1.
Abrahamsson, Agneta, 1951-, et al.
(författare)
Sense of coherence of reindeer herders and other Samis in comparison to other Swedish citizens
2013
Ingår i: International Journal of Circumpolar Health. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2242-3982 .- 2242-3982 .- 1239-9736. ; 72, s. 20633-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
BACKGROUND: Samis are indigenous people in north Europe. In the territory called Sápmi (Lapland), reindeer herding is the traditional base for the Sami economy. The relation between living conditions and positive health of the Swedish Samis has been sparsely studied. As health is closely linked to sense of coherence (SOC), an understanding of the background factors to SOC may contribute knowledge that might be useful in promoting living conditions and health.METHODS: The study examines relations between the level of SOC and background factors from surveys in a Sami population (n=613) in comparison to a non-Sami population (n=525) in Sweden, and in comparison between 2 subsamples of Samis, that is, herders and non-herders.RESULTS: There are more similarities than differences between the Sami and non-Sami populations. However, dividing the Sami population, reindeer herders had significantly lower SOC, and in specific the subcomponent manageability, that is, less ability to use available resources to meet different demands in life, compared to non-herders.CONCLUSIONS: In addition to age and health, predictors of SOC are related to the life form of reindeer husbandry and the belonging to the herding community.
2.
Björklund, Margereth, 1950-
(författare)
Living with head and neck cancer : a health promotion perspective - a qualitative study
2010
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Background and aim: In society there is a growing awareness that a vital factor for patientswith chronic diseases, such as head and neck cancer (HNC), is how well they are able to function in their every day lives – a common, but often overlooked, public health issue. The overall aim of this thesis is to reach a deeper understanding of living with HNC and to identify the experiences that patients felt promoted their health and well-being. It also explores the patients' experiences of contact and care from health professionals and whether these encounters could increase their feelings of health and well-being; salutogenic approach.Methods: This thesis engages a qualitative data design. On three occasions, 35 purposivelyselected patients were interviewed (31 from Sweden and one from Denmark, Finland, Island, and Norway). The first study was conducted in the Nordic counties (I), and the remainingstudies were conducted in Sweden (II, III, IV). Interviews were performed on a single basis(I, II, III) and then repeated (IV). The individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews usedopen-ended questions (n=53). Three different forms of analyses were used: critical incident technique (I), thematic content analysis (II), latent content analysis (III), and interpretativedescriptive analysis (paper IV).Findings: Living with head and neck cancer was expressed as living in captivity, in the sensethat patients' sometimes life-threatening symptoms were constant reminders of the disease. The patients experienced a threat against identity and existence. Patients struggled to find power and control over everyday life, and if successful this appeared to offer them better health and well-being along with spiritual growth. The general understanding was that these patients had strong beliefs in the future despite living on a virtual rollercoaster. The patients went through a process of interplay of internal and external enabling that helped them acquire strength and feelings of better health and well-being. Consequently, they found power and control from inner strength and other health resources, e.g. social networks, nature, hobbies, activity, and health professionals. However, the findings also revealed the opposite; that some patients were more vulnerable and felt powerless and faced everyday life with emotional and existential loneliness. They were dependent on next of kin and health professionals. Having good interpersonal relationships and emotional support 24 hours a day from next of kin were crucial, as were health promoting contacts and care from health professionals. This health promoting contact and care built on working relationships with competent health professionals that were available, engaged, respectful, validating, and, above all experienced in the treatment phase. But many patients experienced not health promoting contact and care – and a sense of not being respected, or even believed. Added were the patients' experiences of inadequate coordination between phases of their lengthy illness trajectory. They felt lost and abandoned by health services, especially before and after treatment.Conclusions: Inner strength, good relationships with next of kin, nature, hobbies, andactivities could create strength and a sense of better health and well-being. Patients experienced a mutual working relationship during dialoguing and sensed co-operation and equality in encounters with competent health professionals. This could lead to enhanced power and control i.e. empowerment in a patient's everyday life. The findings highlight psychosocial rehabilitation in a patient-centred organisation when health professionals supportpatients' inner strength and health resources , and also offer long-term support to next of kin.Finally, this research suggests that if health professionals could gain a deeper understanding of the psychosocial, existential, social, and economic questions on patients' minds, they could better sense how patients feel and would be better equipped not only to offer greater support, but to raise their voices to improve health policy and health care for these patients.
3.
Fismen, Anne-Siri, et al.
(författare)
Trends in food habits and their relation to socioeconomic status among Nordic adolescents 2001/2002-2009/2010
2016
Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 11:2
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
BackgroundIn the Nordic countries, substantial policy and intervention efforts have been made to increase adolescents' consumption of fruit and vegetables and to reduce their intake of sweets and soft drinks. Some initiatives have been formulated in a Nordic collaboration and implemented at national level. In recent years, social inequalities in food habits have been attracted particular governmental interest and several initiatives addressing the socioeconomic gradient in food habits have been highlighted. However, few internationally published studies have evaluated how trends in adolescents' food habits develop in the context of Nordic nutrition policy, or have compared differences between the Nordic countries.MethodsThe study was based on Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish cross-sectional data from the international Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study, collected via three nationally representative and comparable questionnaire surveys in 2001/2002, 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. Food habits were identified by students' consumption of fruit, vegetables, sweets and sugar sweetened soft drink. Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured with the Family Affluence Scale (FAS). Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the data.ResultsTrends in fruit consumption developed differently across countries, characterized by an increase in Denmark and Norway and more stable trends in Sweden and Finland. Vegetable consumption increased particularly in Denmark and to a lesser extent in Norway, whereas Sweden and Finland displayed stable trends. Decreased trends were observed for sweet and soft drink consumption and were similar in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Sweet consumption decreased across all survey years, whereas soft drink consumption decreased between 2001/2002–2005/2006 and was stable thereafter. Denmark displayed an increase between 2001/2002–2005/2006 followed by a similar decrease between 2005/2006–2009/2010 for both sweet and soft drink consumption. Socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption were observed in all countries, with no cross-country differences, and no changes over time. Small but not significant cross-country variation was identified for SES inequalities in sweet consumption. Reduced SES inequalities were observed in Sweden between 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. SES was not associated with soft drink consumption in this study population, with the exception of Denmark for the survey year 2009/2010.ConclusionDifferent trends resulted in increased country differences in food habits during the time of observations. In survey year 2009/2010, Danish students reported a higher intake of fruit and vegetable consumption than their counterparts in the other Nordic countries. Finnish students reported the lowest frequency of sweets and soft drink consumption. Despite the positive dietary trends documented in the present study, the majority of Nordic adolescents are far from meeting national dietary recommendations. Our findings underline the need for more comprehensive initiatives targeting young people's food habits as well as a more deliberate and focused action to close gaps in social inequalities that affect food choices.
4.
Huus, Karina, et al.
(författare)
Perceived needs among parents of children with a mild intellectual disability in Sweden
2017
Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1501-7419 .- 1745-3011. ; 19:4, s. 307-317
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
Parents of children with a mild intellectual disability experience more distress and require more support than other parents. The aim was to investigate the perceived family needs of parents of children with an MID and to investigate the relationship between parents’ perceived self-efficacy in their parental role and in collaborating with professionals as well as with their perceived needs for support. Interviews were based on questionnaires to the parents of 38 children. The results revealed that parents perceived need for information, respite, and venues in which to meet other parents in similar situations. The informational needs were related to parental self-efficacy and obtaining support. A lower need for information was related to higher perceived control over services. In conclusion, it appears that professionals need to work to strengthen parents’ ability to ask for support and to express the needs. Well-informed parents will develop stronger parental self-efficacy and perceived control over services.
5.
Ottová-Jordan, Veronika, et al.
(författare)
Trends in health complaints from 2002 to 2010 in 34 countries and their association with health behaviours and social context factors at individual and macro-level
2015
Ingår i: European Journal of Public Health. - : Oxford University Press. - 1101-1262 .- 1464-360X. ; 25:2, s. 83-89
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
BACKGROUND: This article describes trends and stability over time in health complaints in adolescents from 2002 to 2010 and investigates associations between health complaints, behavioural and social contextual factors at individual level and economic factors at macro-level.METHODS: Comprising N = 510 876 11-, 13- and 15-year-old children and adolescents in Europe, North America and Israel, data came from three survey cycles of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Age- and gender-adjusted trends in health complaints were examined in each country by means of linear regression. By using the country as the random effects variable, we tested to what extent individual and contextual variables were associated with health complaints.RESULTS: Significant associations are stronger for individual level determinants (e.g. being bullied, smoking) than for determinants at macro-level (e.g. GDP, Gini), as can be seen by the small effect sizes (less than 5% for different trends). Health complaints are fairly stable over time in most countries, and no clear international trend in health complaints can be observed between 2002 and 2010. The most prominent stable determinants were being female, being bullied, school pressure and smoking.CONCLUSION: Factors associated with health complaints are more related to the proximal environment than to distal macro-level factors. This points towards intensifying targeted interventions, (e.g. for bullying) and also targeting specific risk groups. The comparably small effect size at country-level indicates that country-level factors have an impact on health and should not be ignored.
6.
Ottová-Jordan, Veronika, et al.
(författare)
Trends in Multiple Recurrent health complaitns in 15-year-olds in 35 countries in Europe, North America and Israel from 1994 to 2010
2015
Ingår i: European Journal of Public Health. - : Oxford University Press. - 1101-1262 .- 1464-360X. ; 25:suppl 2, s. 24-27
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat) abstract
BACKGROUND: Health complaints are a good indicator of an individual's psychosocial health and well-being. Studies have shown that children and adolescents report health complaints which can cause significant individual burden.METHODS: Using data from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, this article describes trends in multiple recurrent health complaints (MHC) in 35 countries among N = 237 136 fifteen-year-olds from 1994 to 2010. MHC was defined as the presence of two or more health complaints at least once a week. Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate trends across the five survey cycles for each country.RESULTS: Lowest prevalence throughout the period 1994-2010 was 16.9% in 1998 in Austria and highest in 2006 in Israel (54.7%). Overall, six different trend patterns could be identified: No linear or quadratic trend (9 countries), linear decrease (7 countries), linear increase (5 countries), U-shape (4 countries), inverted U-shape (6 countries) and unstable (4 countries).CONCLUSION: Trend analyses are valuable in providing hints about developments in populations as well as for benchmarking and evaluation purposes. The high variation in health complaints between the countries requires further investigation, but may also reflect the subjective nature of health complaints.
