<p>Syftet med studien var att beskriva hiv-positivas erfarenheter av möten med vårdpersonal i den allmänna sjukvården.</p><p>Resultatet bygger på åtta respondenters upplevelser. De deltagande hade levt med hiv i allt ifrån tre till tjugotre år. Datainsamlingen skedde med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer.</p><p>Resultatet visar att hiv-bärare har lågt förtroende för hur sekretessen handhas i allmänna vården. De upplever svårigheter i form av långa väntetider och nekad vård och behandling. Personer med hiv menar att vårdpersonal blir rädda, avståndstagande och undviker fysisk kontakt efter att de berättat om sin hiv-diagnos. Hiv-positiva uppfattar att personal i vården slösar med resurser och ägnar sig åt onödiga skyddsåtgärder. De beskriver en rädsla inför kontakt med allmänna vården.</p><p>Positiva erfarenheter har varit relaterade till att hiv-bärare inte blivit särbehandlade eller utpekade på grund av sin sjukdom. Att vårdpersonal är förstående, öppensinnade och inte ställer konstiga frågor inger en trygghet hos hiv-bäraren. De uppskattar möten där informationen om blodsmittan tas med jämnmod utan att trigga igång någon negativ reaktion.</p> / <p>The aim of this study was to describe HIV-carriers’ experiences of encounters with caregivers in the public health care.</p><p>The result is based on experiences of eight respondents. The participants had lived with HIV from three to twenty-three years. The data was collected by qualitative interviews.</p><p>The results show that HIV-carriers have a low trust of the secrecy in the public health care. They experience resistance in form of long wait and of being denied care and treatment. People with HIV mean that caregivers get scared, distant and avoid physical contact after being told about the HIV-diagnosis. HIV-carriers experience that health care staff waste resources and devote themselves in unnecessary protective measures. They also describe afear of contact with the public health care.</p><p>Positive experiences have by the HIV-positive been described as not being given any special treatment due to their illness. If the medical staff is understanding, open minded and don´t ask strange questions it infuses a sense of security. HIV-carriers appreciate encounters where the information about their blood-borne virus are being received with equanimity and does not trigger any negative reactions.</p>

This study examines how experiences with art promote healthy cultural identities of self and others, and focuses on the potentially mutual benefits to Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and youth living in developing countries. As a returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) and current elementary art teacher, I combine personal insight with multicultural art education discourse to create a curriculum intended for PCVs to implement during their service. In order to gain relevant feedback on the curriculum's theoretical basis and potential usefulness, I conduct a focus group composed of six RPCVs whose primary or secondary Peace Corps project involved art education or youth development. While examining the critical relationship between the curriculum's meta-narrative, frame narrative, and task narrative, in addition to the unpredictable circumstances Peace Corps service inevitably entails, research findings expose the complex nature of cross-cultural pedagogy. In order to achieve the curriculum's intended goals, implications include emphasizing the PCV's dual role as the facilitator and participant.

Encounters  and  relations  between  people  with  different  cultural  backgrounds  tend  to  be  primarily  discussed  in  terms  of  exclusio,  prejudice  and  conflict.  This  thesis  focuses  on  the  creative  aspects  of  intercultural  encounters.  The  starting  point  is  that  the  parties  involved  sometimes  succeed  in  avoiding  the  latent  conflicts  between  cultures  by  acting  trategically.  The  aim  of  this  thesis  is  to  increase  understanding  of  the  possibilities  represented  by  intercultural  encounters  and  to  identiy  the  strategies  employed  by  the  actors  who  try  to  deal  with  the  contrasts  and  dilemmas  involved  in  encounters  with  other  peopl  with  different  cultural  experiences,  identities  and  methods.  The  empirical  part  of  the  thesis  is  based  on  four  qualitative  case  studies  that  are  characterised  by  rather  positive  co‐operation  between  the  actors  in  the  intercultural  encounter,  i.e.  "immigrants"  and  the  majority  society  in  Sweden.  The  empirical  data  are  based  on  45  individual  interviews,  two  focus  group  discussions  and  a  number  of  minor  observations  made  in  the  inland  part  of  northern  Sweden,  where  the  case  studies  were  carried  out.  The  principal  result  of  this  research  is  that  the  actors  begin  to  see  culture  as  a  possibility  when  they  find  themselves  in  a  osition  where  they  feel  obliged  to  change  their  established  patterns  of  behaviour,  due  to  some  sort  of  crisis  situation.  The  strategies  used  by  the  actors  to  deal  with  culture  conflicts  can  be  divided  into  intra‐group  strategies  and  inter‐group  strategies.  The  former  attempt  to  achieve  relative  homogeneity  between  the  competing  groups  in  the  field  of  the  intercultural  encounter,  while  the  latter  illustrate  how  the  participants  deal  with  what  they  experience  as  differences.  Four  inter‐group  strategies  have  been  identified:  1)  the  status  quo  strategy,  2)  the  loose  coupling  strategy,  3)  the  selective  strategy  and  4)  a  culture  mixing  strategy.  The  latter  three  are  characterised  by  innovative  combinations  that  organise  the  existing  cultural  elements  in  a  meaningful  way  These  strategies  result  in  new  cognitive  structures,  whose  limits  maintain  the  balance  between  different  cultural  elements. / Möten och  relationer  bland  människor  med  olika  kulturell  bakgrund  diskuteras  idag  övervägande  i  termer  av  social  och  kulturell  exkludering,  fördomar  och  motsättningar.  I  denna  avhandling  har  jag  valt  att  fokusera  på  kulturmötens  kreativa  aspekter.  Min  utgångspunkt  är  att  deltagande  parter  i  vissa  fall  lyckas  att  kringgå  kulturmötenas  inneboende  motsättningar  och  överbrygg  det  kulturella  avståndet  genom  att  handla  strategiskt.  Syftet  med  avhandlingen  har  varit  att  öka  förståelsen  av  kulturmötens  möjligheter  och  att  identifiera  aktörernas  handlingsmönser  när  de  försöker  hantera  kontraster  och  dilemman  i  möten  med  människor  som  skiljer  sig  i  fråga  om  kulturella  erfarenheter,  identiteter  och  metoder.  Hur  handlingarna  organiseras  för  att  förmå  människor  att  gemensamt  fungera  under  kulturmötenas  villkor,  är  frågan  vars  svar  förväntas  förtydliga  hur  den  kreativa  potentialen  i  kulturmöten  kan  tillvaratas.  Utformning  av  aktuella  handlingsstrategier  och  deras  effekter  analyseras  i  termer  av  motsvarande  kognitiva  strukturer.  Dessa  ställs  mot  varandra  och  analyseras  i  ett  kognitivt  sociologiskt  perspektiv.  Avhandlingens  empiriska  del  grundas  på  fyra  kvalitativa  fallstudier.  Bedömningsgrunder  för  urvalet  av  dessa  fall  har  varit  att  det  skulle  röra  sig  om  händelser  eller  projekt  som  äger  rum  i  glesbyden  och  som  inkluderar  en  någorlunda  affirmativ  bild  av  samverkan  mellan  aktörer  från  olika  kulturell  bakgrund.  Ett  av  de  studerade  fallen  har  exemplifierat  en  icke‐affirmativ  bild  av  samverkan  för  att  kontrastera  de  övriga  fallen.  Empiriska  data  har  insamlats  genom  totalt  45  individuella  intervjuer,  två  fokusgruppsdiskussioner  samt  några  mindre  observationer.  Avhandlingens  huvudresultat  är  att  aktörerna  uppfattar  kultur  som  en  möjlighet  först  när  behovet  att  förändra  etablerade  beteenemönster  upplevs  som  nödvändigt  på  grund  av  krisförhållanden.  I  den  meningen  kan  kris  och  instabilitet  ses  som  en  förutsättning  för  att  kulturmötens  kreativa  möjligheter  ska  kunna  tillvaraas.  Handlingsstrategier  som  aktörerna  använt  för  att  hantera  kulturella  motsättningar  kan  uppdelas  i  inomgruppsstrategier  och  mellngruppsstrategier.  De  förstnämnda  syftar  till  att  uppnå  en  relativ  homogenisering  bland  de  konkurrerande  grupperna  inom  de  fält  som  ingår  i  kultumöten,  medan  de  sistnämnda  åskådliggör  hur  deltagarna  går  tillväga  för  att  hantera  uppfattade  olikheter.  Jag  har  identifierat  fyra  mellangruppstrategier:  1)  status  quo‐strategi,  2)  frikopplingsstrategi,  3)  selektiv  strategi  och  4)  kulturblandningsstrategi.  De  tre  sistnämnda  kännetecknas  av  innovativa  sammanställningar  som  organiserar  befintliga  kulturella  element  på  ett  meningsfult  sätt.  Effekter  av  dessa  strategier  resulterar  i  nya  kognitiva  strukturer,  vars  gränsdragningar  bevarar  en  balansgång  mellan  olika  kulturella  element.

Participation under coercion. On young people’s experiences in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care.  The aim of the dissertation is to study young people’s experiences of participation under coercion in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care and to discuss these in relationship to the potential senses of participation and the conditions applying to encounters in care. It takes as its theoretical point of departure Gadamer’s texts on medical encounters, von Wright’s texts on participation as an intersubjective phenomenon that is related to the creation of meaning and Buber’s texts on interhuman encounters. The dissertation is based on two empirical studies. The first consisted of interviews with 21 young people in the 14-18 age group who were patients in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care; ten of them involuntarily, eleven voluntarily admitted. The interviews dealt with the following areas: coercion, participation, meaning and encounters in care. The second study involved an analysis of the ambitions of the health care system with regard to participation and encounters with patients as expressed in the legal regulations applying to the health and medical services and the guidelines on professional ethics for different categories of staff. Analysis of the empirical material was based on a hermeneutic approach. The young people’s experiences of their care revealed that they rarely have any knowledge of the legal conditions that apply or about their rights, irrespective of whether they are voluntary or committed patients. One recurrent experience is lack of clarity about the reason for the treatment and what it is intended to do. Despite these shortcomings in their participation, some of the young people view their treatment as important and at times even lifesaving. Analysis of the ambitions of the health care system shows that the focus in the current regulations is placed on the self-determination and autonomy of the patients. There is rarely any description of the importance of a dialogue or of collaboration with the patient. Analysis of the material as a whole reveals that three senses can be attributed to participation in the care situation studied: participation as a right, participation as involvement and participation as meaning. The dissertation discusses how participation in these three senses can find expression in encounters between young people and staff. If participation is to be possible, a relation and an interhuman encounter is required which is characterised by truth, frankness and lack of pretence. This shows how important it is for young people undergoing coercive treatment to be able to meet individuals who can see and acknowledge them as subjects with an entitlement to participate. This can offer possibilities for the creation of meaning in treatment that has not always been sought but which can still be experienced as meaningful.

Den här studien avser att med en kvalitativ metod nå en ökad förståelse för vilken betydelse möten mellan hemlösa män och icke hemlösa personer har haft för männen under den tid då de fick ett hem. I vår teoretiska referensram har vi använt oss av Sterns beskrivning av ansikte mot ansikte-interaktion med särskilt fokus på intersubjektiva möten, och Scheffs teori om skam och stolthet. Vi har också Använt Collins teori om interationsrituella kedjor som betonar interpersonella- och grupprocesser samt Mays teori om tillhörighet. Genom tio semistrukturerade livsvärldsintervjuer med före detta hemlösa män har vi insamlat vårt empiriska material från tre olika länder. I resultatet framgick att möten hade en betydande roll under den tid då männen fick ett hem, och att de där fick möjlighet att omdefiniera bilden av sig själva, vilket underlättade för dem i att aktivt vilja arbeta mot en förändring av sina livssituationer. Sammantaget kan konstateras att möten med icke hemlösa tycktes vara startskottet för en rad positiva händelser där männen hamnade i nya situationer och sammanhang som bidrog till en mer stabil tillvaro och ett rikare socialt liv. / By qualitative methods of research the study aims to provide more information on the significance of the encounters between homeless men and non-homeless people during the period when they received an apartment. For our approach we have used Stern`s description about face-to-face interaction, focusing on intersubjective meetings and Scheff`s theory about shame and pride. We have also used Collins`theory about interaction ritual chains that emphasize interpersonal group processes. We have also used May`s theory about belonging. We have gathered our empirical data through ten semistructured life world interviews from three different countries. As result we found out that these meetings had had a significant role during the period where the respondents had received homes. Also, we noticed that they got a chance to redefine their self-image and that made it easier for them to work actively towards a change in their lives. Finally it can be said that the meetings with the non homeless seemed to be a start for series of positive events, where men got to new situations and contexts that contributed to a more stable being and richer social life.

Bakgrund. Forskningsgenomgången visade sårbarhet som ett kontextuellt fenomen i möte mellan kontrahenterna sjuksköterska och patient utan att själva essensen i begreppet klargjordes, vilket indikerar att det saknas kunskap om begreppet sårbarhet. Syftet. Studiens syfte var att beskriva essensen av begreppet sårbarhet i omvårdandens sociala kontext, det mänskliga mötet. Metoden. Metoderna har utgått från modellen för begreppsanalys av Segesten (2011) och innefattat en induktiv och deduktiv kvalitativ ansats. Resultatet. (Begrepps)analysen resulterade i följande fynd: mottaglig för att skadas, hjärtesår, själasår, skyddslös; modet att vara sårbar, mänsklig värdighet, lyhördhet; ett ovisst livshot, sveket mot omvårdnadens kärna, den tillintetgjorda identiteten; den djupt mänskliga existensen, önskan om oföränderlighet, riktning mot en definitiv förändring. Slutsatsen. Essensen av sårbarhetens mening föds av människans föränderliga existens. Den föränderliga existensen får sin betydelse av livshot, tillintetgjord identitet och sveket mot omvårdandens kärna, vilket begreppsliggörs av den sårbarhet som uppstår i vårdmötet, uttryckt i orden som att vara hudlös, naken och skyddslös. Klinisk betydelse. Studien har bidragit till att klargöra betydelsen av begreppet sårbarhet inom omvårdnadsprofessionen genom att lyfta fram ordets olika begreppsomfång i olika omvårdnadssammanhang. Den kliniska betydelsen för omvårdnaden men även den generella allmänbildningen är att dess betydelser kan utveckla språket från perspektivet sårbarhet. / Background. The background overview of this research presented vulnerability as a contextual phenomenon in the encounter between nurse and patient. The essence of the concept of vulnerability appeared unclear, which indicates that there is a lack of knowledge about the concept of vulnerability. Aim. The aim of the study was to describe the essence of the concept of vulnerability in a nursing social context, meaning the encounter between humans being. Methods. The methods have been based on the model of conceptual analysis of Segesten (2011) and involved an inductive and a deductive qualitative approach. Findings. The concept analysis resulted in the following findings: susceptibility to damage – heartache, pain of the soul, defenselessness; courage to be vulnerable – human dignity, perceptiveness; uncertain threats to life – betrayal of the nursing core, annihilated identity; the profound human existence – desire for immutability, a direction towards a definite change. Conclusion. The essence of the meaning of vulnerability derives from man’s ever-changing existence. The changing existence gets its significance from threat to life, destroyed identity and betrayal of the nursing core, which is conceptualized by the vulnerability that arises in nursing care encounters, expressed in words like skinless, naked and defenseless. Clinical significance. The study has contributed to clarifying the meaning of the concept of vulnerability within nursing professions by unveiling the word's various dimensions within different nursing contexts. The clinical implications for the nursing care, but also the general public education, is that the word’s meanings can develop the language from the perspective of vulnerability.

This study examines collaborative work between colleagues in the newsroom of local radio stations. Through the framework of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis the overall aim is to explore how backstage work in the newsroom is initiated, established, and negotiated as a collective knowledge-based practice. Based on video ethnographic fieldwork in five local radio stations, the analyses demonstrate how the newsroom is constituted as a collegial knowledge-based practice through the ways in which colleagues contribute to the accomplishment of seemingly individual tasks in the production of news, and through encounters where journalists request assistance from colleagues to carry out work assignments that are typically technical/practical in their character. The analyses highlight the participants’ epistemic orientations as an interactional engine, but emphasize how this orientation is made relevant for professional actions. Examining in detail how members orient to epistemic asymmetries when requesting assistance in individual tasks, it is shown how accounts expressed in those situations are often double barreled in that they also explicate if the current situation is to be met with instructions or a division of labour. When examining the interactional sequences that ensue in response to requests for help, it is shown how those situations can be understood as communicative pedagogical projects, how the tutor in situ must decompose the overall task into relevant steps and formulate these composite actions so they can be recognized and performed by the colleague. It is also shown how embodied action or absence of expected embodied action is treated as expressions of knowledge, that is, epistemic stance. In these everyday pedagogical practices, the participants establish a local rationality and a situation where two professional colleagues interact. The study thus demonstrates how interaction with colleagues contributes to institutional tasks as well as to the development of different professional skills. In highlighting collaborative work between colleagues in newsrooms the study contributes to the field of epistemics in social interaction, collegial work, talk in institutions, and newsroom ethnographies.

Den aktuella studien syftade till att öka förståelsen för den betydande roll känslor har i servicemöten. En experimentell design användes där deltagare randomiserades till en av två scenariobeskrivningar, där en variabel var manipulerad. Två olika ansiktsuttryck, ett leende eller ett neutralt, användes som stimuli för att undersöka dess inverkan på kunderna. Resultaten visade att en leende servicearbetare påverkade kundernas känslor positivt, samt ökade både nöjdheten och reciprociteten jämfört med en servicearbetare med neutralt ansiktsuttryck. Dessutom utvärderade kunderna den leende servicearbetarens personliga egenskaper mer positivt jämfört med servicearbetaren med neutralt ansiktsuttryck. Resultaten bekräftar många föregående studiers resultat på området. Resultaten belyser även en viktig bit som tidigare forskning missat, nämligen utvärderingen av servicearbetarens personkaraktäristiska och dess inverkan i servicemötet.Därigenom markerar studien ett behov av utökad kunskap inom området. Slutsatsen är att ett leende påverkar kunder positivt ur många aspekter. En ökad förståelse och kunskap för området kan i ett längre perspektiv ge en praktisk nytta för många parter; för serviceföretagen, men även för servicearbetare och kunder. / The present study aimed to extend the understanding of the important role that feelings have in service encounters. An experimental design was used where participants were randomly allocated to one of two text-based  scenarios. Two different facial expressions were used in an experiment to investigate their influence on customers. The results showed that a smiling service worker affected the customers’ feelings positive, and increased the customers’ satisfaction as well as their reciprocity, compared to a service worker with a neutral facial expression. Furthermore, the customers evaluated the smiling service workers personal qualities more positive compared to the service worker with a neutral facial expression. The results confirm many earlier studies results in the same research area. The results also highlight an important part that earlier research have missed, namely the personal evaluation of the service worker and its influence in the service encounter. Thereby, this study marks a need of extended knowledge in the area. The conclusion is that a smile affects customers positively in many aspects. An increased understanding and knowledge can give a practical use for many parts; for service companies but also for service workers and customers.

Participation under coercion. On young people’s experiences in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care.  The aim of the dissertation is to study young people’s experiences of participation under coercion in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care and to discuss these in relationship to the potential senses of participation and the conditions applying to encounters in care. It takes as its theoretical point of departure Gadamer’s texts on medical encounters, von Wright’s texts on participation as an intersubjective phenomenon that is related to the creation of meaning and Buber’s texts on interhuman encounters. The dissertation is based on two empirical studies. The first consisted of interviews with 21 young people in the 14-18 age group who were patients in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatient care; ten of them involuntarily, eleven voluntarily admitted. The interviews dealt with the following areas: coercion, participation, meaning and encounters in care. The second study involved an analysis of the ambitions of the health care system with regard to participation and encounters with patients as expressed in the legal regulations applying to the health and medical services and the guidelines on professional ethics for different categories of staff. Analysis of the empirical material was based on a hermeneutic approach. The young people’s experiences of their care revealed that they rarely have any knowledge of the legal conditions that apply or about their rights, irrespective of whether they are voluntary or committed patients. One recurrent experience is lack of clarity about the reason for the treatment and what it is intended to do. Despite these shortcomings in their participation, some of the young people view their treatment as important and at times even lifesaving. Analysis of the ambitions of the health care system shows that the focus in the current regulations is placed on the self-determination and autonomy of the patients. There is rarely any description of the importance of a dialogue or of collaboration with the patient. Analysis of the material as a whole reveals that three senses can be attributed to participation in the care situation studied: participation as a right, participation as involvement and participation as meaning. The dissertation discusses how participation in these three senses can find expression in encounters between young people and staff. If participation is to be possible, a relation and an interhuman encounter is required which is characterised by truth, frankness and lack of pretence. This shows how important it is for young people undergoing coercive treatment to be able to meet individuals who can see and acknowledge them as subjects with an entitlement to participate. This can offer possibilities for the creation of meaning in treatment that has not always been sought but which can still be experienced as meaningful.

Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate and describe everyday life among relatives of inpatients with severe depression and their encounter with the psychiatric specialist health services (PSHS). Methods: A descriptive design with a qualitative and quantitative approach was used. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire responded to by 68 relatives and analysed with descriptive statistics (I, III). Individual interviews with 24 relatives were carried out and analysed with phenomenography (II, IV). Main findings: The everyday life of relatives to persons suffering from severe depression was affected. They reported burden and influence on their own health to a various degree (I). The relatives experienced that they were, “Living on the other person’s terms”. Relatives described ambivalent relationships, as they had to adjust their daily life in attempting to manage the situation (II). When the relatives encountered the PSHS, it may have been a long time of worries and struggles for help. They wanted to be a resource and a participant, and to be confident with the health care (IV). The need for support from the PSHS was greater than what they received. Relatives who reported receiving less information had higher burden scores than the others (III). Conclusions: Everyday life of relatives of persons suffering from severe depression is demanding. To be acknowledged as a resource in the treatment and care for the person suffering from depression is important. The mental health nurses being present at the wards 24 hours a day, are in a unique position to support the relatives. / Depression is one of ten global diseases entailing the greatest loss of life quality and years of life, which also gives consequences for the relatives. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate and describe everyday life among relatives of inpatients with severe depression and their encounter with the psychiatric specialist health service (PSHS). The relatives experienced objective and subjective burden, and their own health was affected. Everyday life needed to be adjusted in line with the severity of the next-of-kin’s depression. When the relatives encountered the PSHS a long time of worries and struggles had passed from the onset of the depression until the next-of–kin was hospitalized. To be acknowledged as a resource, invited to collaborate and to share their knowledge was of great importance to the relatives. Addtionally, to receive information concerning the treatment and care was crucial. The mental health nurses are in a unique position to support the relatives.