Exploring Citizens’ Channel Behavior in Benefit Application:Empirical Examples from Norwegian Welfare Services

After more than a decade of intense digitalization of public service delivery in Scandinavia, scholars and public organizations wonder why many citizens still prefer to use traditional communication channels to interact with government. In this paper, we explore citizens' channel behavior when applying for public benefits from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV). We break down the application process into separate actions to answer the research question: what causes citizens to use multiple channels in the benefit application process? Based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with frontline workers at NAV, we describe the process citizens undergo when they apply for benefits from NAV, the actions citizens perform, and the problems they experience, which cause them to contact NAV. Frontline workers are interviewed as these are knowledgeable experts on the application process who can give an aggregate account of the various problems citizens encounter. We contribute with empirical descriptions of how two benefit application processes play out in different ways and cause different channel behaviors. Analyses of this kind are important to supply new knowledge for the ongoing digitalization of public welfare service provision to enhance citizens' ability to successfully co-produce the service. Further, we offer contributions to research practice by illustrating how citizens' interaction with public organizations can be studied and analyzed holistically, using a process model for breaking the interaction down into partsFundig: The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV)</p

Trelleborgsmodellen - Förutsättningar, möjligheter och utmaningar för digitalisering i offentlig förvaltning

Syfte: Studien syftar till att utforska och skildra bakgrunden och de beslut som lett fram till och möjliggjort utvecklingen av Trelleborgsmodellen. Teori: Teorier som används utgår från politisk styrning där det teoretiska ramverket utgörs av Multi level governance (MLG), på svenska flernivåstyrning, som kompletteras med politiska styrmedel. Metod: Metoden som används är explorativ och tar avstamp i induktiv kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Metoden har bestått i att studera, beskriva och tolka innehåll i textdokument och berättelser (intervjuer) kopplade till Trelleborgsmodellen. Resultat: Den digitaliseringsprocess som genomförts i Trelleborg har möjliggjorts genom en rad olika faktorer som verkat inom den lokala kontexten och till viss del påverkats av faktorer utanför den. Samverkan och tillit mellan förvaltningen och den lokala politiska styrningen har format och utvecklat modellen

Svalövs flyktingenhets arbete för nyanlända invandrare - en utvärdering med brukar- och intressentfokus

The following report is a constructive responsive evaluation of Svalövs communes unit for newly arrived refugees based on a qualitative user- and stakeholder model. The main purpose is to evaluate the units’ quality from a user and stakeholder perspective. The main findings are that the users and stakeholders are satisfied with the quality of the units’ services but request further social and structural participation. The evaluation provides new organizational understanding and constructive feedback from a systems theory perspective. The conclusion is that further insight in systemic analysis of the intervention is of importance to further develop the units’ perceived success

Implications of Digitalised Welfare Services from a Vulnerable Citizensʼ Perspective

Public welfare services and their reliable distribution to those in need of them are an important cornerstone of the Nordic welfare states. With the ‘digital-firstʼ paradigm, digital self-services have become the default channel in Norway also for welfare services. However, especially vulnerable citizens struggle to use these digital self-services, thus making it difficult for them to receive the welfare benefits they are dependent on. Instead, vulnerable citizens often turn to the local offices of public organisations to get help. We conducted 19 interviews and 11 observations with citizens coming to a local office of the Norwegian Welfare and Labour Administration (NAV) to understand vulnerable citizensʼ challenges with digital self-services as well as the way these challenges are attended to at the NAV office. We find that citizens struggle, amongst other things, with complex application procedures, language problems, executive functioning, and the anonymity of self-services. At the same time – while citizens often do get the required help at the NAV office – not all the challenges are solved, and new challenges arise, making vulnerable citizens prone to even more severe vulnerability