Kari Jokstad has been appointed head of research at Eikholt

Kari Jokstad has been appointed to a newly created position as head of research at Eikholt. If you look up her name, you'll find her alongside words like coping, user participation and everyday rehabilitation. Perhaps not surprising, given that she has a background as a physiotherapist and a PhD in person-centred rehabilitation. In this portrait interview, you'll get to know Kari and her ambitions as head of research at Eikholt.

With a heart for the outdoors

Kari grew up in Konnerud in Drammen. After high school, she moved to various places in Norway and abroad for education and work. Eventually she returned home, settled down with her family and got a job in Drammen Municipality.

-"I think Drammen is a great city to live in. Here I have family and good friends around me. There are many opportunities for outdoor activities, which I really appreciate. I like to roam around Drammensmarka and mark trails as a volunteer in DNT and swim in the river all year round. I'm a regular borrower at the library and I also love growing vegetables. It's good to use my body in practical work.

Rehabilitation - a common thread in Kari's life

-"Throughout my life, I've been lucky enough to have jobs that I enjoy and feel I have a lot to contribute. When I look back, there's a common thread. When I was young, I had friends with disabilities who faced unnecessary barriers. Later, as a physiotherapist, I worked with rehabilitation, at Beitostølen Health Sports Centre and as a paediatric physiotherapist here in Drammen. That's when I realised that most things are possible. That we're all pretty much the same when it comes to our wishes and dreams for life, and that we all have a need for meaning and fulfilment. Halvdan Larsen, a well-known name in connection with the establishment of Eikholt, was a family friend. He also taught me a lot about this. 

Focusing on the user's voice in research and development work

After a few years as a manager at various levels of the health service, Kari was given the opportunity to lead a project to develop a municipal rehabilitation service for the elderly population. Through her work on the project, her curiosity about how user participation is practised and experienced became so great that Kari decided to take a doctorate in person-oriented health work.

Then came the opportunity for the job as research manager here at Eikholt. 

-"After just over six months here, I've realised that I can draw on all the education and experience I've gained over the years. User involvement is already a natural part of service development at Eikholt.

-"I want to contribute to even stronger user participation, by involving users in all phases of projects: planning, implementation and communication. This requires expertise. We are currently working on a project that will result in a course on user involvement in research.

Want to increase knowledge about combined visual and hearing impairment

Kari will also be working on project applications, organising projects and helping to prioritise research and development initiatives. All research and development work must contribute to increased knowledge that is relevant to the target group.

-"It also struck me that there is a lot of knowledge among employees and users. Knowledge that we perhaps take for granted, but which could be systematised and disseminated to an even greater extent. It is an established tradition at Eikholt to publish popular scientific Eikholt reports. It is important that we continue with this.

It might be a bit early to ask if you see any specific areas within deafblindness and rehabilitation that need more attention from the research community?

"After six months, I don't have a comprehensive overview of the research-based knowledge base in the field. But I do have some questions or wonderings. Perhaps there are already answers to these, but I can mention them anyway.

Do we know enough about today's challenges and barriers for young people with combined visual and hearing impairment? Do we know enough about energy saving and what can be good preventive measures to improve quality of life?

Good services for users must be developed further

How do you plan to work with Eikholt's other teams and networks to strengthen the services offered to people with combined visual and hearing impairments?

-Eikholt has an interdisciplinary and strong team of employees. Together with the users, they continuously identify potential for improvement in the content and quality of the courses. I believe that together we can implement several small development projects. My contribution to this work is about organisation, structure and guidance. Perhaps investigating the effect of the courses could also be a separate project?

-I also have a goal of helping to highlight Eikholt's expertise in mapping vision and hearing in children.

Creative, structured and impatient

Kari is described by others as creative, structured and a little impatient. She's easy to ask when it comes to input for events. She often has something surprising up her sleeve.

When asked if there's a quote that could describe her, she looks thoughtfully into space before telling us with a smile.

-On my debit card it said "he who has both feet on the ground stands still". I guess that's because I've always been curious and wanted to try new things.

Feel free to get in touch

Kari is more than happy to come out to meetings and seminars to listen and contribute, and she greatly appreciates ideas for projects or other relevant input.

-Feel free to contact me.