 2015–2016. The results are utilized to discuss the role of information as a precondition for patient choice in the youth rehabilitation services. The data was collected using a telephone interview and online questionnaires. The informants were young people aged 16–30 years (n = 584), rehabilitation providers (n = 19), youth workers in outreach youth work (n = 102) and Kela employees responsible for the rehabilitation phone services (n = 49). Informants’ awareness of the campaign was measured and the number of contacts by the youth with the latter informants in matters of rehabilitation. The analysis is complemented with the information on the number of visitors to the campaign website. A majority of the rehabilitation providers and Kela employees had noticed the campaign. In contrast, three percent of the youth and half of the youth workers in outreach youth work had noted it. The campaign affected only little the number of contacts by youth in matters of rehabilitation. Marketing of the campaign was shown in the number of visitors to the campaign website.Instead of a marketing campaign it could be more efficient to increase rehabilitation take-up by providing personal counselling to the youth in detecting rehabilitation need and in case management. If support for the use of available information is not offered the youth may not get the services they need and the possibility to choose the service provider becomes an irrelevant question. Key words: patient choice, information, rehabilitation, youth services