In the period around 1970 to 2019, farm placements of children in Iceland were used as a social intervention by the City of Reykjavík. In a new article in the Nordic Social Work Research, co-authors and I describe and analyse the practice. It is based on qualitative research with interviews with professionals who worked with the intervention, adults who went to the countryside in their youth under the auspices of the social welfare authorities and farmers who received the children, and quantitative data on the scope of the intervention. In general, the interviewees were satisfied with their experience, although the implementation of the measure was not always simple, and some things could have been done better. Although farm placements may seem obsolete as a social intervention, their fundamental elements align with modern nature-based approaches. It would be interesting to hear from members if they know about similar social child welfare interventions in their settings.
https://doi.org/10.1080/2156857X.2025.2480137
Regards,
Geir Gunnlaugsson, MD, PhD, MPH
Emeritus Professor in Global Health
CHIFA profile:
Geir Gunnlaugsson is an Emeritus Professor of Global Health at the University of Iceland. He graduated with a medical diploma (MD) from the University of Iceland with post-graduate training in paediatrics (PhD) and public health (MPH) at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Research and publications on, e.g., breastfeeding, infant and child mortality, child development and abuse, measles, cholera, and health systems in Iceland, Guinea-Bissau and Malawi. He was the Chief Medical Officer for Iceland in 2010–2014, the General Secretary of ISSOP International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health in 2009-2017, and currently the chairman of Africa 20:20, an Icelandic NGO to promote interest and knowledge on sub-Saharan Africa.