Sexual minorities experience mental and physical health disparities in comparison to heterosexual individuals due to minority stress (Branstrom et al., 2016; Kerridge et al., 2017; Meyer, 2003). Positive psychology interventions have improved mental and physical health (Antoine et al., 2018; Lambert D'raven et al., 2015), and therefore these interventions have potential to address health disparities. The current study tested an identity-specific intervention (n = 30) to a general positive psychology intervention (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30) among sexual minorities. This built on a recent pilot study which tested the efficacy of an identity-specific intervention designed for sexual minorities and showed significant improvements in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Thus, I hypothesized that individuals in intervention conditions would have better mental health, physical health, and substance use outcomes than the control group. Additionally, outcomes of the identity-specific condition were compared to those of the general positive psychology intervention. Participants included 91 sexual minority adults that completed three surveys (baseline, one week after the intervention, one month follow-up) including outcomes measures (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, problematic drinking, problems associated with drug use, well-being, and self-rated health), potential covariates (anticipated stigma, internalized stigma, concealment) and manipulation checks (self-compassion, forgiveness, optimism, coping using humor, social support seeking). Fifty-three participants completed interventions featuring five intervention tasks eliciting self-compassion, optimism, forgiveness, humor, and social support seeking. Analyses included descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and multilevel modeling. Compared to the control condition, results showed significantly greater improvements in well-being (b = .40, p = .013), self-rated health (b = -.42, p = .006), and problems associated with drug use (b = -.97, p = .004) among participants in the intervention conditions. No significant differences emerged for depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, or problematic drinking. Limitations include lack of power for analyses examining extended follow-up and comparing intervention types, as well as a number of history effects. Despite these limitations, the current study has potential to improve health outcomes and aid clinical practices. More research on positive psychology interventions with sexual minorities is needed.

This work examines the intervention of Brazilian street artists into the public space of São Paulo metropolis. Pixadores, as they are called, are young people brought up in the poor suburbs of São Paulo. The society perceives them as "vandals" and "delinquents". However, spraying for them is an important part of their life and they do not stop spraying even after starting a family. They risk their lives and often find themselves on the brink of life and death. The aim of this work is to understand the behavior of these sprayers by using the ethnographic method and to answer the question, why is this transgressive practice important to them. Through their writings, they are highlighting their presence and are becoming a direct part of the city. On the one hand, their doing is a syndrome of social problems in the context of Brazilian society. On the other hand, these forms of conscious property damage may be associated with the idea of protest, the affirmation of their position in the margins of society or the respect earned from their peers. Although the residents of the poor suburbs are seen as being excluded from all forms of capital, Brazilian sprayers are, however, important political actors and their doing is reshaping the urban landscape. Prestige and respect which sprayers receive from each...

This diploma thesis analyzes the phenomenon of NATO burden-sharing. Due to late security crises in Europe, such as Crimea crisis, the never-ending alliance issue has been encased in new dynamics. This new dynamics supposedly threatens the long preserved status quo and can even lead to the breakup of the alliance. The thesis uses methodological framework prescribed by Lene Hansen. This framework draws heavily on work from David Campbell and his Writing Security. For the successful analysis, we first designate our inter-textual governmental field in which we then try to observe the repeating ideational/argumentative norms of the respective discursive actors in the alliance. We also divide our research field into two time units: the 1990s era and events after 9/11. Interpretation of the behaviour of certain members shows establishment of a several interconnected centres of argumentation, which somehow coincides with the three largest European members of NATO. The thesis also shows, that these argumentative actors tend to transform their argumentative structures along with the changing environment and context. For better understanding, the work encompasses the short-term, intensive burden-sharing situations, like NATO interventions, but also debates on long-term institutional solutions, which are mostly seen...

Bakgrund Fatigue, eller kronisk trötthet, är ett vanligt förekommande fenomen bland cancersjuka, och såväl prevalensen som svårighetsgraden av fenomenet tenderar att tillta i samband med cytostatikabehandling. Fatigue har beskrivits i litteraturen som en av de allvarligaste biverkningarna av cancersjukdomar och dess behandlingsmetoder, i den mening att fatigue orsakar svårt lidande och kraftigt reducerar livskvaliteten. Fatigue är också ett svårbehandlat fenomen med en komplex bakgrundsbild, och det saknas god evidens för farmakologiska behandlingsmetoder. Syfte Syftet var att beskriva cancerpatienters erfarenheter av hälsofrämjande interventioner som syftade till att lindra fatigue-relaterat lidande under och efter cytostatikabehandling. Metod Detta var en icke-systematisk litteraturöversikt som totalt granskade 15 vetenskapliga publikationer inom området. Publikationerna hämtades in från databaserna PubMed och CINAHL, efter noggrant planerade sökningar. De sökträffar som erhölls genomgick en relevans- och kvalitetsbedömning, varpå de 15 artiklarna som slutligen inkluderades i resultatet genomgick en integrerad dataanalys. Datan samlades in från cytostatikabehandlade cancerpatienter och all data gällande fatigue var självskattad och utgick på så sätt från patientperspektivet. Resultat Denna litteraturöversikt sammanställde evidens om de hälsofrämjande effekterna av ett antal olika interventioner för att lindra fatigue. Interventionerna kategoriserades in i två huvudkategorier och fyra underkategorier, och de påvisade effekterna för varje typ av intervention diskuterades och sammanställdes i samband med dataanalysen. Exempel på typer av interventioner som togs upp i denna litteraturöversikt är instruerande interventioner och bevakade interventioner. Slutsats Fysisk aktivitet i kombination med avslappningstekniker visade sig ha störst effekt mot cancerrelaterad fatigue. En patientutbildande intervention påvisade en icke-signifikant förbättring av fatigue, medan resterande interventioner påvisade åtminstone en signifikant förbättring av fatigue i något avseende. Detta tyder på att interventioner som kräver ett mer aktivt deltagande har en större effekt på fatigue, jämfört med rent instruerande interventioner. Sjuksköterskan spelar en stödjande och vägledande roll vid omvårdnaden av fatigue, och kunskap om hälsofrämjande interventioner är en grundläggande förutsättning för att lindra det lidande som uppstår ur denna trötthetsproblematik. Otillräcklig eller utebliven vård kan leda till vårdlidande och ökat sjukdomslidande hos patienten, vilket kan beskrivas som en kränkning av patientens värdighet. / Background Chronic fatigue is a commonly occurring phenomena among cancer patients, and cancer-related fatigue has a tendency to increase in both prevalence and severity during chemotherapy. Fatigue has been described in the scientific literature as one of the most serious side effect occurring as a result of cancer or the treatment of cancer, in the sense that it is a source of great suffering and a gravely reduced quality of life. In addition, fatigue is a poorly understood phenomena and is considered difficult to treat. There exists no good evidence for effective pharmacological treatment options. Aim The aim of this study was to describe cancer patients’ experiences of different health-promoting interventions during chemotherapy, which were intended to reduce fatigue-related suffering in both the short-term as well as the long-term. Method This was a non-systematic literature review which analyzed 15 different scientific articles in order to achieve the stated aim. The articles were retrieved after entering meticulously planned search terms into the CINAHL and PubMed databases. The search results that were found went through an assessment of relevance and quality, and 15 of the search results were included for analysis. The data in these studies were collected from patients undergoing chemotherapy for a diagnosis of cancer, and all data pertaining to fatigue was self-evaluated and was thusly based entirely on the perspective and experiences of the patients. Results This literature review compiled evidence about the health-promoting effects of a variety of different interventions in regard to the treatment of fatigue. The interventions were categorized into two main categories and four subcategories, and the evidence for every type of intervention were discussed and summarized in conjunction with the data analysis. For example, this literature review distinguished between informative and supervised interventions and discussed the evidence for those types of interventions separately.  Conclusions Physical activity in combination with relaxation techniques was shown to have the largest health-promoting effect against fatigue. One study, that exclusively studied the effects of patient education sessions, showed a non-significant reduction of fatigue, which stands in contrast to all the other interventions analyzed in this study, which showed a significant reduction of fatigue in at least one regard. This implies that more active interventions have a greater effect on fatigue, as opposed to purely informative interventions. The role of the nurse in the treatment of fatigue is one of guidance and support, and knowledge of these evidence-based and health-promoting interventions is an absolute necessity in order for the nurse to be able to provide good nursing care and relieve suffering in these patients. Inadequate care or lack of care can contribute to an increase of suffering in these patients, which should be seen as a violation of the patients’ dignity.

No description available.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy remains a common occurrence and is associated with a multitude of adverse birth and long-term outcomes. Binge drinking in particular is shown to be particularly harmful to the developing fetus. Effects include full fetal alcohol syndrome, with characteristic facial dysmorphology, growth restriction, and developmental to delays. Exposed children may also have partial fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol-related birth defects, and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders. These effects are preventable, and efforts must begin with accurate identification of women who consume alcohol during pregnancy. Several screening tools have been developed and validated for use in prenatal care settings, and the most recently proposed brief and easy to use T-ACER3 has demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in both identifying risk drinking during pregnancy and predicting long-term neurobehavioral outcomes in exposed children. Once identified, effective interventions are available for use with pregnant women consuming alcohol. Brief interventions, which can be delivered by a health professional and involve motivational interviewing, have been demonstrated to significantly reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy. These approaches, recommended by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist (ACOG), help move patients toward increased readiness to positively change their drinking behavior. Ultimately, all prenatal care providers should routinely screen all patients for alcohol use using validated tools, and where appropriate, should offer intervention.

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy remains a common occurrence and is associated with a multitude of adverse birth and long-term outcomes. Binge drinking in particular is shown to be particularly harmful to the developing fetus. Effects include full fetal alcohol syndrome, with characteristic facial dysmorphology, growth restriction, and developmental to delays. Exposed children may also have partial fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol-related birth defects, and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders. These effects are preventable, and efforts must begin with accurate identification of women who consume alcohol during pregnancy. Several screening tools have been developed and validated for use in prenatal care settings, and the most recently proposed brief and easy to use T-ACER3 has demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in both identifying risk drinking during pregnancy and predicting long-term neurobehavioral outcomes in exposed children. Once identified, effective interventions are available for use with pregnant women consuming alcohol. Brief interventions, which can be delivered by a health professional and involve motivational interviewing, have been demonstrated to significantly reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy. These approaches, recommended by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist (ACOG), help move patients toward increased readiness to positively change their drinking behavior. Ultimately, all prenatal care providers should routinely screen all patients for alcohol use using validated tools, and where appropriate, should offer intervention.

Objective: To quantitatively characterize change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in the context of behavioral (n = 16), surgical (n = 5), and pharmacological (n = 1) interventions for pediatric overweight and obesity. A secondary goal was to examine the relationship between change in HRQoL and change in body mass index (ΔBMI) by treatment type. The amount of weight loss necessary to observe a minimally clinically important difference (MCID) in HRQoL was determined. Method: Data were gathered from studies reporting on weight change and ΔHRQoL over the course of obesity interventions (N = 22) in youths (N = 1,332) with average ages between 7.4 and 16.5 years (M = 12.2). An overall effect size was calculated for ΔHRQoL. Moderation analyses were conducted using analysis of variance and weighted regression. MCID analyses were conducted by converting HRQoL data to standard error of measurement units. Results: The overall effect size for ΔHRQoL in the context of pediatric obesity interventions was medium (g = 0.51). A significant linear relationship was detected between ΔBMI and ΔHRQoL (R2 = 0.87). This relationship was moderated by treatment type, with medical (i.e., surgical) interventions demonstrating a stronger relationship. Results indicated that it takes a change of 0.998 BMI units to detect true change in HRQoL. Conclusion: This study provides the first known quantitative examination of changes in HRQoL associated with weight loss in pediatric interventions. Medical interventions appear to offer a more substantial increase in HRQoL per unit of BMI change. These results offer a concrete weight loss goal for noticing positive effects in daily life activities.

Topic: Structuring of inpatient behavioral programming in child-adolescent psychiatric, residential treatment, and juvenile justice settings. Purpose: To review the underlying theory underpinning current practices and recommend remedies to the uncovered problems. Sources: A review of the literature from 1965 to 2001 from selected nursing and medical psychiatric and mental health publications. Conclusions: Intensive professional and staff education and greater precision in communication about patients' behaviors are needed in many settings. There is also a need to move away from generic treatment approaches and return to individual treatment planning based on individual assessments and the unique needs of an increasingly volatile and complex in-patient population.

Bakgrund: Närstående i palliativ hemjukvård ökar förutsättningarna och möjliggör för patienten att vårdas och avlida i hemmet. Detta medför ett stort ansvar för närstående och kan påverka närståendes psykiska hälsa negativt. Interventioner syftar till att underlätta och stödja närstående. Sjuksköterskan har en ansvarsfull roll att fokusera på närståendes behov av stöd och förmågan varierar mellan sjuksköterskor. Att utföra strukturerade interventioner är ett sätt att systematisera. Syfte: Att beskriva interventioner och dess effekter med fokus på behov av stöd hos närstående som vårdar inom palliativ hemsjukvård. Metod: En allmän litteraturöversikt utfördes genom systematiskt tillvägagångssätt med induktiv ansats. Artiklarna analyserades och sammanställdes med tematisk analys avsedd för vetenskapliga artiklar med kvantitativ metod. Resultat: Resultatet presenteras i två teman med sex underteman, utifrån interventionernas utvärderade effekter. Samtliga interventioner fokuserar på behov av stöd hos närstående som vårdar inom palliativ hemsjukvård. Interventionseffekter som framkom gav närstående ökad kompetens, strategier och ökade förberedelser för att vårda. Effekter av interventionerna visade även minskad psykisk stress, ångest och depression, samt ökad livskvalitet. Slutsats: Resultatet indikerar att fokus på närståendes behov underlättar och ger stöd, vilket främjar närståendes psykiska hälsa. För att möta närståendes behov behövs strukturerade interventioner utföras systematiskt. Att implementera strukturerade interventioner är en roll för specialistsjuksköterska, som ska leda och utveckla den palliativa vården. / Background: In palliative home care, family caregivers enable and increase the chances of the patient being cared for and dying at home. This places a great responsibility on family caregivers and can have a negative impact on their mental health. The purpose of the interventions is to promote support needs of the family caregivers and facilate nursing care. The nurse has a responsible role in addressing the support needs of family members. The ability to address the needs varies between nurses and structured interventions are a way of systematizing. Aim: To describe interventions and their effects that focus on the need for support in family caregivers in palliative home care. Method: A general literature review was conducted systematically with an inductive approach. The articles were analyzed and synthesized using thematic analysis designed for a quantitative method. Result: The results are presented in two themes with six sub-themes, based on the evaluated effects of the interventions. All interventions focus on the support needs of family caregivers in palliative home care. Intervention effects shown provide family caregivers with increased skills, strategies, and preparation for caregiving. Intervention effects show reduced psychological stress, anxiety and depression, and increased quality of life. Conclusion: The results indicate that that support needs of family caregivers should be addressed in order to facilitate and provide support, which promotes family caregivers mental health. To meet the needs of family caregivers, structured interventions need to be carried out systematically. Implementing structured interventions is a role for the specialist nurse, who should lead and develop palliative care.