The goal of this investigation is to explore the relationship of health provider communication techniques and their impact on patient understanding, satisfaction, and self-efficacy. This investigation looked at the two specific communication techniques of concern elicitation and mutual agenda setting which occur during the beginning of a medical visit. Encounters were recorded with patient knowledge and transcribed to be analyzed. Following a coding manual created from both previous research and original input, the transcripts were organized and read through to process data. Focusing on the two communication techniques—concern elicitation and mutual agenda setting—I looked at the beginning of the encounter to note any usage of the techniques. Using a series of independent samples t-tests, I found that patient understanding was significantly correlated with concern elicitation. At the same time, the length of visits that used concern elicitation and mutual agenda setting was not significantly greater than the length of visits in which these techniques were not used. This implies using these communication techniques clinical practice does not risk losing precious time. This investigation can also give support to more in depth research on various other communication techniques and their potential benefits in bridging the disparity in health literacy.

Kunskap om olika utvecklingsmetoder vid start av ett nytt mjukvaruutvecklingsprojekt äravgörande för utvecklarna, styrorganen och slutprodukten. Därför prioriteras ofta nya ochokända metoder ned för att säkerställa att arbetet blir gjort och att lösningen kommer attlevereras i tid och med hög kvalitet. Detta beteende gör på lång sikt att mjukvaruutvecklingsprojektgår miste om nya och bättre utvecklingsmetoder.För belysa nya utvecklingsmetoder och upplysa de som behöver, valde vi att undersökaskillnaderna i krav framställning inom området Open Source Software(OSS)1-utveckling.I vårt arbete ställer tre forskningsfrågor som ska belysa ämnet dessa bevarar vi genom attutföra en fallstudie. I fallstudien undersöker vi hur och av vilka som krav framställts i ettföretagsstyrt projekt jämfört med ett projekt drivet av en frivilligorganisation.Fallstudien visade att externa användare i frivilligorganisation OSS-projekt har lägredelaktighet, det vill säga bidrag till projektartefakter, jämfört med företagsdrivna projektdär deltagandet av externa användare är högre. Slutligen diskuterar vi implikationerna avresultaten för både OSS-projekt drivna av företag och frivilligorganisationer. Vi kan förbåda styrorganen dra slutsatsen att det är möjligt att öka både utvecklingshastighet ochproduktens värde för kunden. / Knowledge about different development methods when starting up a new software developmentproject is crucial for the developers, the governing bodies and the end product.Therefore new and unfamiliar options are taken out of the equation to make sure that thework gets done and that the solution will be delivered on time and with high quality. Thisbehaviour in the long term does, however, exclude new and better ways of executing thework in the process.To shine light upon new development methods and enlighten those who are in needof insight into a new viable option we chose to investigate the differences in requirementelicitation within the area of Open Source Software development. By examining how andby who requirements are elicited in a firm-driven project compared to a community drivenproject, we framed a total of three research questions to base our case study on.The case study showed that in community driven Open Source Software projects externalusers have low participation, in other words contributions to project artefacts, comparedto firm-driven projects where the participation of external users is high. Finally, wediscuss the potential implications of the findings for both community- and firm-driven OSSprojects. We could conclude for both types that it’s possible to increase both developmentspeed and customer product value.

Yes / Visual representations of prisons and their inmates are common in the news and social media, with stories about riots, squalor, drugs, selfharm and suicide hitting the headlines. Prisoners’ families are left to worry about the implications of such events on their kin, while those incarcerated and less able to understand social cues, norms and rules, are vulnerable to deteriorating mental health at best, to death at worst. As part of the life-story method in my research with offenders who are on the autism spectrum, have mental health problems and/or have learning difficulties, and prisoner’s mothers, I asked participants to take photographs, reflecting upon their experiences. Photographs in this case, were primarily used to help respondents consider and articulate their feelings in follow-up interviews. Notably, seeing (and imagining) is often how we make a connection to something (object or feeling), or someone (relationships), such that images in fiction, news/social media, drama, art, film and photographs can shape the way people think and behave – indeed feel about things and people. Images and representations ought to be taken seriously in researching social life, as how we interpret photographs, paintings, stories and television shows is based on our own imaginings, biography, culture and history. Therefore, we look at and process an image before words escape, by ‘seeing’ and imagining. How my participants and I ‘collaborate’ in doing visual methods and then how we make meaning of the photographs in storying their feelings, is insightful. As it is, I wanted to enable my participants to make and create their own stories via their photographs and narratives, whilst connecting to them, along with my own interpretation and subjectivities. / The Leverhulme Trust RF-2016-613\8

Tesis por compendio / [ES] El incremento en la concentración de sales en suelos y agua es una de las problemáticas que más amenazan a la humanidad por su efecto directo sobre la productividad de las cosechas. En líneas generales la pregunta a la que queremos contribuir es ¿cómo enfrentarnos a una situación de salinización en un contexto de cambio climático y crecimiento demográfico? Más concretamente estudiamos la problemática en el sureste español desde un enfoque en que los resultados puedan ser explotados en el corto y medio plazo por el sector empresarial. La Región de Murcia es una de las principales zonas productoras del sureste español donde además existen graves problemas de salinización. En la presente tesis doctoral se propone utilizar aguas salinas para riego e investigar las implicaciones de ello a nivel de absorción de agua y nutrientes, estudiando también los cambios fisiológicos en la planta para obtener aplicaciones que permitan el crecimiento económico. En este sentido se abordan dos estrategias: por un lado, el estudio de plantas halofitas, y por otro, la bioestimulación en plantas glicofitas. La mayoría de los cultivos productivos son plantas glicofitas, ven afectadas sus producciones cuando hay elevadas concentraciones de sal en el medio de cultivo. Por el contrario, las plantas halofitas han desarrollado diferentes mecanismos para resistir los efectos negativos de la salinidad. Es por ello que la explotación directa de halofitas se ha identificado como una salida económica para las zonas afectadas. Otra forma de mitigación de los efectos del cambio climático es el desarrollo de la bioestimulación para incrementar la resistencia a estreses o para incrementar la concentración de compuestos bioactivos en los alimentos. Para los estudios realizados, se seleccionaron 6 especies vegetales que fuesen representativas de los diferentes comportamientos frente a la salinidad, que fuesen propias de la localización seleccionada (Región de Murcia) y de interés para la empresa promotora del proyecto de investigación (Sakata Seed Ibérica). Las especies estudiadas fueron: Brassica oleracea L., Brassica rapa L., Cakile maritima, Salicornia fruticosa y Atriplex halimus. El primer objetivo se centró en el análisis de los efectos de la salinidad sobre las especies objeto de estudio. Más concretamente intentando identificar rasgos que pudiesen servir para discriminar entre especies y/o cultivares las mejores respuestas a la salinidad. Por un lado, las interrelaciones entre distintos rasgos fisiológicos en respuesta a la salinidad se analizaron estadísticamente mediante un Discriminant Canonical Analysis (DCA), en el que se observó una relación entre el crecimiento y la suculencia de las hojas como medida de adaptación a la salinidad. Patrones como la acumulación de iones, el contenido en proteínas y ácidos grasos insaturados en respuesta a la salinidad pueden emplearse para discriminar entre distintas respuestas al estrés salino. Por otro lado, se estudió el efecto de la salinidad sobre la concentración y el perfil de glucosinolatos de distintos cultivares de brócoli (Brassica oleracea L.) en distintos periodos productivos. También se observó el efecto estimulador de los estreses como la temperatura y la salinidad sobre el perfil de glucosinolatos y la posibilidad de inducir complejos de glucosinolatos con fenólicos que no habían sido descritos previamente en Brassicales. El segundo objetivo se centró en la búsqueda de formas de explotación económica de las distintas respuestas fisiológicas. Por un lado, se desarrolló una metodología que permitió incrementar el contenido en glucosinolatos de las plantas de brócoli, sin que se viese en detrimento ni la producción ni los parámetros organolépticos del órgano comercial, lo cual fue posible mediante la aplicación de metil jasmonato y un polieter polisiloxano de forma foliar. Por otro lado, en las especies halofitas se analizó su aptitud par / [CA] L'augment de la concentració de sals en sòls i aigua és un dels problemes que més amenacen la humanitat pel seu efecte directe sobre la productivitat dels cultius. En termes generals, la qüestió a la qual volem contribuir és: com afrontar una situació de salinització en un context de canvi climàtic i creixement de la població? Més concretament, hem estudiat els problemes del sud-est d'Espanya des d'un enfocament en què els resultats poden ser explotats a curt i mitjà termini pel sector empresarial. La Regió de Múrcia és una de les principals zones productores del sud-est d'Espanya on també hi ha greus problemes de salinització. En aquesta tesi s'utilitzen aigües salines per al reg i s'investiguen les implicacions que això comporta a nivell d'absorció d'aigua i nutrients, estudiant també els canvis fisiològics en la planta per obtenir aplicacions que permetin el creixement econòmic. En aquest sentit s'aborden dues estratègies: d'una banda, l'estudi de les plantes d'halòfites i, de l'altra, la bioestimulació en plantes glicòfítes. La majoria dels cultius productius són plantes glicòfites, la seva produccions es veu afectada quan hi ha altes concentracions de sal en el medi de creiximent. Per contra, les plantes halófites han desenvolupat diferents mecanismes per resistir els efectes negatius de la salinitat. És per això que l'explotació directa d'halòfits s'ha identificat com una sortida econòmica per a les zones afectades. Una altra forma de mitigació dels efectes del canvi climàtic és el desenvolupament de bioestimulació per augmentar la resistència a estrès o augmentar la concentració de compostos bioactius en els aliments. Per als estudis realitzats en aquesta tesi doctoral es van seleccionar 6 espècies vegetals representatives dels diferents comportaments contra la salinitat, típics de la ubicació seleccionada (Regió de Múrcia) i d'interès per a l'empresa promotora del projecte de recerca (Sakata Seed Ibérica). Les espècies estudiades van ser: Brassica oleracea L., Brassica rapa L., Cakile maritima, Salicornia fruticosa i Atriplex halimus. El primer objectiu es va centrar en l'anàlisi dels efectes de la salinitat sobre les espècies objecte d'estudi. Més específicament tractant d'identificar trets que podrien servir per discriminar entre espècies i/o cultivars amb les millors respostes a la salinitat. D'una banda, les interrelacions entre diferents trets fisiològics en resposta a la salinitat van ser analitzades estadísticament per una Anàlisi Canònica Discriminant (DCA), en la qual s'observava una relació entre el creixement i la suculència de les fulles com a mesura d'adaptació a la salinitat. Patrons com l'acumulació d'ions, el contingut de proteïnes i àcids grassos insaturats en resposta a la salinitat es poden utilitzar per discriminar entre diferents respostes a l'estrès salí. D'altra banda, s'ha estudiat l'efecte de la salinitat en la concentració i perfil de glucosinolats de diferents cultius de bròquil (Brassica oleracea L.) en diferents períodes de producció. També vam observar l'efecte estimulant d'estrès com la temperatura i la salinitat en el perfil dels glucosinolats i la possibilitat d'induir complexos glucosinolatats amb fenòlics que no s'havien descrit prèviament en brassicales. El segon objectiu es va centrar en la recerca de formes d'explotació econòmica de les diferents respostes fisiològiques. D'una banda, es va desenvolupar una metodologia que permetia augmentar el contingut de glucosinolat de plantes de bròquil, sense perjudici ni de la producció ni dels paràmetres organolèptics de l'òrgancomercial, que va ser possible mitjançant l'aplicació de jasmonat de metil i un polieter de polisiloxà de forma foliar. D'altra banda, per a les espècies d'halòfits, es va realitzar una anàlisi per determinar la seva idoneïtat per a possibles usos tant culinaris com industrials. / [EN] The increase in the concentration of salts in soils and water is one of the problems that most threatens humanity due to its direct effect on crop productivity. In general terms, the question we want to contribute to is how to deal with salinization in the context of climate change and population growth? More specifically, we study the problems in south-eastern Spain from an approach in which the results can be exploited in the short and medium-term by the business sector. The region of Murcia is one of the main producing areas in south-eastern Spain where there are also serious salinization problems for various reasons. In this doctoral thesis, it is proposed to use saline water for irrigation and to investigate the implications that this entails at the level of water and nutrient absorption, also studying the physiological changes in the plant to obtain applications that allow economic growth. In this sense, two strategies are approached: on the one hand, the study of halophytic plants, and on the other hand, biostimulation in glycophyte plants. Most of the productive crops are glycophyte plants, their productions are affected when there are high concentrations of salt in the culture medium. On the contrary, halophyte plants have developed different mechanisms to resist the negative effects of salinity. That is why the direct exploitation of halophytes have been identified as an economic outlet for the salt-affected areas. Another way of mitigating the effects of climate change is the development of biostimulation to increase resistance to stresses or to increase the concentration of bioactive compounds in food. For the studies carried out in this doctoral thesis, 6 plant species were selected that were representative of the different behaviours towards salinity, that were specific to the selected location (The region of Murcia), and of interest to the company promoting the research project (Sakata Seed Ibérica). The species studied were: Brassica oleracea L., Brassica rapa L., Cakile maritima, Salicornia fruticosa, and Atriplex halimus. The first objective of this thesis focused on the analysis of the effects of salinity on the species understudy. More specifically trying to identify traits that could serve to discriminate between species and/or cultivars that best respond to salinity. Moreover, the interrelationships between different physiological traits in response to the salinity were statistically analysed using a Discriminant Canonical Analysis (DCA), in which a relationship between growth and succulence of the leaves were observed as a measure of adaptation to salinity. Patterns such as ion accumulation, protein content, and unsaturated fatty acids in response to salinity can be used to discriminate between different responses to salt stress. On the other hand, the effect of salinity on the concentration and profile of glucosinolates of different cultivars of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.) indifferent productive periods were also studied. The stimulating effect of stresses such as temperature and salinity on the glucosinolate profile and the possibility of inducing glucosinolates with phenolics complexes that had not been previously described in Brassicales were also observed. The second objective focused on the search for forms of economic exploitation of the different physiological responses. On the one hand, a methodology was developed that allowed increasing the glucosinolate content of broccoli plants, without affecting the production or any organoleptic parameter of the commercial organ. This was possible through the application of methyl jasmonate and a polyether polysiloxane in foliar form. On the other hand, for the halophyte species, an analysis was carried out to determine their aptitude for possible culinary and industrial uses. / This work was funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (AGL2016-80247-C2-1-R and RTC-2015-3536-2). / Agudelo Sánchez, A. (2021). Absorción de agua y nutrientes y respuesta fisiológica de plantas halofitas y glicofitas bajo condiciones de estrés salino [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/177647 / Compendio

The current best practices of user-centered design (UCD) may not be optimal with respect to eliciting information from representative users from special populations. This research extended elicitation approaches traditional focus on user needs and context to include criteria describing obstacles users encounter. Military veterans were selected for this research effort as representative users for a use case in technology design that addresses the difficulties associated with community reintegration. This work provides several contributions to the UCD field. First, different elicitation methods were compared by the depth and breadth of design space criteria elicited. Guidelines were generated for designer use of phenomenology in practice. Obstacles were added as an important facet of design, with corresponding grammar rules for construction. Finally, an algorithm was applied as a method for generating personas. Additionally, this dissertation contributes to the field of veteran research. Some example contributions include a set of design space criteria for designers to consider when designing for veterans, and two veteran personas grounded in data procured from the analysis. This research effort was conducted in three phases: elicitation, first-cycle analysis, and second-cycle analysis. The elicitation process engaged 40 military veterans to complete an interview session and a design session. These sessions explored the lived experience of veterans as they reintegrate into communities, and gathered their ideas for technology to assist with veteran reintegration. The researchers who conducted first-cycle coding focused on categorizing the most important participant statements (meaning units) using a codebook. This analysis resulted in over 3,000 meaning units. Additionally, the meaning unit corpus was subjected to systematic second-cycle analyses, using standardized linguistic structures to generate design space criteria. In total, over 6,000 design space criteria were discovered, and these criteria were synthesized to create personas using a situated data mining (SDM) algorithm. Results suggest that the interview session was crucial to elicit higher quantity and broader coverage of design space criteria. It is recommended that designers conduct and analyze interviews that focus on understanding the lived experience of users (not on their technology ideas) as part of a UCD approach. / Ph. D. / User-centered design (UCD) is a design philosophy that emphasizes the needs and other considerations of the end user of a technology when creating that technology. Current UCD practices may not be optimal with respect to obtaining information from representative users from special populations. This research extended elicitation approaches traditional focus on user needs and context to include criteria describing obstacles users encounter. Military veterans were selected for this research effort as representative users for a use case in technology design that addresses the difficulties associated with adjusting to civilian life after service and reintegrating into the civilian community. This work provides several contributions to the UCD field. First, different elicitation methods were compared by the depth and breadth of design space criteria elicited. Guidelines were generated for designer use of phenomenology (study of the lived experience of a population with a phenomenon) in practice. Obstacles were added as an important facet of design, with corresponding grammar rules for construction. Finally, an algorithm was applied as a method for generating personas, which are user profiles created to help designers understand their users. Additionally, this dissertation contributes to the field of veteran research. Some example contributions include a set of design space criteria for designers to consider when designing for veterans, and two veteran personas grounded in data procured from the analysis. This research effort was conducted in three phases: elicitation, first-cycle analysis, and second-cycle analysis. The elicitation process engaged 40 military veterans to complete an interview session and a design session. These sessions explored the lived experience of veterans as they reintegrate into communities, and gathered their ideas for technology to assist with veteran reintegration. The researchers who conducted first-cycle coding focused on categorizing the most important participant statements (meaning units) using a codebook. This analysis resulted in over 3,000 meaning units. Additionally, each meaning unit was examined in second-cycle coding. Standardized linguistic structures and syntax were applied to generate design space criteria. In total, over 6,000 design space criteria were discovered, and these criteria were synthesized to create personas using a situated data mining (SDM) algorithm. Results suggest that the interview session was crucial to elicit higher quantity and broader coverage of design space criteria. It is recommended that designers conduct and analyze interviews that focus on understanding the lived experience of users (not on their technology ideas) as part of a UCD approach.

Engaging the student's prior knowledge is considered by educational researchers to be an important part of constructing a strong foundation for new learning. Diagrams are one technique used in the classroom. Jill Larkin and Herbert Simon described the computational advantages of diagrams over text when used to communicate information in their 1987 article entitled 'Why a Diagram is (Sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words.' This case study describes a novel abstract diagramming technique facilitated in four separate university classroom settings. Using paper and crayons, the students created three diagrams that represented the externalization of their unconscious perceptions of their own prior knowledge. The study illustrates how differences in prior knowledge can be visualized using diagrams with greater speed in less time than the traditional use of text-based descriptions. The use of the abstract diagramming technique led to an unexpected finding. The student diagrams were shown to contain a hidden conceptual topology, one that is described by Egenhofer in his 1991 article entitled 'Reasoning About Binary Topological Relations.' This topology is recommended as a framework for structuring and facilitating student collaboration and sharing of prior knowledge and new learning. The present study recommends the diagramming technique as the basis for the establishment of a standard diagram research framework that can be used across multiple research disciplines and subject domains. This dissertation describes a domain-general abstract diagram technique that can be adapted for domain-specific subjects and made operational using basic materials (paper and crayons). The study also describes the instructors' responses to questions about the diagram technique used in their classes. The case study offers recommendations for future diagram research. / Ph. D.

Yes / In different engineering processes, the reliability of systems is increasingly evaluated to ensure that the safety-critical process systems will operate within their expected operational boundary for a certain mission time without failure. Different methodologies used for reliability analysis of process systems include Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and Bayesian Networks (BN). Although these approaches have their own procedures for evaluating system reliability, they rely on exact failure data of systems’ components for reliability evaluation. Nevertheless, obtaining exact failure data for complex systems can be difficult due to the complex behaviour of their components, and the unavailability of precise and adequate information about such components. To tackle the data uncertainty issue, this chapter proposes a framework by combining intuitionistic fuzzy set theory and expert elicitation that enables the reliability assessment of process systems using FTA. Moreover, to model the statistical dependencies between events, we use the BN for robust probabilistic inference about system reliability under different uncertainties. The efficiency of the framework is demonstrated through application to a real-world system and comparison of the results of analysis produced by the existing approaches. / The full text will be available at the end of the publisher's embargo, 9th April 2025

Teachers face pressures to meet the needs of an ever-changing diverse population of learners while simultaneously attempting to assist students in meeting state standards. There is a body of research that supports emergent bilinguals' growth in reading and writing. However, those practices do not necessarily reflect classroom instruction nor the needs of the students. The purpose of this study was to examine adolescent emergent bilinguals' perceptions about their learning from research-based literacy practices implemented in a classroom designed as a third space. Data were collected using participatory research and photo-elicitation and were analyzed using inductive analysis. The emergent bilinguals provided their insights about class assignments. Findings revealed that research-based literacy practices support emergent bilinguals' perceptions of learning when they are made accessible to them in distinctive yet extensive ways. For students to uncover which literacy activities they value, teachers need to present them with various opportunities to explore their own learning and encourage them to take ownership of their learning. Educators must consider the unique and individual needs of emergent bilinguals when designing the classroom environment and the lessons based on the standards. Recommendations for practitioners, professional development coordinators, and researchers are presented.

Abstract The aim with this study is to examine how practicing history teachers in upper secondary school deal with historical thinking concepts. The three main questions are: which concepts do teachers use in their courses and when do they use them? How can teachers’ use of different historical thinking concepts be described in terms of reconstruction and construction? What factors influence teachers when they work with historical thinking concepts?   To answer these questions, the material, for example tests, lesson plans and notes of seven teachers has been analyzed. These analysis were followed by interviews with the teachers.   The empirical data have been handled in two steps. The first step is a survey of what historical thinking concepts teachers use and when they use them. The survey was done as a detailed reading of the teachers’ material. In this survey two historical thinking concepts, evidence and cause and consequence, have been selected for further analysis, which is the second step.   The results show that when teachers deal with the historical thinking concept of evidence they show their students models and ways to handle evidence. This is not the case when teachers handle the historical thinking concept of cause and consequence. Models are shown here as well but not to the same extent. The result also shows that the teachers’ handling of evidence in a greater extent leads to construction compared with their handling of cause and consequence.   The explanations provided in the study also point to the different character between the two concepts and what form of test the teachers’ use and what words are used to communicate for example cause and consequence. Furthermore, the explanations also indicate that the teachers’ view of what historical knowledge contains of, together with what kind of students and what other subject they teach play some part in their dealing with historical thinking concepts. / Vilka tankeredskap hanterar historielärare i sin undervisning och när framkommer dessa i de kurser lärare undervisar i? Hur hanterar lärare tankeredskap i termer av rekonstruktion och konstruktion? Dessa frågor ställs i denna studie som bygger på en analys av sju lärares undervisningsmaterial och på uppföljande intervjuer med lärarna. I den första delen kartläggs de tankeredskap som lärare hanterar i hela kurser som de undervisar i. Ett resultat av denna del är att orsak och konsekvens är det dominerande tankeredskapet som lärare hanterar. Ett annat resultat är att tankeredskapens förekomst i lärarnas kurser uppvisar stora variationer. I den andra delen sker en fördjupad analys av två tankeredskap, källor och källkritik samt orsak och konsekvens. I denna analys framkommer att lärarnas hanterande av källor och källkritik i större utsträckning kan beskrivas i termer av konstruktion, jämfört med lärarnas hanterande av orsak och konsekvens. I analysen framkommer också att lärare kan hantera tankeredskap i två steg; det som i studien kallas tankeredskap som modell respektive tankeredskap som process. / <p>Ingår i CSD-serien.</p> / Ingår i CSD-serien

Bakgrund: Sjukhusens vårdavdelningar är den sista vårdplatsen för många människor, vilket innebär att många också dör i den kontexten. Organisationen är i huvudsak utformad för akutsjukvård och vård i livets slutskede är inte prioriterat, vilket gör att akutsjukvårdsmiljön är sämre utformad för den döende personen och närstående. Det finns behov av fler studier som fokuserar på vård i livets slutskede från dessa vårdkontexter.                                                                                                                                                                                                   Syfte: Syftet var att utforska närståendes erfarenheter av vad som är betydelsefullt i vårdmiljön inom akutsjukvården vid vård i livets slutskede. Metod: Den här studien är kvalitativ och designad utifrån tolkande beskrivning. Två akutsjukvårdsavdelningar i södra-mellersta Sverige rekryterades. Nio närstående, sex kvinnor och tre män, i åldrarna 23-63 år, deltog i studien. De blev individuellt intervjuade vid ett tillfälle. Vid intervjun användes fotoelicitering med utgångspunkt från bilder de själva hade tagit. Intervjuerna spelades in digitalt (ljud) och transkriberades ordagrant. Tolkande beskrivning användes för analys av materialet. Resultat: Närståendes erfarenheter av vårdmiljön presenteras i tre mönster, vilka är relaterade till varandra: Sensoriska upplevelser i den fysiska vårdmiljön som inkluderar visuella intryck, ljud och oljud samt ljus; Utrymme för privatliv och sociala relationer i den personliga vårdmiljön och avslutningsvis; Personalen som representanter för den institutionella vårdmiljön som omfattar förhållningssätt, möjliggöra orientering samt struktur och kontinuitet. Slutsats: Studien påvisar tre mönster som omfattar närståendes erfarenheter av det som är betydelsefullt. Betydelsen av sensoriska upplevelser, privatliv och sociala relationer samt personalen förhållningssätt och agerande beskrivs. Erfarenheter i och av vårdmiljön kunde öka eller minska deras stress i en svår livssituation. Utifrån dessa fynd är det av stor betydelse med ökad medvetenhet hos personalen om hur viktig vårdmiljön är och att miljön för vård i livets slutskede vid akutsjukvårdsavdelningar behöver uppmärksammas och tas om hand i större omfattning. / Background: Hospitals are and will continue to be the last place for care for many people, which also means that a lot of people die in these settings, within organizations for acute care. The main focus is not care at end-of-life and it is not prioritized, which means that these acute care environments not are adapted to the needs of dying persons and family members. More studies aiming at end-of-life care in acute care settings are needed.              Aim: The aim with this study was to explore important dimensions of the care environment in acute care settings from family members´ perspective during end-of-life care.                                                                Method: The design for this study was qualitative and used interpretive description. We recruited two acute care units from different hospitals in south-mid Sweden. The participants were nine family members, six women and three men, aged 23-63 years. They were at one occasion individually interviewed with the use of photo-elicitation and these photographs were participant-produced. These interviews were digitally audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interviews were analysed with interpretive description.                                               Findings: These findings show family members´ experiences of the acute care environment, as described in three, interrelated patterns: Sensory experiences in the physical care environment including visual impressions, sound and noises, lighting; Space for privacy and social relations in the personal care environment; and Staff as representatives for the institutional care environment including attitude and manner, orientation, and structure and continuity.                                                                                                                                                              Conclusions: According to these findings three patterns are described from family members´ perspective, increasing or decreasing their distress in a demanding situation. Sensory experiences, privacy and social relations are of importance, just as staff. In line with these findings it is crucial with increased awareness among staff of how important the care environment is and the need for focusing more on and taking care of the end-of-life care environment in acute care settings. / Forskningsprogrammet DöBra / Plats och rum för vård i livets slutskede