Ageing and Health
The Norwegian Centre for Research, Education and Service Development reorganized its operations during fall 2006. From then on Ageing and Health consists of Norwegian Centre for Dementia Research, Disability and Ageing (FoA) and Intellectual Disability and Ageing.

Ageing and Health manages the different operations and organize joint information- and library activities, support research and development being conducted in the different areas as well as publishing teaching material and reports through the Ageing and Health Publishing House. The Norwegian Centre for Research, Education and Service Development is situated at the Vestfold Mental Health Care Trust in Tønsberg, and at Ullevaal University Hospital in Oslo.

Professor Knut Engedal is the professional coordinator for the Norwegian Centre for Dementia Research, while Arnfinn Eek and Bjørg Aaring presently are operational managers for the Vestfold and Oslo sections. 

At the moment there are 50 employees including part-time as well as full-time employees. Our staff has wide competence and consist of; physician psychologists, occupational therapists, nurses, authorized social educators, librarian as well as mercantile and clerical personnel.


Intellectual Disability and Ageing
In 2004 The Research Centre started a development program with financial support from the Social and Health department. Aging in people with intellectual disabilities –UAU. This is a 3-years development program to improve the quality of the services offered to elderly people with intellectual disabilities. To improve the knowledge and competence of staff in practical service concerning ageing and intellectual disabilities,and to increase the knowledge in Norwegian municipalities about best practices for care and services. In january 2008 the development program were ended, and continued as a permanent unit at the Ageing and Health.

Principal fields of activities in the unit is to run a national centre for know-how with a information unit and library at the Research Center’s Tønsberg department.To run professional networks and arrange project gatherings, and to run pedagogical activities by arranging courses, conferences and internal study groups in institutions and develop and produce study material, translations, text books, reports and IT-based and video conference activities.

A main target for the unit is to generate new knowledge through development projects. Actually theme will be; models for best service practices, offers of the municipality, preventive and health promotional work, the process of ageing, psychical/physical health and illness, family and close relations, work, housing, culture and leisure, living conditions and duration of life and end of life.

Presentation of the staff employed in the unit Intellectual Disability and Ageing:

Frode Kibsgaard Larsen
Frode is qualified as an authorized social educator with specialization in ageing, psychiatry and project management. He came from a post as special consultant in the Department for Habilitation in Buskerud Hospital HF. In addition to currant rehabilitation work, he was responsible for a project establishing a regional professional centre for ageing and intellectual disability in Health South. He has participated in the development and running of a number of courses on ageing, and he has guided personnel working with elderly people with intellectually disabilities. He has his previous working experience from a municipal day centre, and as a leader and environmental therapist in various housing units for people with intellectual disabilities, besides administrative posts in private and public institutions. He has been dealing quite a lot with cultural and leisure activities for persons with functional disabilities, both on municipal and county level. In this connection he has fulfilled a number of projects and worked with courses and arrangements. For 6 years he has been involved in development projects in Estonia, and he has participated in municipal and county councils for the disabled. In 2007 he started at The Master of Public Health programme (Mph) at the Nordic School of Public Health in Göteborg, Sweden.

Britt-Evy Westergård
Britt-Evy is qualified as an authorized social educator, with specialization in various subjects: practical and special pedagogics, behaviour therapy, health promotion, administration and management, sexuality in handicapped people. Her previous working experience includes being a teacher and technically responsible/leader in university college for social educators, nursing auxiliary in social education, and in addition further education in rehabilitation and psychiatry. She comes from a post at the University College in Telemark, education of social educators, and the Vestfold University College, specialization in rehabilitation and habilitation. Before this she worked as a head of department in the Habilitation services in Vestfold, and as quality adviser and professional consultant. From the municipal sector she has experience as a leader and social educator in different housing projects, day centres, protected enterprises and integration measures in cultural connections for people with intellectually disabilities. Her project experience is versatile over a number of years: Leading projects in reorganization, quality development/control, services to elderly people in their homes and in activity centres, relief work in Roumania, establishment of group dwelling for persons with intellectual disabilities, the user-managed LOTUS project (quality of life and well-being through developmental sexuality) etc. Books: Co-author in “The Auxiliary Nurse and the Care Worker” (Norwegian University Press). She is the author of “The Work of the Supportive Contact with Focus on Inter-human Relations”, which is published by Gyldendal
In autumn 2007 she started on a PHD, studying part-time at Edinbrugh University. The theme for this research project is: “person-focus aproach in services for old people with intellectual disabilities".

Stine Skorpen
Stine is qualified as registered nurse with specialization in Theatre Nursing. She was employed for four years at the Vestfold Hospital Trust in Tønsberg as a registered nurse . Further she has worked for 5 years at University hospital of North Norway (UNN) in Tromsø as theatre Nurse, as section leader and as teacher for nurse students. For three years she worked as a Consultant at the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine in Tromsø. In March 2007 she was employed at Intellectual Disability and Ageing together with the Norwegian Cancer Society as a projectleader to conduct a Cancer-project. She is still employed working with Health Issues.

Sissel Hofgaard Swensen has been working at this project for some time. She has, among other things, adapted texts to make them accessible for persons with reading difficulties. In the booklet “How to make books for everybody” she gives advice on how to adapt and write texts to help persons who for some reason find it difficult to read.There is no recipe, but Sissel Hofgaard Swensen has a varied experience, and we think most persons working to make books, letters, newspapers, research, reports etc accessible for persons who struggles with reading, will find this booklet useful.  
Sissel Hofgaard Swensen wrote this booklet when she worked for the organization “Books for everyone”. This is an organizator that gives economical support to writers, of fiction and non fiction, to illustrators and publishers who want to make books for persons who for various reasons have reading problems. “Books for everyone” has governmental support.