Kompetansesenter for brukererfaring og tjenesteutvikling - KBT

What Kompetansesenter for brukererfaring og tjenesteutvikling - KBT does

KBT (Kompetansesenter for brukererfaring og tjenesteutvikling — the Competence Center for User Experience and Service Development) is a Norwegian non-profit foundation (ideell stiftelse, Org.nr 998 336 759) established in 2012 and headquartered at Sorgenfriveien 9 in Trondheim. It operates as one of only five Regional User-Driven Centers (Regionale Brukerstyrte Senter) in Norway — a structurally protected designation within the Recovery Knutepunkt network — serving municipalities in the Midt-Norge (Trøndelag) region and partnering with national bodies such as Helsedirektoratet, NTNU, SINTEF, and St. Olavs Hospital. Its mission is to systematically gather user experiences in mental health, substance use, and child/youth welfare services and translate them into service improvements ("Vi løfter brukerstemmen").

The organization's core intellectual asset is the Bruker Spør Bruker (BSB) — "User Asks User" — methodology, in use since 1998: trained peer interviewers collect experiences from patients, service users, and relatives, generating recommendations for service providers. The cumulative evidence base spans ~2,000 interviewed users across 20+ BSB surveys in mental health services. KBT also operates three integrated entities: KBT Fagskole (an accredited vocational college for experience consultants and social entrepreneurs, approved as a research organization in 2025), Glimt Recoverysenter (a community meeting place in Trondheim offering music therapy and peer activities), and Recoveryknutepunkt (a national recovery-oriented-practice network). The technology stack is intentionally light: WordPress websites, Google Analytics, SurveyMonkey, Zoom, Mailchimp, and Google Workspace email.

Revenue is generated through four streams: public/government grants (Helsedirektoratet, Statsforvalteren, municipal contracts), course and training fees (recovery, user involvement, social entrepreneurship, experience-consultant training, journaling), commissioned research and evaluation project grants (Stiftelsen Dam via Rådet for psykisk helse, Interreg BERSE, national health authorities), and KBT Fagskole tuition under Norway's fagskole system. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven: KBT staff visit municipalities for dialogue meetings, deliver courses in-person and by webinar, and secure commissioned evaluation projects through institutional ties. The organization has 5 employees and strategic research partnerships with SINTEF, NTNU, St. Olavs Hospital, RKBU Midt-Norge, NAPHA, King's College London (CHIME model), and McMaster University (Canada-Norway experience-consultant comparison study).

Name

Kompetansesenter for brukererfaring og tjenesteutvikling - KBT

Legal name

Kompetansesenter for brukererfaring og tjenesteutvikling

Website

https://kbtkompetanse.no

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

KBT is a Norwegian non-profit competence center that gathers user experiences in mental health and welfare services through its Bruker Spør Bruker methodology, conducts research, trains experience consultants, and supports municipalities in Midt-Norge with service development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mental health and welfare consulting services

NAICS

Vocational Rehabilitation Services (62431), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Behavioral Health Population Health, Quality & Outcomes Measurement (HLAEAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Behavioral Health Care Management & Case Management (HLAEAHAE)

Keywords

• Mental health consulting
• User experience research
• Welfare service development
• Recovery-oriented practice
• Vocational health education

Headquarters

HQ city

Trondheim

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Public/Government Funding: KBT is a nonprofit foundation (ideell stiftelse) primarily funded through public grants and financing from government bodies including the Norwegian Directorate of Health, Statsforvalteren, and municipal contracts. One of five Regional Brukerstyrte Senter in Norway.
2. Course and Training Fees: KBT offers paid courses on topics such as recovery, user involvement in research, social entrepreneurship, experience consultant training, journaling with user perspective, social rights, and user-driven evaluation. Revenue generated from participant fees for these educational offerings.
3. Research Project Grants: Funded through project grants from organizations such as Stiftelsen Dam (via Rådet for psykisk helse), Interreg (BERSE project), and government agencies. Multiple multi-year research and innovation projects are supported through these funding mechanisms.
4. Vocational College (KBT Fagskole) Tuition: KBT Fagskole offers accredited vocational education programs for experience consultants and social entrepreneurs. The school operates with rolling admissions and generates revenue from student enrollment. Approved as a research organization.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

KBT delivers user-involvement evaluations in mental health and welfare services using the proprietary Bruker Spør Bruker (BSB) peer-survey methodology, conducts dialogue-based service development projects with municipalities and hospitals, and offers training and guidance for user experience consultants (erfaringskonsulenter). Through its KBT Fagskole unit, KBT also runs vocational college programs, while Glimt Recoverysenter provides peer-led recovery support for the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority.

Product overview

KBT is a Norwegian non-profit competence center (ideell stiftelse) that serves as one of five Regional User-Driven Centers in Norway. The organization operates as a unified service center offering multiple interconnected programs: the core KBT competence center providing user experience and service development expertise; KBT Fagskole (vocational college) offering education for peer support specialists and social entrepreneurs; Glimt Recoverysenter providing a community meeting place with recovery-oriented activities including music therapy; and various services including dialogue meetings with municipalities, courses, qualitative research projects, innovation and co-creation initiatives, and the Bruker Spør Bruker (User Asks User) methodology. The organization also maintains comprehensive resource libraries covering Recovery concepts, user involvement for adults and children/youth. Services are delivered primarily in Norway with collaboration from municipalities, universities (NTNU), and health authorities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KBT Fagskole: Vocational college (fagskole) offering education programs for experience consultants (erfaringskonsulenter) and social entrepreneurs, with programs in recovery-oriented practice and user involvement.
• Glimt Recoverysenter
• Bruker Spør Bruker (BSB)
• Recoveryknutepunkt

Products and services

• KBT Fagskole Vocational college operated by KBT that delivers Norwegian credit-bearing education at the videregående (upper-secondary) and høyere nivå (higher) levels for experience consultants and other professionals working in mental health, substance use, and welfare services. Programs are offered digitally to support nationwide reach across Norway.
• Glimt Recoverysenter Peer-led recovery community center operated by KBT under contract with Sør-øst RHF (South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority), offering structured recovery programs built on lived experience for residents in the South-Eastern Norway region. The center is run with a music-therapist-led team and focuses on recovery-oriented practice.
• Bruker Spør Bruker (BSB) - user experience evaluations Proprietary user-experience evaluation service using the Bruker Spør Bruker (BSB) peer-to-peer survey methodology, in which trained experience consultants interview service users about their encounters with mental health, substance use, and welfare services. Findings are aggregated into reports used by Norwegian municipalities, health trusts, and welfare providers to evaluate and improve service quality.
• Dialogue meetings (Dialogmøter) and service development consulting Consulting service in which KBT partners with municipalities, user organizations, and service providers to facilitate structured dialogue processes that drive user-led service development and innovation in mental health and welfare. Delivery formats include the Helsefaglig Dialogmøte and project-specific co-creation engagements.
• Training and guidance for experience consultants (erfaringskonsulenter) Non-credit training and supervision program for current and aspiring experience consultants working in Norwegian mental health services. Provided by KBT staff (including designated guidance lead Anne Hirrich) and designed to professionalize the peer-support workforce.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 25 years of Bruker Spør Bruker evaluations, with approximately 2000 users of mental health services surveyed since 1998
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SINTEFcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020KBT is a collaboration partner in the multi-year evaluation project of Pakkeforløp for psykisk helse og rus (Package Pathways for Mental Health and Substance Use), led by SINTEF on behalf of the Norwegian Directorate of Health. KBT's role is to investigate user and family member experiences using the Bruker Spør Bruker methodology. The collaboration also includes NTNU and FoU-avd. Klinikk for rus og avhengighetsmedisin at St. Olavs Hospital.
• NTNU (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNTNU is a partner in the Pakkeforløp evaluation project alongside KBT and SINTEF. KBT also participates in the SEKEHE project with NTNU, working on systematic integration of experiential knowledge into higher education through co-production. Additionally, NTNU's Regionalt kunnskapssenter for barn og unge (RKBU Midt-Norge) collaborates with KBT since 2017 to strengthen user perspectives in research, teaching, and dissemination.
• St. Olavs Hospital (Sykehuset i Midtnorge)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSt. Olavs Hospital has collaborated with KBT on multiple Bruker Spør Bruker evaluations of its child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic (BUP) in Trondheim. The FoU department for substance use and addiction medicine at St. Olavs is also a partner in the Pakkeforløp evaluation. Additionally, St. Olavs was part of the Canada-Norway comparison study on experience consultant integration.
• Rådet for psykisk helse / Stiftelsen DamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRådet for psykisk helse, through Stiftelsen Dam, is a key funding partner for KBT's projects including Rom for medvirkning (Room for Involvement) — a 2-year project developing a guide for user involvement for children and youth in mental health services — and the continuation of the Min stemme teller (My Voice Matters) method development project. Rådet for psykisk helse is also a co-founder of the Min stemme teller pilot project alongside Redd barna region midt and Mental Helse Ungdom.
• RKBU Midt-Norge (Regionalt kunnskapssenter for barn og unge – psykisk helse og barnevern)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2017, KBT has collaborated with RKBU Midt-Norge to strengthen the user perspective in research, service support, teaching, and dissemination. KBT provides user involvement expertise across these four work areas. The collaboration also involves the national FACT Ung implementation team where RKBU contributes alongside KBT.
• NAPHA (Nasjonalt kompetansesenter for psykisk helsearbeid)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAPHA coordinates the national FACT Ung (Flexible Assertive Community Treatment for Youth) implementation team, for which KBT holds primary responsibility for the user involvement component. KBT also participates in NAPHA's Network for Recovery in Central Norway (initiated by KBT in 2018) alongside Trondheim municipality, Vårres Brukerstyrt Senter, Fontenehuset Trondheim, and KoRus. NAPHA provides coordination and implementation support.
• Trondheim MunicipalitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKBT has an ongoing collaboration with Trondheim municipality covering multiple projects including user-driven innovation and service development across three municipal units (enhet for psykisk helse og rus, enhet for rustjenester, and enhet for treffsted og botiltak). A user panel was established in the municipality, and KBT participates in weekly meetings with unit leadership. KBT also provides supervision for experience consultants employed by the municipality on behalf of the unit for mental health and substance use.
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKBT collaborates with King's College London, specifically with Professor Mary Leamy, on the Bruken av CHIME-modellen project (The Use of the CHIME Model to Promote Mental Health Recovery in Norway). KBT Fagskole launched an e-learning course on recovery-oriented practice using the CHIME model, developed in collaboration with Norwegian municipalities, NTNU, King's College London, and Rådet for psykisk helse.
• McMaster University (Health Leadership Academy)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKBT and the Health Leadership Academy at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada conduct a comparative research study on the operationalization of experience-driven innovation through integration of experience consultants (peer supporters) in health systems. The study covers both Norwegian and Canadian health services (hospitals, ACT teams, outpatient programs), interviewing experience consultants, their employers, and policymakers. An article was published in Healthcare Management Forum in 2019.
• Statsforvalteren i TrøndelagminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStatsforvalteren (County Governor) in Trøndelag is part of the Kompetansesentrenes Arbeidsgruppe for barn og unge (Competence Centers Working Group for Children and Youth) where KBT participates alongside Statsforvalteren's welfare and health departments. Statsforvalteren also funds the Levende veiledere (Living Guides) project on music therapy through which KBT co-organized webinars.
• KoRus Midt-Norge (Kunnskapssenter om rus)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKoRus Midt-Norge participates in the Network for Recovery in Central Norway alongside KBT, NAPHA, Trondheim municipality, Vårres Brukerstyrt Senter, and Fontenehuset Trondheim. KoRus is also part of the Kompetansesentrenes Arbeidsgruppe for barn og unge and the BTI (Bedre Tverrfaglig Innsats) network.
• RVTS Region Midt (Regionalt videre- og spesialistteam)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRVTS Region Midt participates in the Kompetansesentrenes Arbeidsgruppe for barn og unge alongside KBT, Statsforvalteren, RKBU, Statped, KoRus, the County Council, and Bufetat. RVTS also participated in earlier guidance sessions for experience consultants.
• Interreg (BERSE Project)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKBT participates in the Interreg BERSE project (Business Models Empowering Rural Social Entrepreneurship – Voicing the Rural Norm), investigating what support and conditions are needed for social enterprises in rural/district areas to develop and thrive. The project involves cross-border collaboration under the Interreg program.
• Nasjonal kompetansetjeneste for hodepineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKBT was commissioned by the National Competence Service for Headache to conduct a qualitative preliminary study in connection with planning a treatment study for patients with chronic cluster headache.
• Helsedirektoratet (Norwegian Directorate of Health)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHelsedirektoratet commissioned SINTEF to evaluate the Pakkeforløp for psykisk helse og rus, with KBT as a key partner investigating user and family member experiences. Helsedirektoratet also issued directives for strengthened cooperation between competence centers and Statsforvalteren, under which KBT contributes user involvement expertise.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Kompetencecenter Recovery (Denmark): Danish sister-organization focused on recovery-oriented practice. Comparable as a national/regional competence center for recovery that hosts dialogue visits and knowledge exchange with KBT.
• RVTS Region Midt: Regional specialist team providing guidance and training within psychological trauma and forced migration. Comparable as a regional competence resource collaborating with KBT in the working group for children and youth.
• Fontenehuset Trondheim: Trondheim-based psychosocial clubhouse following the Fountain House model. Comparable as a recovery-oriented community meeting place in Trondheim collaborating with KBT in the regional recovery network.

Direct peers

• KoRus (Kompetansesentre om rus) Midt-Norge: Norwegian regional competence center for substance use services, with which KBT partners in Midt-Norge recovery networks. Comparable as a government-designated regional competence center delivering training, research, and service development to municipalities.
• ImROC (Implementing Recovery Through Organisational Change): UK-based organization supporting implementation of recovery-oriented practice in mental health services. Comparable international peer with similar mission of translating recovery principles into organizational practice and training.
• NAPHA (Nasjonalt kompetansesenter for psykisk helsearbeid): Norway's national competence center for mental health work. Directly comparable to KBT as a publicly funded national/regional competence center supporting municipalities and health services in mental health practice, with which KBT collaborates on FACT Ung and recovery networks.
• RKBU Midt-Norge (Regionalt kunnskapssenter for barn og unge): Regional knowledge center for children and youth at NTNU. Directly comparable as a regional competence center for child/youth mental health and welfare that collaborates with KBT on user perspective strengthening in research, teaching, and dissemination.

Emerging players

• Mental Helse: Norwegian mental health interest organization representing people with mental health challenges. Comparable as a co-creator of KBT's Min stemme teller project, with overlapping mission of amplifying user voice in mental health service design.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC7cy0YBeEV_iv2Ed4nargpg
• Facebookfacebook.com/brukererfaring
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kompetansesenter-for-brukererfaring-og-tjenesteutvikling-kbt
• Instagraminstagram.com/kbtbrukererfaring

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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