Healthcare professionals’ conscious or unconscious norms, values and attitudes have been identified as partial explanations of healthcare inequity in Europe. Norm criticism is an approach that questions what is generally accepted as “normal” in society, and it enables learners to identify norms that might cause prejudice, discrimination, and marginalization. In nursing and health education the focus has traditionally been centred at clinical skills, a knowledge that can promote good care for patients. This is usually organized in a national regulated context with Curricula departing from national health care legislation. However, there is a shift towards addressing transnational health concerns that implies a need to implement more soft skills in health care education.

In this project we will investigate the knowledge base on norm awareness. An experiences of marginalised social group organisations will be used; civil society organisations will be also involved to co-create knowledge on discrimination. A course for students in the form of Blended Intensive Program (BIP) will be created where innovative learning and teaching will be used. On that basis the Norm Lab will be created that can be displayed in different parts of Europe creating a platform for discussion and practices for Equal Care. During the project, a community of practice will form and will be expanded through the creation of a curriculum that will be offered through open access in an online format to health care learners and practitioners. SLU will be responsible for piloting the Norm Lab model within a sample of settings in academia and the health providing sector and will also take the lead in developing curriculum for transnational teaching and learning.

The main objectives of the project are to improved capacity for norm awareness education in HIE´s Health education and by doing so better quality of care in Europe. The context is in health care science but the outputs can and will be transferred to other subject areas and education sectors as well as society at large.