Aims: To identify factors, which were related to being smoke-free and snus-free, respectively, among adolescents in relation to adolescents who were smoking and/or using snus, and de-termine if there were any sex differences. Me- thods: A questionnaire study was performed among students in year two in upper secondary schools (17-years-old) in southern Sweden in 2009. More than 2200 students completed the questionnaire regarding health and living habits anonymously. The variables were tested by χ²-test, before selection into the logistic model. Because of the salutogenic approach in the study, the results of the logistic regression analyses were expressed as Positive Odds Ratio (POR). Results: The prevalence of being smoke- free was 75.6 percent for girls and 70.2 percent for boys, whilst the prevalence of being snus- free was 95.1 percent for girls and 70.2 percent for boys. Having a tobacco-free best friend was the most important factor that correlated with being smoke- and snus-free as an adolescent, for both boys and girls. Good living habits, such as drinking less alcohol, were also central to being smoke-free and snus-free. Conclusions: The results show that a tobacco-free environ-ment has a great influence on whether or not adolescents stay tobacco-free. As the environ-ment has a big impact, the school has a big challenge to work with the school environment and policies but also with family responsibility, norms and attitudes to tobacco.

Previous research into the psychological impact of miscarriage has taken a pathogenic approach, with limited research examining the factors that relate to enhanced psychological wellbeing. As a result, it is difficult to understand what predicts lower anxiety, depression and higher wellbeing. In order to address such gaps this study employed mixed methods, using a salutogenic perspective to investigate the effects of miscarriage on women's psychological wellbeing and to identify factors related to enhanced psychological wellbeing over time.

Denna studie är en kvantitativ undersökning med syftet att undersöka hur synen på hälsa skiljer sig mellan yrkesverksamma idrottslärare i landet. En jämförelse gjordes också på basis mellan kön, ålder och examinationsår. Enkäten utformades utifrån Antonovskys salutogena perspektiv, teorin KASAM och dess tre komponenter begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet och besvarades utav 237 respondenter från Facebook grupperna Idrottslärare och Sveriges Idrottslärare. De överblickande resultaten visade på att idrottslärare överlag svarade positivt på de allmänna perspektivet och de tre KASAM-komponenterna. De enda statistiskt säkerställda skillnaderna var mellan män och kvinnor där kvinnor svarade mer positivt än män vad gäller både salutogenitet och hanterbarhet. Dock kan man inte säga att detta är något som utspelar sig i praktiken då man som idrottslärare kan tycka att något är viktigt men sedan inte praktiskt utöva det. Det vi ser i denna undersökning är idrottslärarnas upplevelser utav lektionerna och inte vad som verkligen händer på lektionerna. Sedan kan ju en idrottslärares upplevelser skilja sig mot vad eleverna upplever. / This study is a quantitative study aimed at examining how the perception of health differs between professional sports teachers in the country. A comparison was also made on the basis of gender, age and examination year. The questionnaire was designed from Antonovsky's salutogenic perspective, the KASAM theory and its three components comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness and was answered by 237 respondents from the Facebook groups Idrottslärare and Sveriges Idrottslärare. The overall results showed that sports teachers generally responded positively to the general perspective and the three KASAM components. The only statistically significant differences were between men and women, where women responded more positively than men in terms of both salutogenicity and manageability. However, you cannot say that this is something that takes place in practice as you as a sports teacher may think that something is important but then not practically practice it. What we see in this survey is the sports teachers' experiences of the lessons and not what really happens at the lessons. Then, after all, a sports teacher's experiences can differ from what the students experience.

Vårt arbete beskriver hur EN skola arbetar på ett hälsofrämjande arbetssätt. Möjligheterna och eventuella svårigheter med ett hälsofrämjande arbete i skolan kommer att presenteras. Med hjälp av enkäter och intervjuer undersöker vi hur skolledaren, pedagogerna och skolhälsovården ser på sin roll i deras hälsofrämjande arbete. Vår fråga är: Vad betyder begreppet hälsa för skolan och hur omsätts det i praktiken? Världshälsoorganisationen (WHO) inställning till hälsa är inte bara att förhindra sjukdomar och dålig hälsa, utan att förebygga både fysiskt och psykiska hälsa. Eftersom skolan är en plats där vi kan möta de flesta elever är det viktigt att hälsoarbetet börjar där. Ett hälsofrämjande arbete kan förbättra både elevernas hälsa och deras kunskap. En salutogen teori är teorin som vi tycker är den som passar bäst för vårt arbete. Teorin handlar om att ta tillvara på det friska hos eleverna och vad de är duktiga på. Inte på det sjuka eller vilka problem som skulle kunna uppstå. Vår slutsats är att skolan har en vision om hur skolan vill arbeta men det fungerar inte i dagsläget. Några av pedagogerna arbetar redan på ett hälsofrämjande sätt men de önskar att få tydligare direktiv. För att få ett hälsoarbete att fungera, behövs det tydligare instruktioner och en fungerande skolledning. / Our work is a description of how one school works in a health promoting way. The possibility and possible diffuculties with health promoting work in school will be presented. With help of questionarie and interviews we examen how the principal, the teachers and the schoolsister look at their role in their health promoting work. Our question is: what does the school give credit for in the conception health and how do they put it into practice?Worldhealthorganisations (WHO) coprehensvie view on health isn´t just to prevent sickness and bad health, it is to promote health, both physical and mental care. Since school is the place where you can meet most of the children it is important that the healthcare starts there. A health promoting work can improve both the student’s health and their knowledge.A salutogenic model is the theory we think is the most appropiate for our work. The theory is about how we manage to maintain what´s good and well in a students´ life. Not the bad things or what kind of problems that could appear.Our conclusion is that the school has a vision about how they should work but today it isn´t working. Some of the teachers are already working in a healthpromoting way but they wishes to have more clearly instuctions. To make the healthpromoting work success, it needs more clearly instructions and a working management.

By developing strong, self-sustaining individuals in organisations, employees will need to withstand the forces of stressors and be able to cope with continuous changes within their working environment. To move the equilibrium level from the current to the desired condition, the field of forces must be altered - by adding driving forces and by removing restraining forces. An individual's sense of coherence may either alleviate or aggravate reactions to a stressor and moderate the impact of occupational stressors on the individual's affective outcomes. The objectives of this study were to validate the 13-item version of the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) (Antonovsky, 1987) and to determine the experience of employees with high levels of sense of coherence regarding helping and restraining factors within the workplace (compared to that of those with a low sense of coherence). A cross-sectional s w e y design was used. The total population (N = 2 678) of employees in a financial institution in Gauteng was used in this study. Random samples of groups with a strong (n = 300) and low (n = 300) sense of coherence were taken for purposes of the qualitative study. The OLQ (Antonovsky, 1987) and a biographical questionnaire were administered. The scale showed acceptable reliability and construct validity. The study set out to determine the applicability of the theoretical model of sense of coherence to employees in a financial institution. Reliability analysis revealed that the three subscales of sense of coherence were sufficiently internally consistent. The reliability of the measuring instrument were assessed with the use of Cronbach alpha coefficients. Descriptive statistics (e.g. mean and standard deviations) were used to analyse the data. By using the structural equation modelling approach, a one-dimensional factor structure for sense of coherence amongst employees in a financial institution emerged. The reliability analysis revealed that the alpha scores were acceptable. It can therefore be concluded that the 13-item version of the OLQ is a reliable and valid measuring instrument. The results showed that although employee groups with high and low levels of sense of coherence are experiencing similar helping and restraining factors within their working environment, helping factors are being experienced with a higher frequency by groups with high levels of sense of coherence and restraining factors with a higher frequency by groups with low levels of sense of coherence. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

I denna uppsats har det undersökts varför socialsekreterare i en västsvensk kommun har valt att helt lämna sina yrken. Grundorsaken till undersökningen är att bristen på socialsekreterare idag är ett nationellt problem som Sveriges kommuner arbetar mycket med, speciellt i dagens samhälle när det strömmar in flyktingar som behöver tas omhand. Undersökningen gjordes med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer och en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. För att analysera resultaten av dessa intervjuer användes tematisk analys. Undersökningen visade att informanterna kände sig missnöjda med flera olika aspekter av sitt arbete. En av de faktorer som kom upp i alla intervjuer var att det krav de hade på sig på att vara tillgängliga hela tiden orsakade stress och avbrott i deras arbete. Ytterligare orsaker till varför de slutade var den höga arbetsbördan, brist på uppskattning och en missnöjdhet med ledarskapet. Informanterna hade gärna stannat kvar som socialsekreterare, eftersom de ansåg att arbetet var meningsfullt, men de andra faktorerna vägde tyngre än meningsfullheten, vilket gjorde att de slutade. Ett förslag som kom upp för att få individerna att stanna var att skapa ett så kallat kontaktcenter i receptionen, där mindre ärenden kunde hanteras direkt med klienterna. Detta hade då gett socialsekreterarna mer tid med sina egna klienter och mer energi till de tyngre fallen. / In this paper, it was investigated why social workers in a western Swedish municipality have chosen to leave their professions. The main reason behind this study is that the lack of social workers is a national problem that Sweden's municipalities struggle with, especially in today's society when refugees are pouring in and need to be attended to. The research was conducted using qualitative interviews. To analyse the results of the interviews several theories where used, such as motivation, salutogenic leadership, strategies of coping and role theory. For the interviews, thematic analysis was used. The study showed that the informers felt dissatisfied with several aspects of their work. One of the aspects that resulted from the interviews was that the demand to be available at all times, was too much for them. Some additional aspects to why they quit was the high workload, the lack of appreciation and dissatisfaction with the leadership. The informers would gladly have stayed as social workers since they considered it to be meaningful, but the other aspects weighed more heavily compared to meaningfulness which caused them to leave. One suggestion that was brought up to get the informers to stay was to create a so-called contact centre in the reception area where smaller errands could be handled directly with the client. This would have given more time for the social workers with their own clients and more energy for the more heavy cases.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This is an ethnographic study, highlighting protecting factors for children‘s ability to focus. Schools must do its very best for children, increasing their possibilities to concentrate, since this has a significant impact on both school performance and social interaction. Schools have limited resources. Can knowledge and experience from a developing country give useful and interesting input? Are there health factors for this group of pupils in an African school? The purpose of this research is to study children’s attention abilities and investigate supporting factors for pupil’s possibilities to concentrate as well as to determine the usefulness of these experiences in a Swedish school. In this study I found five salutogenic factors, which seemed to have a positive impact on children‘s ability to concentrate: Having possibilities to study makes a big difference if you are living in Ethiopia, so the importance of expectation is one of the factors. Expectations, from both society and families encouraged the pupils to do their best. Children are seen close to each other in bare classrooms. One can see them helping each other to focus during lessons. Cooperation and fellowship seemed to provide security and happiness, and thus, in turn increased the children‘s possibilities to pay attention and absorb knowledge. Learning at appropriate level in a collective learning process possibly helped pupils with problems in the area of attention/ concentrate. In addition to these environmental, salutogenic factors figured the use of a drug.In countries around the Horn of Africa is use of the herb ―khat‖ common. Some of the children self-medicate themselves to increase their concentration ability.

Vi möts allt oftare av ett ökat intresse för hälsa och en förväntan att leva sunt och hälsosamt. Detta för att vi ska hålla oss friska, orka mer och prestera bättre. I motsats till detta ökar ohälsotalen. Fler och fler blir sjukskrivna samtidigt som sjuknärvaron på arbetsplatser sägs öka. Ett intresse för detta motsatsförhållande var ursprunget till min studie. Den organisation jag undersökt har ett uttalat hälsofrämjande perspektiv, med ett salutogent fokus. Det salutogena perspektivet kopplas ofta ihop med känsla av sammanhang – KASAM. En stark känsla av KASAM kopplas ihop med bättre egen-upplevd hälsa. Deltagarna i min undersökning har gått en kurs i hälsofrämjande livsstilsfaktorer anordnad av arbetsgivaren. Syftet med undersökningen var att undersöka deltagarnas känsla av sammanhang och deras upplevelse av lärande samt om kursen haft någon påverkan på deras KASAM. Studien hade en kvalitativ ansats och jag har genomfört intervjuer med sex av sju deltagare från kursen. Som komplement till intervjuerna har deltagarna även besvarat ett KASAM-livsfrågeformulär. Resultatet från intervjuerna kopplades till de i KASAM ingående begreppen begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet, samt till lärande. Resultatet visade att deltagarna överlag hade relativt höga värden på KASAM-livsfrågeformuläret, med ett undantag. Det motsvarade den uppfattning jag fick under intervjuerna. Analysen kopplar ihop resultatet med tidigare forskning och teori och visar att det hälsofrämjande arbetet lönar sig. Undersökningen visade att deltagarnas KASAM har stärkts av kursen. Undersökningen visade också att återkopplingen av deltagarnas förändrade kunskap tillbaka till arbetsplatsen var liten. Ytterligare forskning om hur ökad kompetens kring hälsofrämjande faktorer på chefsnivå har effekt för medarbetare och verksamhet är önskvärt.