Professionals’ experiences of facilitating and negotiating user involvement in flexible assertive community treatment (FACT) teams: a qualitative study

Purpose The flexible assertive community treatment (FACT) model has rapidly gained ground in Norwegian mental health services. The interprofessional team aims to support all service users’ needs and work in a recovery-oriented way. The involvement of service users in shaping the services they need has been debated. This study aims to examine how the professionals in FACT teams facilitate user involvement. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative interviews were conducted with 24 professionals from three teams in urban areas of Norway. All participants had more than one year of experience working in FACT teams. Reflexive thematic analysis was applied. Findings This study identified three strategies for service user involvement used by professionals in FACT teams. First, professionals exercised discretion and improvised, forgoing strict adherence to professional norms grounded in experience. Second, they worked on balancing the power asymmetry between service users and professionals. Third, they navigated the system to achieve service users’ goals. Research limitations/implications Only professionals in FACT teams were interviewed in this study. Further research is needed on how service users experience the facilitation and negotiation of user involvement. Originality/value This study demonstrates important strategies that FACT professionals use to facilitate and negotiate user involvement in recovery-oriented practices.