Here we have compiled an overview of what offers are available to relatives, both parents, siblings and grandparents. 

It can be difficult to find out which courses, help and offers in relative support are available near where you live. We have tried to map to the best of our ability and make it a little more clear for you.

Courses and support services for parents of children with illness and functional variation

• What about us (course for couples) 
• What about me (course for single parents) 
• Parents on alert 
• Carry together - The lion mothers' child palliation project
• Live NOW (children with life-threatening/life-limiting conditions)
• The lion mothers' help service - supports, guides and helps families with whatever they want and need in meeting with the support system, both applications, complaints, assistance meetings etc.
• Mamma Mia (online program whose main purpose is to prevent postpartum depression and promote good mental health)
• Then the bell rang! Løvemammaene's kindergarten and school project.
• Start-up course (arranged annually in all health regions, see below) 

Bufdir, including family protection, arranges, in addition to what about us courses, several types of courses such as COS (Circle of security), buffer courses for couples, and on parental cooperation when you are divorced. Courses near you can be found in the course calendar to Bufdir. 

Frambu, the competence center for rare diagnoses, regularly organizes both webinars and courses on various topics, coping and more diagnosis-specific courses. Which courses they offer, where and when you can find them the course calendar to Frambu.

Offers and courses in the health institutions

Training of patients and relatives is one of the specialist health service's four main tasks. In other words, there are several offers and courses for both patients and relatives in the various health organizations at the associated hospitals. Most hospitals also have summarized information about children as relatives on their pages.

Click on your hospital to see what they can offer. 

Health North

• Nordland Hospital 
• Information about children as relatives at Nordlandssykehuset 
• UNN Tromsø 
• Finnmark Hospital 
• At Finnmarkssykehuset, they have Learning and coping departments in both Hammerfest, The churches and Karasjok which offers various courses for patients and relatives. The department in Hammerfest sometimes holds courses in Alta as well.
• My book – a drawing and conversation book for children, Health North
• Contact information to enterprise coordinators for children as relatives at the hospitals in Helse Nord (at the bottom of the page).

Health Centre

• Health Nord-Trøndelag 
• Helse Nord-Trøndelag has its own Learning and mastery centre in both Namsos and Levanger, which offers services to patients and relatives.
• St. Olav's hospital - University Hospital in Trondheim.
• The learning and mastering center at Trondsletten in Trondheim is for families with children and young people who have a variety of functions. They offer a number of courses throughout the year, including Toddler courses, courses for parents of children with complex needs, and more diagnosis-specific courses.
• The Learning and Coping Centre, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (BUP) at St. Olavs in Trondheim offers courses and group services for parents/relatives of children and young people with mental difficulties.
• The learning and mastery centre, the Children's and Youth Clinic at St. Olavs in Trondheim. Has mostly diagnosis-oriented offers.
• Children as relatives at St. Olav's hospital in Trondheim.
• Health Møre and Romsdal 
• The learning and mastery centre (LMS) works to ensure that patients and relatives receive information, knowledge and help to manage and cope with long-term illness and changes in their health. They cooperate with, among other things also with municipalities within learning and coping. 

Health West

• Health Stavanger – Stavanger University Hospital (SUS).
• On The learning and mastery centre at SUS there are several offers for patients and relatives. They also offer telephone conversations with supervisors. 
• Advice for relatives for children in hospital, Helse Stavanger.
• Health Fonna 
• Health Bergen – Haukeland University Hospital.
• Information and tips about children and young people in hospital at Health Bergen.
• By The learning and mastery centre (LMS) associated with Helse Bergen offers group-based patient and relatives courses. 
• Health Førde 
• There are a number of patient and relatives offers and courses The learning and mastery centre at Førde Central Hospital. 
• I The learning portal Helse Vest you can get access to classroom courses and e-learning courses. You can access the Learning Portal without having a user account associated with Helse Bergen by registering as an external user of the portal. During registration, you must select the organization "Health Bergen - access for external users".

Health South-East

• OUS - Oslo University Hospital. 
• S-BUP - Department for children and young people's mental health in a hospital.
• The learning and coping center - children (LMS) at OUS offers, among other things, school start courses and much more. 
• A house - Akershus University Hospital.
• Sunnaas Hospital 
• SiV - The hospital in Vestfold.
• Innlandet Hospital 
• Telemark Hospital
• Østfold Hospital 
• Western Cove 
• Sørlandet Hospital
• At HABU (child and youth rehabilitation) at Sørlandet Hospital, they have e.g. regular day gatherings for parents of children and young people with autism spectrum disorder, children and young people with functional variation, and children and young people with mild mental retardation. Read more about the events they have here.
• I The learning portal Health South-East you will find a number of online courses, i.a. autism and developmental disabilities, dysphagia (eating and swallowing difficulties), epilepsy and coping etc. To access these online courses, you must register with an email address and a password of your own choosing. When asked about organization, choose Oslo University Hospital, External.

Digital webinar for learning and coping. A national offer from the four health regions.

PS: All healthcare institutions/hospitals have a learning and coping centre, and here you can usually find consultation services and/or courses in your region. Press here to get a more detailed overview of all the various learning and mastery centres.

Friluftsykehus is an offer for families whose children are hospitalized for a long period of time. The outdoor hospital must be a good place in nature for patients and relatives. A place that can be used in the holistic treatment and provide calm, joy and vitality through nature experiences. Here you can read more about the Open Air Hospital.

Courses and stays within rehabilitation, habilitation and coping

Red Cross Haugland Rehabilitation Centre

The Røde Kors Haugland Rehabilitation Center provides services for children and young people with a variety of functions and for those who have undergone cancer treatment. They now offer group stays for children and young people aged 6-17. You can read more about the offer here.

A stay with them lasts for 3 weeks, where the participants get to meet others in a similar situation. Through activities such as outdoor activities, climbing, canoeing/kayaking, bow and arrow, table tennis, swimming and gymnasium, one gets to experience mastery and joy. The interdisciplinary team will adapt the stay to the individual's needs. During the stay, there is a separate arrangement for the parents with teaching and discussion groups. You will also receive individual guidance related to current issues.

Below is a brochure with more information about the offer.

Beitostølen health sports centre

Beitostølen Health Sports Center (BHSS) provides rehabilitation/habilitation services for children, young people and adults with different diagnoses, functional variations and functional level. Activity and participation with a focus on opportunities rather than limitations will always be an important guideline for the business. BHSS combines the use of adapted physical activity with medical, educational and social guidance and follow-up.

The target group under the age of 18 is children and young people with physical, psychological and/or cognitive functional variations between the ages of 2 and 17. The offer is suitable for children and young people who can physically and socially benefit from an offer arranged in a group. They have continuously group stays for children/young people aged 5-17 throughout the year. In addition, they have individual stays for toddlers aged 2-5 years. The stay is free of charge for everyone with the right to rehabilitation/habilitation with us.

Below you can see a video about some of what they do at the health sports centre.

Valnesfjord Health Sports Centre

Valnesfjord Health Sports Centre provides specialized re-/habilitation services for children, young people and adults with different diagnoses, functional variations and functional level from all over the country. Their main tool is adapted to physical activity and the goal is increased activity and participation through a focus on opportunities, rather than limitations.

The target group is children and young people with physical, mental and/or cognitive impairments aged 6-20. The offers are suitable for those who can benefit from a period of intensive training. They offer both diagnosis-based stays, intensive habilitation stays in a mixed group or themed stays with different activity focuses. See intake plan for continuous stays.

Below you can see a video from winter activities at Valnesfjord health sports centre.

Geilomo Children's Hospital

Geilomo Children's Hospital offers services to children and young people with asthma, allergies, eczema, congenital heart defects, heart and kidney and liver transplantation. One of the main tools in the treatment of patients at Geilomo is physical activity. The aim of the habilitation is to achieve the best possible functioning and coping skills as well as independence and participation socially and in society in general. The activities are linked to the season and nature in the area, in addition to various indoor activities in the gymnasium and pool.

The offer at Geilomo children's hospital is for children from 1st to 10th grade. The length of the stay can vary according to purpose and target group, but is basically four to five weeks. Where there is a need, the hospital offers accommodation for one or both parents. Both parents and children are offered education and guidance about the current illness and treatment.

See video from Geilomo children's hospital below.

Frambule camp

Every summer, Frambu organizes something called Frambule camp. This is an offer for children, young people and young adults with rare diagnoses who are 12 years or older.

Camp at Frambu is not a holiday or relief offer, but a different course where the participants get to meet others who are in a similar situation, exchange experiences and form social networks. Frambu also makes arrangements for the participants to have the opportunity to push their own boundaries and discover new opportunities.

The camps are run by young, committed camp staff with support from professionals from Frambu and are very popular with both participants and helpers.

See video from Frambuleir below here.

Other services for children and young people living with illness and functional variation

• Total boss! Mastery course for youth/young adults and parents.
• The helping hand is an interactive game that helps young people aged 13-19 with mastering their own emotions. 
• CL team in hospital. 
• The relative center (general offer to all relatives)
• The health station service (health nurse).

General mastery courses and low-threshold support services

• The relative center - for all "types" of relatives.
• Rapid mental health care (in many municipalities).
• Wellness centers (in many municipalities).
• KiB course (Course in stress management for adults).
• Self-help tools in case of stress, sleep difficulties, worry, restlessness, anxiety etc
• Local low-threshold services in stress management, mindfulness, meditation/yoga, anger management, cognitive therapy and the like vary greatly, so here you have to search for what is available in your region. 

Offer for relatives and siblings

• SMILE - offers for children who are relatives.
• Sibling camp at Frambu for young people between the ages of 12 and 16, about having a brother or sister with a rare diagnosis.
• SIBS - sibling project from Frambu.
• CL team in hospital (can also help siblings). 
• The relative center (general offer to all relatives).
• The health station service (health nurse).
• Webinar for siblings of children with life-threatening/life-limiting conditions.
• Municipal sibling groups and offers (contact your municipality, possibly a neighboring municipality, to find out what they can offer).
• There are sibling groups and services in connection with some of the children's and youth clinics, but this varies (see the section on the various health organisations).

Offer for grandparents

• Grandparenting course at Frambu
• Webinar about the grandparent role for grandparents of grandchildren with life-threatening/life-limiting conditions
• The relative center (general offer to all relatives)

Courses at NAV (aids)

NAV has its own courses on aids and tools from the aid centre, e.g. about the use of cognitive aids, ASK (alternative and supplementary communication), winter aids, hearing etc. These are held both physically and digitally.

You can find courses in your region i the course calendar to NAV. Tick aids and region in the side menu.

Telephone services

• The rare phone
• Mental Health - parent support 
• Mental Health - chat for youth/young adults 

Useful links

The lion mothers on Snapchat 

Various podcasts within the function field (coming)

National competence service for learning and coping in health (NK LMH) 

Good advice for you who are relatives (HealthNorway) 

Podcast about relationships and family life from Bufdir