True User Involvement by People Living With HIV is Possible: Description of a User-driven HIV Clinic in Norway.

The Greater Involvement of People Living with or Affected by HIV principle highlights the various contributions HIV-infected people can make in HIV program development and implementation. We present a unique example of how service users' involvement led to a complete organizational redesign of an outpatient HIV clinic in Southern Norway. We applied a user-driven, case study method, which showed that establishing a user board laid the foundation for the redesign process, as the board provided a clear infrastructure of user involvement and developed a set of user-defined targets for services. The main targets-optimal health, holistic care and treatment, and empowerment-were operationalized as a set of action points, such as establishing HIV nurse coordinators. While there is no single method for user involvement, we offer useful ideas that can help others develop an involvement project that is effective and sustainable.

The International Collaboration on Complementary Therapy Resources (ICCR): working together to improve online CAM information.

BACKGROUND: Use of the Internet to find health information is increasing dramatically but the quality of information, particularly on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is variable. The International Collaboration on Complementary Therapy Resources (ICCR) involves collaboration between the national CAM information centers in Australia, Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and a CAM information service in Germany. OBJECTIVES: The study objectives were to compare the services and areas of expertise offered by each of the national CAM information services, to explore common challenges encountered in practice, and to establish specific objectives for the collaboration. DESIGN: The workshop incorporated set templates for presentations, brainstorming, and analysis of notes to identify common themes. RESULTS: Differences and similarities between the various services were revealed. Common challenges were identified under the main themes of overall context, users and needs, content and processes. Based on these themes, it was possible to agree on a number of specific objectives. CONCLUSIONS: The member organizations of the ICCR serve a range of different audiences and have varied remits to fulfill. For the international collaboration to be effective, it was necessary to identify common challenges and to agree on specific objectives and potential ways of working together. Progress to date is also discussed together with plans for the future.

Integrative care and bridge building among health care providers in Norway and Denmark.

BACKGROUND: Patients in Norway and Demmark with the medical diagnoses of cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), and HIV/AIDS use complementary and alternative treatment (CAT) in growing numbers, most often in addition to receiving conventional treatment. At the same time, the interest and demand from patients for more holistic-oriented care is strongly increasing. Following this, there is a desire and need for better communication and cooperation among the conventional medical establishment, CAT practitioners, and patients. This development raises new demands on research designs to incorporate complexity and diversity concerning the intervention, effect mechanisms, and outcomes. DISCUSSION: This article outlines different models used to combine conventional, complementary, and alternative treatment (CCAT), describing various degrees of integration among therapies. The authors are closely involved in three current and planned research projects in Norway and Denmark focusing on cancer, MS, and HIV/AIDS. These research projects are briefly introduced as examples of bridge-building efforts dealing with integrative care. Despite explicit political good will in Norway and Denmark, initiatives to enhance integration face challenges connected to lack of knowledge; resistance toward CCAT; lack of time, space, and economic resources; and patients left without any claim on insurance in the case of treatment failure. These challenges are outlined based on the researchers' experience from being involved in the research projects. CONCLUSIONS: To optimize treatment outcomes in the future, it is argued that the need for closer cooperation among conventional and alternative therapists across professional boundaries in an interactive partnership with patients is evident. Researchers have to rethink research design and methods in meeting the new trend toward bridge building based on integrative health care.