Experiences of professionals in the implementation of training of social skills of adult persons with mental health difficulties

Cilj je ovog kvalitativnog istraživanja dobiti dublji uvid u dosadašnja iskustva stručnjaka u provedbi treninga socijalnih vještina s odraslim osobama s teškoćama mentalnog zdravlja. Istraživanje je provedeno na namjernom uzorku od 6 sudionika, socijalnih pedagoga, od kojih su svi ženskoga spola te su zaposleni na području grada Zagreba. Prilikom provedbe istraživanja korištena je kvalitativna metoda prikupljanja podataka - polu-strukturirani intervju. Polu-strukturirani intervju sastojao se od 8 pitanja otvorenoga tipa i njima pridruženih potpitanja. Za obradu prikupljenih podataka korištena je metoda tematske analize sadržaja. Prvim istraživačkim pitanjem ispitivala su se iskustva stručnjaka s provedbom treninga socijalnih vještina. Pokazalo se da su iskustva stručnjaka raznolika i da ovise o osobnim preferencijama rada stručnjaka s osobama s određenim teškoćama mentalnog zdravlja. Drugo pitanje vezano je uz učinkovitost. Kada se radi o učinkovitosti treninga socijalnih vještina, odnosno različitih tehnika koje se u sklopu njega provode rezultati se kreću u smjeru naglašavanja dobrovoljnosti kao važnog prediktora njegove uspješnosti, bez obzira na spol ili dijagnozu oboljele osobe. Trećim istraživačkim pitanjem ispitivala se motivacija. Ono što je stručnjake motiviralo za rad, provedbu treninga socijalnih vještina i daljnje bavljenje istim poslom primarno je intrinzična motivacija. Rezultati ovoga istraživanja biti će prikazani u raspravi te će ih većina biti razmotrena kroz teoriju osnaživanja.The objective of this qualitative research is to gain a deeper insight in previous experiences of experts in implementing social skills training with adults who suffer from mental health difficulties. The research was taken upon intentional sample of six participants, social pedagogues, from which all of them were females employed on the area of the city of Zagreb. During the implementation of the research the qualitative method of gathering information was used - a semi-structured interview. The semi-structured interview contained 8 open-ended questions with further prolonging sub-questions. A method of thematic analysis of content was used to process the information. Using the first research question the experience of experts in the field of implementing social skills training were analyzed. It has been shown that the experiences were different in lots of cases and that they depend on personal preferences of the experts of working with persons with certain mental health difficulties. The second question is connected to effectiveness. In the case of effectiveness of social skills training apropos techniques that are carried out within it, results range in the direction of emphasizing voluntariness as an important predictor of its success, regardless of gender or diagnosis of the patient. The third research question was used to test motivation. What motivates experts to do their job, implementation of social skills training and maintaining the same job primary is an intrinsic motivation. The results od this research will be shown in the discussion and most of them will be considered trough the theory of empowerment