Service-user participation in coordinated planning, from the perspective of involved professionals.

This paper uses a neo-institutional perspective to examine possibilities and obstacles for participation in coordinated individual planning (CIP) for people with intellectual disabilities. CIP is a tool for interprofessional and interorganizational coordination with the objective of creating a joint plan for a person needing cohesive care. Participation by the service-user is considered important for effective coordination but involving someone with an intellectual disability may require special adaptations. A thematic analysis of interviews with 17 professionals from different organizations in Sweden reveals that service user participation is considered an important goal by professionals, but also that it is difficult to put into practice. The results indicate that CIP is characterized by tensions and policy-practice decoupling that limit the service-users' possibilities for participation. Points of interest: Different organisations and professionals sometimes give support to one individual. They need to coordinate this support. It is necessary for service-users to be involved in coordinated planning of the support and care they need. The study analyses how professionals experience participation in coordinated planning when the service-user has an intellectual disability. The study found that coordinated planning can be difficult to adapt for service-user participation. The study found a gap between ideals and practice caused by the organizations' rules, norms, and structures. The findings reveal a risk of focusing on changing the service-user's behaviour or situation rather than addressing problems within the organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]