Implementing the Action Research approach in the context of Swedish municipal care: a facilitator’s reflections

The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of action research (AR) in the context of Swedish municipal care from a facilitator’s’ perspective. Four empirical studies using the AR approach were performed during 2007–2012 in six municipalities. Establishing support for AR was time-consuming when it concerns starting up processes that were created and were changeable over time. Further, the processes were focused on the sustainable development of practice, based on practitioners’ and care consumers’ knowledge, that is a precondition of organizational change. An important precondition was that the participants were motivated and participated actively in all phases of the AR cycle. Another important precondition was that the participants got along with each other and trusted each other. The participants’ engagement and the collaboration that was established between the participants and the facilitator were likely a result of this. Moreover, even positive interaction with participants representing a “top–down” perspective was important for the implementation of proposed changes to the practice. In conclusion, AR enhanced sustainable action based on participant’s everyday knowledge relating to areas they want to change and improve in the context of municipal care practice.