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Work with children as relatives
Support and training
This page is for you who are healthcare professionals, managers, or specialists in municipal or specialist healthcare, and who want to support and care for children as relatives.
A large part of BarnsBeste's work is about professional development. We prioritize organization and measures, training, and health competence.
Organization and measuresmeans ensuring that children as relatives are cared for through existing systems in healthcare and other services.
Trainingis a central part of our professional development. We are working to identify knowledge gaps among practitioners who meet children and families in their work, whether they are employed by the municipality, healthcare services, or other relevant services. Together with our networks, we are looking at opportunities to meet these needs with a competence boost.
Health competenceis a person's ability to find, understand, assess, and apply health information in order to make informed decisions about their own health. BarnsBeste is concerned that children as relatives and their families receive the information and competence they need so that the children can be cared for in the best possible way and live good lives.
Knowledge resources
Below, we have gathered important knowledge resources, including training tools, procedures, and recommendations, that can support the work with, and meeting of, children as relatives. These resources have been developed in collaboration with various professional environments and experts.
Training tools
BarnsBeste has developed a resource package for the municipalities' work with children as relatives. This initiative is based on an increasing need for clearer guidelines and tools that municipalities can use to identify and care for children living with illness, substance abuse problems, or other challenges in the family.
The resource package has been prepared in accordance with national guidelines and is based on knowledge-based practice. The goal is to ensure that all children as relatives receive the necessary support and follow-up in the municipality where they live.
The project is a collaboration between municipalities, healthcare professionals, and specialists from BarnsBeste, with the aim of creating a flexible and user-friendly tool that can be adapted to local needs. The package includes professional guidelines, tools for mapping, and training modules that will ensure that municipal services have sufficient competence to care for children as relatives in a good way.
E-learning developed for healthcare and care personnel in municipal healthcare services. The course takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and is available via helsekompetanse.no.
provides a basic understanding of the concept of children as relatives.
provides sufficient knowledge to contribute to the work when patients have minor children or siblings.
is based on the Guidelines on relatives in healthcare and care services.
complies with legal provisions regarding children as relatives in the Health Personnel Act §§ 10 a and 10 b and 25 third paragraph.
E-learning developed for healthcare professionals in specialist healthcare services. The course takes 10 – 15 minutes to complete and is available in the learning portal on the individual health enterprise. Take the course in the learning portal if you work in specialist healthcare services.
provides a basic understanding of the concept, children as relatives.
provides sufficient knowledge to contribute to the work when patients have minor children or siblings.
is based on knowledge-based professional procedures for work with children as relatives published on Helsebiblioteket.no.
complies with legal provisions regarding children as relatives in the Health Personnel Act §§ 10 a and 25 third paragraph, and the Specialist Healthcare Services Act § 3-7 a.
Care for children who are bereaved according to the Health Personnel Act § 10 b is mentioned in the course, but not specifically addressed.
Contains information about procedures and guidelines that apply to your health enterprise.
This is version 8.0 of the course – updated 03.02.2025
PowerPoint presentation based on e-learning for specialist healthcare services: Children as relatives - the patient’s children and siblings. Click away (x in the upper right corner) to request to log in to be able to open the PowerPoint presentation.x in the upper right corner) request to log in to be able to open the PowerPoint presentation.
The Norwegian Medical Association has, in collaboration with BarnsBeste and Kristiansand municipality, developed a mandatory online course for general practitioners.
E-learning course for employees in healthcare services, teachers, health nurses, and employees in kindergartens. Developed by the Section for Grief Support at Akershus University Hospital.
The film provides a basic introduction to how healthcare professionals contribute to caring for the patient’s children and siblings. The film is short and is based on the e-learning course that BarnsBeste has created for specialist healthcare services. It can be used in training or other contexts where the topic is children as relatives. See video:
Together with the health enterprises in Norway, BarnsBeste has developed knowledge-based professional procedures for work with children as relatives since 2015.
The published version of the procedures is version 4.0 and was updated in 2024. The procedures are approved by Sørlandet Hospital HF and are available to all organizations in specialist healthcare services.
The latest update emphasizes public guidelines by following the structure and summarized content from the relative guidelines. The procedures also link directly to additional information in the relative guidelines.
The procedures consist of two texts that can be used as 1 combined procedure or 2 separate procedures.
Health enterprises and organizations have the opportunity to link to their own and local routines.
BarnsBeste has, in collaboration with the health enterprises, developed a knowledge base and recommendations for child responsible personnel in specialist healthcare services. The target groups are child responsible personnel, managers, and coordinators of work with children as relatives.
The document can be used as a reference/background document. Child responsible personnel and managers can draw on knowledge of how best to care for and organize the child responsible function and adapt it to their own organization.
The knowledge base and recommendations have been developed in accordance with applicable legal provisions, public guidelines, current research, and experiential knowledge.
This survey is part of the knowledge collection of BarnsBeste and forms the basis for developing recommendations for work with children as relatives in specialist healthcare services.
Here you will find video and posters that can be downloaded free of charge and which may be useful in training or in the work with children as relatives.
Relative film
For those interested in how it feels to be a relative of a person with a rare diagnosis.
Get your own Heia-gang when feelings and thoughts become troublesome. An animated film that can be downloaded free of charge and used in connection with a package of care for mental health for children and young people aged 6-12.
Support team - movieHave a support team cheering for you when feelings and thoughts are troublesome.
Illness or substance abuse in the family
Illness or substance abuse in the family? A short film about what it’s like to have family members who are ill or have substance abuse problems. The film is on ung.no and is suitable to show to young people.
Children as relatives in acute situations - video
Children experiencing acute illness or accidents will often experience this dramatically. Children need openness, information, and follow-up. Training video for pre-hospital services.
The short films provide information on Helsenorge about the needs of children when they experience illness and dependency in the family. The film is made as digital stories, is subtitled, and can be used with and without sound. The films can be used by specialist healthcare services, general practitioners, and other healthcare services.
The films can be downloaded free of charge from Vimeo:
Introductory film for healthcare professionals - the patient’s children and siblings
The film provides a basic introduction to how healthcare professionals contribute to caring for the patient’s children and siblings. The film is short and is based on the e-learning course that BarnsBeste has created for specialist healthcare services. It can be used in training or other contexts where the topic is children as relatives. See video
We are currently not sending out posters and material, as we are working to revise and evaluate existing content.
Information in Ukrainian
BarnsBeste has translated information about children as relatives for healthcare professionals receiving refugees from Ukraine.
