The overall aim in this thesis is to describe and analyse how nature-based social services located in farm settings with animals are framed in the Swedish context, and what organisers/supervisors and participants holds as valuable aspects in the intervention in a selection of services. Social aspects, environmental aspects and activities, and the dynamics between them has been of specific interest. The study focuses on services targeted at people in need of work-oriented rehabilitation and persons with disabilities. Similar nature-based interventions located in farm settings have previously been mapped and raised interest among researchers in countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and Britain. Nature-based interventions is an interdisciplinary and developing field of knowledge with a variety of different practice initiatives that use nature and animals to promote health and social well-being. So far the area has just generated a small amount of research in Social Work even though the users of the services are mutual with clients in social work services.

The thesis has had an explorative approach that includes three sub studies and a variety of data sources and methods. The first study was a national survey in the Swedish context that identified 55 ongoing services. A selective sample of services was the setting for participant observations of the daily practice, and interviews with supervisors and participants. To study the participants perspective “go-along” interviewing where used as a complement to more traditional forms of data collection.

Conclusions from the studies show that the three key elements, social context, where even animals play an important role, farm environment and farm based activities are important as resources in the daily practice from both supervisors’ and participants’ perspectives. The supervisors use the performativity of the farm-environment to provide support and the participants experience them as supportive, even though from their point of view the supervisor role is superior for their experience of sense of coherence in the context.  

Detta är en avhandling om naturbaserade insatser i socialt arbete med fokus på lantgårdsbaserade dagverksamheter med sociala mål. Lantgårdsbaserade dagverksamheter har tidigare uppmärksammats i exempelvis Norge, Nederländerna och Storbritannien. I det svenska sammanhanget saknades dock kunskap om insatsernas förekomst och vardagliga praktik ur handledarnas och deltagarnas perspektiv.

Det övergripande syftet har varit att beskriva och analysera hur dagverksamheter med utgångspunkt i lantgårdsmiljöer med djur utformas som insatser med sociala mål, samt vad anordnare/handledare och deltagare tillskriver värde och mening i ett urval av verksamheter. Insatserna som studerats är inriktade mot att ge meningsfull sysselsättning för personer med funktionsnedsättning alternativt arbetslivsinriktad rehabilitering för personer sjukskrivna eller arbetslösa till följd av psykisk ohälsa. Resultatet visar att insatserna är en sammansättning av tre nyckelement: sociala sammanhang med handledare, deltagargrupper och djuren som aktörer, lantgårdsmiljön som fysiska arena och lantgårdsunderstödda aktiviteter som är i fokus under dagarna. Ett centralt resultat i avhandlingen är att nyckelelement samspelar i den vardagliga praktiken. En vardaglig praktik där såväl interaktion mellan människor, samspel med djur som upplevelser av miljön tillskrivs betydelse.