ASK-Solutions

Collaborating around participation

Treatment and practical participation do not have to serve the same purpose or take the same form. A practitioner may, for example, work on recovery, symptoms or other treatment-related matters, while someone also goes somewhere regularly, meets other people, rebuilds structure and takes part in activities in a suitable way.

The professional involved, the participant and ASK-Solutions can coordinate what is practically appropriate. The practitioner or support professional remains responsible for their own professional role; ASK-Solutions is responsible for the work and the environment in which the participation takes place.

This does not have to involve work-related production or an artificial exercise task. The value may instead lie in having a reason to leave the house again, being present at an agreed time, having social contact, having something to do and gradually rebuilding confidence, routine and involvement.

Meaningful work without performance pressure

Participation can have value for the person themselves while also contributing to the public-benefit work of the organisation. This does not mean that someone first has to produce a certain amount of work in order to be allowed to participate.

What someone can manage at a particular time may vary considerably. Sometimes simply being present and making contact is already a great deal. At another time, someone may be able to take on a concrete task or use existing knowledge to contribute something to others. The activity can develop along with the person without work-related performance becoming the starting point.

Because the work and social contact are real rather than simulated, someone can experience that their presence and knowledge have value without being subject to the same expectations as in a regular work environment.

The project The Owl’s Nest

One of the projects in which such forms of participation may be possible is the project The Owl’s Nest. This project is built around a shareable work model for practical work, learning, making, repairing and working together.

The work model can be implemented by different operators at different locations. Which activities, capabilities and opportunities for participation are available therefore depends on the concrete implementation by an operator at a particular location.

ASK-Solutions is itself one of the operators of the work model. At locations where ASK-Solutions implements the model, it can be explored which practical, technical, social or organisational forms of participation are currently possible and appropriate. Other operators can implement the work model in their own way and within their own possibilities.

Participation does not, however, have to take place through the project The Owl’s Nest. Depending on the person and the work available, someone may instead contribute to another project or to organisation-wide work of ASK-Solutions.

View information for professionals on the project website of The Owl’s Nest

Each professional retains their own role

When several parties are involved around the same person, clear roles are important. ASK-Solutions does not become a treatment provider simply because someone takes part in activities alongside treatment. Conversely, a practitioner does not become responsible for carrying out the work within ASK-Solutions or a project.

Objectives and practical circumstances can, however, be coordinated where necessary. A professional may, for example, indicate that regularity, social contact or gradually increasing activity is important. It can then be explored within the work of ASK-Solutions which form of participation fits and is practically possible.

The parties involved can also remain in contact during the collaboration where practical coordination is needed. Which information is shared, and with whom, depends on the situation, the agreements made and the responsibilities that apply.

Professionals can also contribute themselves

Collaboration does not have to revolve exclusively around someone who receives treatment or guidance. Care professionals and other specialists can also contribute directly to the public-benefit work of ASK-Solutions and its projects.

This may involve contributing ideas from their own field, making information or expertise available, supporting an activity, taking part in an in-depth discussion or helping document knowledge. A professional can also contribute in other practical, organisational or voluntary ways.

One organisation can therefore have several roles at the same time. A practice may, for example, support people who participate in public-benefit work while also contributing knowledge, professional time, materials or financial support itself.

Sharing knowledge between professionals

Collaboration does not have to arise around a single participant or treatment programme either. Sharing and promoting knowledge is itself one of the public-benefit objectives of ASK-Solutions. Care professionals, support professionals and other specialists can therefore also collaborate with one another, exchange experience and approaches, and further develop knowledge.

This may involve jointly examining a subject, comparing practical experience, developing information or documentation, organising a meeting or subject-focused activity, or connecting knowledge from different professional fields.

ASK-Solutions does not have to be the subject-matter expert on every topic. The foundation's contribution may instead lie in bringing people and knowledge together, enabling exchange and helping record or further disseminate what emerges from that collaboration.

Contributing to implementation

A care practice, professional or other organisation can also help make the work possible in other ways. This may involve making professional time available, providing practical support or contributing financially to work in which someone participates or to a project within which that participation takes place.

Such a financial contribution is not automatically the purchase of a treatment or reintegration service. The contribution can instead relate to the public-benefit work being carried out and to what is needed to make that implementation possible. Which arrangements are appropriate depends on the concrete collaboration.

An organisation can also make materials, equipment, space or other resources available. For general information about these kinds of contributions, see the contributions page.

View other ways to contribute

Coordinating a collaboration

Not every person, treatment or situation calls for the same environment. We therefore first look at what the parties involved want to achieve, what role each party has and which form of participation or knowledge sharing may fit.

Where the collaboration relates to a specific project, we then look at what possibilities exist within that project. For the project The Owl’s Nest, it may subsequently also matter which operator implements the shareable work model and at which location a suitable concrete implementation is available.

If the collaboration instead concerns knowledge sharing between professionals or an organisation-wide contribution, an individual project does not have to be the starting point at all.