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| 2. |
- Agrell, Berit
(författare)
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Stroke in geriatric patients - Aspects of depression, cognition and motor activity
- 1998
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Six depression rating scales, GDS, Zung, CES-D, CPRS-D and Cornell, were compared in 40 patients. The validity was good for all scales except for the Cornell scale. A comprehensive investigation was done in 116 elderly stroke patients. There was no difference in prevalence and severity of post-stroke depression in relation to side of lesion. A test for receptive aphasia, the Token test, showed that 75% of patients with left hemisphere lesion and aphasia, 36% of patients with right hemisphere lesion and 5% of controls had abnormal test initially. The relationships and sensitivity of different visuo-spatial neglect tests were examined. Sensitivity was around 50% for the best tests. Neglect patients showed a greater cognitive dysfunction initially and a slower recovery. The validity of a cognitive test, the MMSE, was examined. Five neuropsychological tests were used as a subgroup of patients.MMSE scores were significant lower for the patients than for the controls. The sensitivity of the MMSE was 56%, the specificity 80% and the false negative ratio 39% against the neuropsychological tests. Motor activity after stroke was assessed by parts of the Fugl-Meyer test in different infarction subgroups and initial severity groups. The initial severity groups were better predictors for outcome. Multiple regression showed three variables to be predictors: initial motor activity, Barthel Index and right hemisphere lesion.
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| 3. |
- Albin, Björn
(författare)
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Morbidity and mortality among foreign-born Swedes
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aims: The general aim of this thesis was to describe and compare the group of foreign-born persons living in Sweden and native Swedes with regard to health development over time, thus studying the influence of migration on health. Methods: All four studies are based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) and the National Board of Health and Welfare, Centre for Epidemiology covering the period 1970?1999. The database used included all foreign-born persons aged 16 years and upwards who were registered as living in Sweden in 1970. For each foreign-born person a Swedish matched control was chosen. The control was matched and was similar in age, sex, occupation, type of employment and county of residence in 1970. In total 906,564 people were included, 50 percent foreign-born persons. Information from the National Board of Health and Welfare, Centre for Epidemiology on date of death and death diagnosis was added to the database. Exclusion criteria were if no information was available or if a person had emigrated or migrated back (?re-migrated?). Persons were then also excluded if the information from the control subject was missing due to migration. The database used for analysis finally consisted of 723,948 persons, 361,974 foreign-born and 361,974 Swedish controls. All statistical analyses were carried out using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program, version 11.5, and both descriptive and analytic statistic methods were used. Results: The results of the four studies show that foreign-born persons living in Sweden 1970?1999 have higher mortality, lower mean age at time of death and a different pattern of causes of death. The studies also found a tendency to less utilization of health care and that county of residence influences mortality among foreign-born persons. The most important finding was that migration has an influence on health. Conclusion: To explain the differences found in health among foreign-born persons, several different factors have to be taken into account. Health is influenced by economic situation, housing, working conditions, unemployment, social network and background before migration. Social and physical environment or inequalities in resources and utilization of health care are important. Migration is shown to have a negative influence on health and is an important factor to consider when studying mortality and health in a population.
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| 4. |
- Almborg, Ann-Helene
(författare)
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Perceived Participation in Discharge Planning and Health Related Quality of Life after Stroke
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the patients’ and their relatives’ perceived participation in discharge planning after stroke and the patients’ health-related quality of life, depressive symptoms, performance of personal daily activities and social activities in connection with discharge. Another aim was to evaluate the psychometric assumptions of the SF-36 for Swedish stroke patients.Prospective, descriptive and cross-sectional designs were used to study all patients with stroke admitted to the stroke unit at a hospital in southern Sweden from October 1, 2003 to November 30, 2005 each with one close relative. The total sample consisted of 188 patients (mean age=74.0 years) and 152 relatives (mean age=60.1 years). Data were collected during interviews, 2-3 weeks after discharge.The results showed that less depressive symptoms, more outdoor activities and performance of interests are important variables that related to higher HRQoL. SF-36 functions well as a measure of health related quality of life in Swedish stroke patients, but the two summary scales have shortcomings. Compared to a Swedish normal population, scores on all scales/components of the SF-36 were lower among stroke patients especially in the middle-aged group. Most of the patients perceived that they received information, but fewer perceived participation in the planning of medical treatment and needs of care/service/rehabilitation and goal setting. The relatives perceived that they need more information and they perceived low participation in goal setting and needs assessment. The professionals seem to lack effective practices for involving patients and their relatives to perceive participation in discharge planning. It is essential to develop and to implement methods for discharge planning, including sharing information, needs assessment with goal setting that facilitate patients’ and relatives’ perceived participation. The results suggest that ICF can be used in goal setting and needs assessment in discharge planning after acute stroke.
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| 5. |
- Andin, Josefine
(författare)
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Dealing with Digits : Arithmetic, Memory and Phonology in Deaf Signers
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Deafness has been associated with poor abilities to deal with digits in the context of arithmetic and memory, and language modality-specific differences in the phonological similarity of digits have been shown to influence short-term memory (STM). Therefore, the overall aim of the present thesis was to find out whether language modality-specific differences in phonological processing between sign and speech can explain why deaf signers perform at lower levels than hearing peers when dealing with digits. To explore this aim, the role of phonological processing in digit-based arithmetic and memory tasks was investigated, using both behavioural and neuroimaging methods, in adult deaf signers and hearing non-signers, carefully matched on age, sex, education and non-verbal intelligence. To make task demands as equal as possible for both groups, and to control for material effects, arithmetic, phonological processing, STM and working memory (WM) were all assessed using the same presentation and response mode for both groups. The results suggested that in digit-based STM, phonological similarity of manual numerals causes deaf signers to perform more poorly than hearing non-signers. However, for digit-based WM there was no difference between the groups, possibly due to differences in allocation of resources during WM. This indicates that similar WM for the two groups can be generalized from lexical items to digits. Further, we found that in the present work deaf signers performed better than expected and on a par with hearing peers on all arithmetic tasks, except for multiplication, possibly because the groups studied here were very carefully matched. However, the neural networks recruited for arithmetic and phonology differed between groups. During multiplication tasks, deaf signers showed an increased reliance on cortex of the right parietal lobe complemented by the left inferior frontal gyrus. In contrast, hearing non-signers relied on cortex of the left frontal and parietal lobes during multiplication. This suggests that while hearing non-signers recruit phonology-dependent arithmetic fact retrieval processes for multiplication, deaf signers recruit non-verbal magnitude manipulation processes. For phonology, the hearing non-signers engaged left lateralized frontal and parietal areas within the classical perisylvian language network. In deaf signers, however, phonological processing was limited to cortex of the left occipital lobe, suggesting that sign-based phonological processing does not necessarily activate the classical language network. In conclusion, the findings of the present thesis suggest that language modality-specific differences between sign and speech in different ways can explain why deaf signers perform at lower levels than hearing non-signers on tasks that include dealing with digits.
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| 6. |
- Andrén, Signe
(författare)
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Family caregivers of persons with dementia. Experiences of burden, satisfaction and psychosocial intervention.
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- One of the most common diseases occurring in old age groups is dementia. Caring for a relative with dementia poses many challenges for family caregivers and they bear the main responsibility for the persons with dementia living at home. The overall aim of this thesis, which consists of five community-based studies, was to explore experiences of burden and satisfaction among family caregivers (FC) looking after persons with dementia. Implicit in this aim was the assumption that the result of this research would support development of education programs for caregivers of individuals with dementia in the community. FC of persons with dementia living in either group living care or nursing home still expressed feelings of burden several years after relocation. The caregivers also reported insufficient information and support, and the grown-up children who are low-income earners are those who are affected most ? especially with regard to strain and disappointment. FC with a higher sense of coherence and fewer symptoms reported significantly less burden. Sense of coherence seems to modify the extent of burden reported among FCs, irrespectively of their health. Stressors as measured on the caregiver burden scale and satisfaction can co-exist and allow assessment of different aspects of the caregiver's situation. Psychosocial intervention with a clearly defined aim, which combines giving information and holding conversation groups, can have significant positive effects on the burden experienced by FCs of persons with dementia. The best effect of intervention on caregivers in a controlled study design was found early in the progression of dementia. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying FCs early in the caring process, to maximize their well-being.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Barman, Linda, 1972-
(författare)
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Striving for Autonomy : Health sciences teachers’ enactment of policy
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Abstract This thesis explores how teachers within the health sciences enact education policy. The questions address how teachers’ choices related to the design of courses and curricula are made in the light of reforms that emphasise standardisation and transparency. Employing a hermeneutical framework teachers’ enactment were regarded as a meaning-making process shown through reason and action. In line with the interpretative approach, the two research projects were performed with qualitative methods. The first research project (study I and II) concerned how teachers’ understood and carried out changes in course design related to the implementation of outcome-based education and the European Bologna Process. For that purpose, course material and interview data was analysed. The second research project (study III and IV), was conducted to deepen the understanding of findings from the first project. A group of teachers who conducted major changes related to previous reform was chosen and studied with a narrative approach when they engaged in the development of teaching and learning. In particular, the teachers’ development of assessment criteria of students’ clinical competencies was studied over one year. A body of literature report on how teachers conceptualise teaching and learning. Based on those studies there has been an emphasis on supporting teachers’ shift in views regarding teaching and learning. Related to recent reforms in higher education, it is however suggested that teachers are less free to decide upon educational matters, and hence individual teachers’ deepened understanding are not enough for development of practice to occur. The findings in this thesis suggest that wide interpretations of education policy in combination with pedagogical knowledge may benefit educational development in practice. Teachers were found to approach outcome-based education when introduced as policy in four different ways, with outcome blind, technocratic, pragmatic or ideological approach. These approaches were related to student-centred learning to more or less extent, and to greater or lesser autonomy in the decision-making related to course design. The studies showed how teachers’ experience a tension between bureaucratic demands and what is emphasised through teaching and learning theory. For some teachers this meant that theoretical constructs were applied in instrumental ways and that pedagogy equated the bureaucratic and rational standards involved in quality control. The findings suggest however, that learning and development can be promoted through education policy but that teachers’ local practices should be supported.
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| 9. |
- Berg, Marie, 1955
(författare)
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Genuine Caring in Caring for the Genuine : Childbearing and high risk as experienced by women and midwives
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The experience of pregnancy and childbirth is a central life event with special implications for women at high risk. This thesis describes the meaning of pregnancy, childbirth and midwifery care in four qualitative interview studies based on the lifeworld theory. Women were interviewed during pregnancy and within one week after childbirth. Midwives were interviewed concerning midwifery care for women at high risk. In an intervention study, childbirth experience as reported through a post partum questionnaire was compared between women receiving standard care and women who had formulated a birth plan preceded by a questionnaire on their expectations and feelings about childbirth.The findings emphasise that childbearing women at high risk live in an extremely vulnerable situation. The vulnerability is obvious in the use of an individual birth plan, where negative feelings become more frequent in women at high risk than in those with normal pregnancy and childbirth. During pregnancy the women feel a moral commitment towards the child, including feelings of objectification and of exaggerated responsibility. During an obstetrically complicated childbirth the essential meaning is the women’s desire to be recognised and affirmed as individual persons. Like women with normal pregnancy and childbirth, they need an emotionally present midwife who sees, give trust and supports.Good midwifery care of childbearing women at high risk is synthesised as "genuine caring in caring for the genuine". The ethos of caring constitutes the basis of caring. Women’s transition during pregnancy and childbirth is described as a genuinely natural process. Midwives have a special responsibility to encourage and preserve this process within women at high risk. The caring relationship is the core and the most essential tool in the care. Distinctive features in the midwifery care are embodied knowledge, physical as well as emotional presence, sensitivity, a mutual dialogue including shared control between midwife and woman, and confirmation and support of the genuine in each woman. The midwifery care is a struggle and a balance between natural and medical perspectives.
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| 10. |
- Bielsten, Therése, 1978-
(författare)
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“Doing things together” : Towards a health promoting approach to couples’ relationships and everyday life in dementia
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Most people with dementia live in their own homes, often together with their partners, who become informal caregivers. Relationship quality and sense of couplehood can be threatened as a result of the transition from a mutually interdependent relationship to a caregiver-care-receiver relationship. This, in turn, may lead to many negative consequences for both partners. Support provided for couples is often divided into different types for the person with dementia and for the partner without dementia and lacks couple-based support that targets the relationship, resources and the couple’s everyday life together. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis is to explore couple-centred interventions in dementia and to develop and test a salutogenic, resource-oriented and couple-based intervention among couples in which one partner has dementia living at home. Methods and findings: This thesis comprises three parts: The first part Exploring involves two linked reviews, one narrative review (study I A) and one scoping review (study I B) that aim to identify and describe what previous couple-centred interventions comprised and why they were conducted. The results of the reviews revealed a knowledge gap in and a need for easily accessible support that targets couple relationships, resources and everyday life. The second part Developing (study II) refers to the development of an easily accessible resource-oriented couple-management intervention. The first step was to identify priority topics for such an intervention through a co-researcher process with couples living with dementia. This included a comprehensive literature review, interviews with couples in which one partner has dementia, and consultation meetings with expert groups of people with dementia and partners in both Sweden and the UK. The co-researcher process and the expert meetings informed four main themes with corresponding sub-themes that couples with dementia considered as important to their wellbeing in their everyday lives: (1) Home and Neighbourhood, (2) Meaningful Activities and Relationships, (3) Approach and Empowerment, and (4) Couplehood. The themes were further developed and integrated into the multimedia application DemPower, which was developed for the delivery of the intervention. The third part Testing and Evaluating describes a feasibility study (study III) in which the DemPower application was tested for feasibility and acceptability among couples in Sweden and the UK. The results of the feasibility study indicated that the DemPower intervention was feasible and acceptable among couples in which one partner has dementia living at home. The testing and evaluating part also comprise a qualitative study (study IV) that explores the experiences of engaging with DemPower together as a couple living with dementia in Sweden. The findings resulted in the three themes: (1) Growth of the relationship, (2) We are not alone, and (3) Positive approach, which the couples appreciated and associated with the resource-oriented and salutogenic approach of DemPower. The overall findings of the thesis are presented in a concluding synthesis at the end of the thesis. The concluding synthesis, focused on “Meaningfulness”, “Empowering health promotion”, “Normalization” and “Transitions and couplehood”, represents the core findings of this thesis. What this thesis adds: This thesis contributes to research, healthcare and the public by highlighting the need for a salutogenic approach toward couples living with dementia. The DemPower application, with its focus on couples’ relationships, resource-orientation and everyday life, has proven feasibility and acceptability and has meaningfully addressed a gap in the literature and in practice. As researchers, healthcare professionals and the public, we need to support couples where one partner has dementia to continue to live as normal life as possible. This can best be achieved by focusing on what couples can do, by inclusion and by valuing them as the experts within dementia research and of their life experiences.
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