The network was established in 2008 and since then research institutions from both countries have cooperated on a broad range of fields within health services.
Professor Li Jianjun from the China Rehabilitation Research Centre (CRRC) remarked that the current network project is to a large extent due to the fruitful collaboration between and Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital within rehabilitation medicine over the last twenty years. Professor Li underscored that there is great demand for this in China and that it is increasing. According to Li, future cooperation should be based on scientific research which has a broad perspective. Moreover, he identified professional training and long-distance education as areas of interest for collaboration.
The current project manager, Professor Ivar Lødmel of the Oslo and Akershus University College noted that the network is precisely that, a network, and not a research project per se. The goal is to bring together people who have had a long-standing relationship in research cooperation with people from other fields so that new research projects may emerge. An equally important objective is thus to try to bridge health research and social policy research, making room for an interdisciplinary approach to issues that have been dealt with solely within the separate fields. ‘We need to understand that issues within these areas are interrelated’, said professor Lødmel.
Ms Nina Horg Thoresen from the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services gave a summary the new National Health Strategy, a policy which was introduced to transform the health services in order to meet strategic challenges such as rapidly increasing costs and numbers of elderly in need of care. The ensuing discussions at the seminar touched upon many of the challenges currently facing the Norwegian health care system and also how Norwegian and Chinese parties could draw on experiences of one another in the transformation processes ahead.
In his concluding remarks, professor Lødmel outlined some visions for future collaboration. He hoped that the network could serve as a platform and a meeting place for researchers in other areas. Furthermore, he also wished that the already extensive exchange of students and researchers could be extended to include even more participants.
The seminar was followed up by an extensive series of meetings between the Norwegian delegation and the Chinese partners. They also attended the 6th International Rehabilitation Forum in Beijing. By the end of this year, the network will sum up their experiences and develop plans for future activities.