Background: Mental health issues are a growing global problem and there is a big gap between the need for mental health care and the financial resources allocated to this health care sector. Nurses work closely to patients and play an important role in alleviating suffering and in the recovery of the patient. Highlighting the nurses’ role and experiences of working with persons with mental health problems can give information of how to address the different challenges they meet.  Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses’ experiences of caring for persons with mental health problems in a psychiatric care setting in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Method: Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of eight nurses working at two psychiatric hospitals. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings: Four main themes were found: Between possibilities and challenges, Holistic view, Striving for equality and Caring relations. Nurses in psychiatric settings in Kurdistan region of Iraq face different challenges related to organization, prejudice and inequality. They have a lot of knowledge about nursing and aim to meet patients and families with a person-centered approach. Conclusion: The findings show that nurses need the work environment to be open to nurses’ thoughts and concerns. Management should involve nurses in the development of the hospital, encourage collaboration and provide on the job training. This would increase the job satisfaction and contribute to a person-centered atmosphere.

Šio darbo tikslas - įvertinti tėvų požiūrį į paauglių sveikatos poreikius ir problemas. Medžiaga ir metodai. Šiame tyrime atlikta 33 – 68 metų 241 Kauno miesto, penkių mokyklų moksleivių tėvų (40 vyrai ir 201 moterys) apklausos duomenų analizė. Norint nustatyti tėvams aktualias paauglių sveikatos problemas, įvertinti ryšius tarp tėvų įvardinamų paauglių sveikatos problemų ir šeimos bendravimo ypatumų, išanalizuoti šeimos gyvensenos ir paauglių sveikatos problemų sąsajas, buvo atliktas vienmomentinis epidemiologinis tyrimas. Apklausai naudota anoniminė anketa. Vykdant duomenų analizę, statistinių ryšių stiprumas tarp požymių buvo vertinamas Pearson’o koreliacijos koeficientu, jo laisvės laipsnių skaičius (df). Remiantis lentelės duomenimis buvo apskaičiuojamas Chi kvadrato (χ2) kriterijus. Ryšiai laikomi statistiškai reikšmingi, kai p<0,05. Išvados: 1. Kauno miesto paauglių tėvai ir motinos skirtingai vertina paauglių sveikatos problemų aktualumą savo aplinkoje: vyrai aktualiausiomis paauglių sveikatos problemomis įvardina alkoholio vartojimą (22,5 proc.), emocines problemas (20,5 proc.), nepakankamą fizinį aktyvumą (17,5 proc.) ir narkotikų vartojimą 17 proc. Moterys didžiausio dėmesio reikalaujančia problema įvardina nesveiką mitybą (23,8 proc.), nepakankamą fizinį aktyvumą (18,4 proc.) bei narkotikų vartojimą (17,1 proc.). 2. Tėvų ir vaikų bendravimas bei konfliktų dažnis siejasi su paauglių savijauta ir nusiskundimais sveikata. Dažnai su tėvais konfliktuojantys... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of this study was to estimate parents survey into teenagers health problems and requirements. Materials and methods. 241 student parents (40 male and 201 female) between 33 – 68 years old from five Kaunas high schools took part in the survey the data of which has been analysed in this study. To find relevant to parents teenagers health problems, to estimate connection between of parents mentioned teenagers health problems and singularity of family communication, to analyse connection of family lifestyle and teenagers health problems, was made epidemiological study. In this survey was used anonymous questionnaire. Intensity of statistical connections between features was estimated in Pearson correlation coefficient during this data analyse. Independency of indication was checked with the help of chi square (χ) criterion. Associations are considered to be statistically significant if p < 0,05. Conclusions: 1. Fathers and mothers of teenagers in Kaunas assess teenagers health problems in their environment differently: mans think that most relevant health problems between teenagers is alcohol drinking (22,5 per.), emotional problems (20,5 per.), insufficient physical activity (17,5 per.), drugs consumption (17 per.). Womans think that biggest attention should be payed for unhealthy nutrition (23,8 per.), insufficient physical activity (18,4 per.) and drugs consumption (17,1 per.). 2. Communication between parents and children and frequency of conflict associate with... [to full text]

Background: Research points in different directions when looking at possible increases in mental health problems among adolescents. Findings in favor of an increase are questioned due to methodological problems. Aim: Investigating whether mental health problems among young adolescents are increasing over time in Europe and North America. If so, does the trend apply both to mean levels of symptoms and to the proportion of adolescents with substantial problems? Are the time-trends similar over sex and age-categories?                                                                                                    Method: A total of 401 089 adolescents from a total of 38 countries are included in the analysis. Based on the eight health variables on self-rated health provided by the HBSC study, a measurement of mental health problems was created using factor analysis in SPSS. Results: Increases of mental health problems were found in Europe and North America. Increases were found both in terms of mean levels of symptoms and to the proportion of adolescents with substantial problems. Increases were seen in all age groups and among both girls and boys. Conclusion: Reasons behind the discovered increases are not known and should be further investigated as extensive research point to severe consequences of mental health problems in adolescence for later life.       Key words   Adolescents, mental health problems, trends, self-reported health (SRH), psychological health complaints (PHC)

Regeringen vill lägga mer vikt på att stärka möjligheten till kultur och social delaktighet. De belyser vikten av att skapa trygghet och att minska isolering inom grupper som till exempel långtidssjukskrivna och långtidsarbetslösa. Kulturaktiviteter som konst, film, musik och teater har bevisats ha en positiv effekt på hälsan genom bland annat ökad social funktion, ökad livskraft och ökad fysisk hälsa. Det avser både att delta i samt att uppleva utan att delta i kulturen. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om kulturaktiviteter kan påvisa en skillnad i återgång till arbete och psykisk ohälsa hos långtidssjukskrivna personer med psykisk ohälsa, samt undersöka vilken påverkan egna förväntningar har på återgång till arbete. Det insamlade materialet kom från enkätdata ur projektet Kultur och hälsa, genomförd av landstingets enhet Kompetenscentrum för hälsa i Västerås stad. Resultatet visade att andelen som åter var i arbete efter deltagande i kulturaktiviteter hade ökat och den psykiska hälsan hade förbättrats, men inga statistiska samband kan fastställas i denna studie. Mer forskning behövs inom området kultur som hjälp för återgång till arbete efter långtidssjukskrivning. / The government wants to put more emphasis on strengthening the ability to culture and social participation. They highlight the need to provide security and to reduce the isolation of groups such as long-term sickness and unemployed. Cultural activities such as art, film, music and theater have proven to have a positive effect on health by, improved social functioning, increased vitality and physical health. It refers both to participation in and to experience without participating in culture. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cultural activities may effect in a difference in the return to work and mental illness among long-term sick people with mental health problems, and investigate the impact of their own expectations on return to work. The collected material was taken from the project Culture and Health, made ​​by Department of public health, Västmanland County council in Västerås. The results showed that the proportion of who was back in work after participating in cultural activities had increased and mental health had improved, but no statistical link could be established in this study. More research is needed in the area about if culture help people to return to work after long term sickness.

Darbe atlikta teorinė visuomenės sveikatos, ergonomikos, sveikatos problemų ir profilaktinių priemonių taikymo teorinė analizė. Iškeltas tyrimo tikslas - atskleisti žmonių dirbančių aptarnavimo srityje ergonominės aplinkos ir sveikatos problemų sąsajas, nustatant individualiai naudojamas sveiktos stiprinimo profilaktines priemones. Tikslui pasiekti keliami tokie uždaviniai: 1. Remiantis mokslinės literatūros analizės pagrindu atskleisti ergonomikos sampratą ir jos įtaką sveikatos problemų atsiradimui. 2. Įvertinti su kokiomis sveikatos problemomis dažniausiai susiduria žmonės dirbantys aptarnavimo srityje, taikant anketinę apklausą. 3. Atskleisti darbuotojų sveikatos problemų priežastis ir jų šalinimo galimybes. 4. Pateikti rekomendacijas. Anketinės apklausos metodu buvo atliktas tyrimas, kurio tikslas - ištirti ar asmenys dirbantys aptarnavimo srityje, dėl ergonominės aplinkos susiduria su sveikatos problemomis, bei kokias profilaktines priemones naudoja sveikatai stiprinti. Atlikta statistinė duomenų analizė. Tyrime dalyvavo 257 aptarnavimo srityje dirbantys asmenys. Atlikus tyrimą hipotezė pasitvirtino – darbo vietos ergonomika siejasi PC ,,Akropolis” darbuotojų sveikata. Tyrimo duomenys parodė, kad žmonės dirbantys aptarnavimo srityje nėra patenkinti savo sveikata. Daugiau negu pusė respondentų, net 65 proc. po darbo dienos jaučiasi pavargę. Daugiausiai respondentų susiduria su CNS problemomis (galvos, miego sutrikimais) ir judamojo aparato problemomis (nugaros ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Subject of the Paper: ,, Link between Ergonomic Environment and Health Problems in People Who Works in the Service Sector and Preventive Measures for the Application ,,. Work done in theoretical public health, ergonomics, health problems and the application of theoretical analysis of preventive measures. Raised in the investigation will reveal the people working in the service area-the ergonomic problems of the environment and health linkages, identifying an individual used to strengthen health preventive measures. To achieve that objective for the following challenges: 1. on the basis of the scientific literature on the basis of the analysis to reveal the concept of ergonomics and its influence on health problems from occurring. 2. Assess what health problems commonly faced by people working in the service area, in accordance with the questionnaire survey. 3. Uncover the causes of health problems and opportunities. 4. Submit recommendations. Questionnaire method of the survey was to study, with the objective to investigate whether persons working in the field of the environment for the service of the ergonomic facing health problems, as well as preventive measures to strengthen the health uses. Performed a statistical analysis of the data. The study involved 257 persons working in the service area. The study hypothesis was confirmed near the workplace ergonomics at Šiauliai Shoping Centre ,,Akropolis“ occupational health. Survey data showed that people working in the... [to full text]

Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to study mental distress, health and lifestyle habits, social factors and psychotropic drug use by young people, and how PHNs conceive their roles in relation to this. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Study I included data  from the Norwegian Youth Health Study (NYHS, 11 620 participants, aged 15-16 years) (2000–2003) linked to the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD) (2004–2009). Study II included prescription data on psychotropic drugs among 15-16 year olds from the NorPD (2006–2010). Eight young people were interviewed and qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data (III). Study IV included interviews with 20 Public Health Nurses (PHN), and was analysed using a phenomenographic approach. Main results: Mental distress was reported among 15.5% of the adolescents non-users of psychotropic drugs, 75% of whom were girls. In both genders reporting mental distress, incident psychotropic use was higher one to nine years, up to 27.7% among girls, as compared with the rest of the participants. In addition, health, lifestyle habits and social factors were associated with incident use (I). Psychotropic drug use increased during 2006–2010, hypnotics and melatonin accounted for most of the increase. In total, 16.4% of all incident psychotropic drug users in 2007 were still having prescriptions dispensed in 2010 (II). Young people experience both beneficial and undesired effects from psychotropic drugs. Access to professional support and follow-up was experienced as insufficient. Life with family, friends, school and work was influenced by psychotropic drug use, and they were afraid of being lonely and stigmatized (III). The PHNs conceived their roles in relation to young people as; the discovering PHNs who became aware of psychotropic drug use in the health dialogues and chose either to act or not to act in relation to this. Those PHNs who took action continued to be the cooperating PHNs who cooperated with the young people, their families, schools, and others. If cooperation was established, the supporting PHNs teach and support the young people in relation to psychotropic drug use (IV). Conclusions: Attention must be paid to poor mental health and increasing psychotropic drug use by young people. Advances in knowledge, treatment and follow-up are needed. The prevalence of mental distress among young people, with differences between the genders, as well as between socioeconomic groups, should have consequences for health promotion strategies. PHNs in Norway, working in health centres and schools, have responsibility and opportunity to identify and follow-up young people with mental health problems. / Baksidestext International studies indicate an increase in mental distress and psychotropic drug use among young people. In this thesis mental distress is reported among 15.5 % of the young people. Of those reporting mental distress 75 % were girls. One quarter of the girls reporting mental distress at 15-16 years of age was incident users of psychotropic drugs one to nine years later. Psychotropic drug use, increase among young people, particularly hypnotic drugs. The young people experience beneficial and undesired effects of the psychotropic drugs. They miss out on professional availability and follow-up, and experience negative reactions related to their psychotropic drug use by their significant others. The public health nurse who discovers psychotropic drug use among young people chooses either to act or not to act in relation to this. Those who choose to act continue to cooperate with the young people and others. An established cooperation was followed by a public health nurse who supports and teaches the young people. The prevalence of mental distress, with a high frequency of initiation of psychotropic drug use among young people should have consequences for health promotion in the school health service. Public health nurses, working in health centers and schools, have a responsibility to promote health and prevent health problems. They have the responsibility and opportunity to identify young people struggling with mental health problems and psychotropic drug use as well as teach and support significant others.

Dirbantieji naktinį darbą pirmiausia susiduria su šoko sukėlimu organizmui. Kadangi kūnas yra įpratęs „gyventi“ pagal tam tikrą ritmą, kitaip vadinamą cirkadiniu ritmu, nuolatiniai ar dažnai pasikartojantys nukrypimai nuo jo gali sukelti sveikatos sutrikimų, kurie ilgainiui gali pereiti į rimtas ligas ar sutrikimus. Darbo tikslas ir yra ištirti ir įvertinti slaugytojų sveikatos problemų sąsajas su naktiniu darbu. Baigiamajame magistro darbe atliekamas sveikatos nusiskundimų palyginimas tarp slaugytojų dirbančiųjų naktinį darbą ir nedirbančiųjų naktinio darbo. Gauti rezultatai parodo reikšmingus skirtumus tarp šių grupių subjektyvaus savo sveikatos bei psichologinės sveikatos vertinimų. Naktinį darbą dirbančioms slaugytojoms padidėja rizika susirgti tam tikromis ligomis. / Night workers first encounters with a shock inducing body. Since the body is accustomed to live according to a certain rhythm, known as the circadian rhythm, persistent or frequently recurring deviations from it can cause health problems, which may eventually move on to serious diseases or disorders. The aim is to explore and evaluate nursing and health issues with night work. The master thesis is performed in health complaints comparison between nurses who works at night and and the ones who doesn't work at night. The obtained results show significant differences between the groups in their subjective health and psychological health assessments. Nurses working night work has increased risk of developing certain diseases.

Children's mental health problems are a significant public health concern. They are costly to society in both human and financial terms. This thesis contributes to the 'science of prevention' by examining issues related to the identification of children at risk of mental health problems. In particular, it was of interest to determine whether 'at-risk' children could be identified before the development of significant behavioural or emotional problems. Three areas were explored: family risk factors that predict the development of children's mental health problems, teachers' ability to identify family risk factors, and parent- and teacher-report screening methods. Data were collected from the parents and teachers of over 1000 children in preschool to Year 3 as part of the Promoting Adjustment in Schools (PROMAS) Project. Parents and teachers each completed two questionnaires at two time points, one year apart. Parents completed the Family Risk Factor Checklist - Parent (FRFCP) and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and the equivalent instruments for teachers were, respectively, the Family Risk Factor Checklist - Teacher (FRFC-T) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). The FRFC-P and FRFC-T were original to the current research and were designed to assess children's exposure to multiple family risk factors across five domains: adverse life events and instability (ALI), family structure and socioeconomic status (SES), parenting practices (PAR), parental verbal conflict and mood problems (VCM), and parental antisocial and psychotic behaviour (APB). Paper 1 investigated the psychometric properties of the FRFC-P and the potential for its use at a population-level to establish community risk factor profiles that subsequently inform intervention planning. The FRFC-P had satisfactory test-retest reliability and construct validity, but modest internal consistency. Risk assessed by the PAR domain was the most important determinant of mental health problem onset, while the PAR, VCM, and APB domains were the strongest predictors of mental health problem persistence. This risk factor profile suggests that, for the studied population, the largest preventive effects may be achieved through addressing parenting practices. Paper 2 examined teachers' knowledge of children's exposure to family risk factors using the FRFC-T. While teachers had accurate knowledge of children's exposure to risk factors within the ALI and SES domains, they had poor knowledge of children's exposure to risk factors within the PAR, VCM, or APB domains - the types of risk factors found in Paper 1 to be the most strongly related to children's mental health problems. Nevertheless, teachers' knowledge of children's exposure to risk factors within the ALI and SES domains predicted children's mental health problems at one year follow-up even after accounting for children's behaviour at the first assessment. Paper 3 investigated the potential of both the FRFC-P and FRFC-T for identifying individual, at-risk children. The accuracy of the FRFC in predicting internalising versus externalising disorders was compared against behavioural and simple nomination screening methods. For both parents and teachers, the behavioural screening methods were superior, however, the simple nomination method also showed promise for teachers. Both parents and teachers were more accurate at identifying children at risk of externalising mental health problems than children at risk of internalising problems. The performance of the FRFC and simple nomination methods in identifying children for selective interventions, before the development of significant behavioural or emotional problems, was also tested. Both the FRFC and simple nomination methods showed only modest predictive accuracy for these children. Combined, the results suggest that while on the one hand, the FRFC is useful for population level screening to inform intervention planning, on the other hand, it falls short of achieving good predictive accuracy for individual children. Future research should investigate ways to optimise predictive accuracy for individual children, particularly those at risk of developing internalising disorders. One option may be to use the FRFC in conjunction with behavioural screening methods. The challenge is to develop accurate screening methods that remain practical to complete at a population level. Finally, this body of research provides insight into the feasibility of offering selective preventive interventions within the school setting. While significant obstacles remain, there were several promising indications that using screening methods such as FRFC-T or simple nomination, teachers may be able to identify children earlier on the developmental pathway, before significant behavioural or emotional symptoms have developed.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This study was an investigation of the phenomenon of dementia caregiving burden and breakdown in community caregiving situations. 109 carer subjects participated in the study, with 91 current carers - 17 via face-to-face interview and 74 via the internet, and 18 past carers - two via face-to-face interview and 16 via the internet, contributing their experiences of dementia caregiving. Two new carers' assessment tools were devised to meet more fully the requirements of the 'Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995' (DoH, 1995), namely the 'Dementia Caregiving Problems Questionnaire (DCPQ)' and 'Dementia Caregiving Burden Questionnaire (DCBQ)'. These new assessments were tested and demonstrated to be reliable, with Cronbach Alpha scores of 0.7029 and 0.8430 respectively, and are recommended for implementation in clinical practice. The key predictive risk factors for high caregiving burden in this study were perceived stress; omission of caregiving satisfactions; carer depression; perceived impact on quality of life; perceived helpfulness of community care services; behaviour problems - especially shouting, swearing and screaming, irritability and night disturbance; poor quality carer/dependant relationship; mood problems; perceived helpfulness of informal support; perceived impact of caregiving on dependant emotional well-being and, to a lesser extent, hours spent in caregiving. The key predictive risk factors for expected relinquishment of home caregiving were DCBQ score; perceived impact on quality of life; perceived stress; carer depression and, to a lesser extent, geographical distance in caregiving; perceived helpfulness of community care services and omission of positive feelings in the carer. Based on the above risk factors, a new 'Dementia Caregiving Breakdown Risk Assessment Tool (DCBRAT)' is proposed for use by community care managers to identify 'at risk' caregiving situations so that service interventions can be targetted more towards carers who are highly burdened in their role, who are at risk of developing psychological health problems or who may be nearing breakdown in their caregiving situation. Thus the effectiveness of service interventions may be maximised and optimal health gain for carers achieved, resulting in improved outcomes for people with dementia. The DCBRAT and the similarly proposed 'Conceptual Model of Dementia Caregiving, Burden and Breakdown' will need to be further tested in post-doctoral research.