This report aimed to create a guiding document for teachers and schools regarding existential health and existential questions. The purpose was to research the need of existential health and existential questions in secondary school students and how it can effect the mental health, what the curriculum says about existential questions, how teachers can include existential health and existential questions in their education and finally, to see if existential health and questions are dealt with as much as it should in relation to need and positive effects. The results showed that existential health and dealing with existential questions could improve health, mental health and prevent mental health issues, which is an ever-increasing problem in Sweden. Existential health is included in the united nations convention for children’s rights and in the world health organization’s convention for supporting arenas, in which schools are included. Existential health is not mandatory in the subject of religion in secondary school, and research shows that it is not dealt with as much as it should be in this subject. Existential health should be included in the student health programs in Swedish schools, because of the positive effects that it can have on student’s mental health but also because Sweden is lawfully bound by U. N’s convention to include this. Teachers in religion could be an important asset in including existential health in student health programs in schools.

Bakgrund: Intresset för existentiella frågor har ökat inom hälso-och sjukvården. Eftersom många människor i dagens samhälle lider av psykisk ohälsa skulle det vara viktigt för vårdpersonal att integrera andlig omvårdnad i mötet med patienten. Även om många studier redan gjorts och det är välkänt att existentiell omvårdnad ska vara en del av humanistisk omvårdnad, finner vårdpersonal det svårt att ge existentiell omvårdnad.Syfte: med uppsatsen var att beskriva vårdpersonalens upplevelser av existentiell omvårdnad. Metod:är en litteraturöversikt som analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys beskriven av Hällgren Graneheim och Lundman. Resultatet:visar att rädsla kan uppkomma när vårdpersonalen berörs inombords. Medvetenhet om egen sårbarhet kan även medföra att vårdpersonalen undviker existentiell omvårdnad. Vårdpersonalens förhållningssätt till egen andlighet innefattar att veta var det egna jaget står. Genom att diskutera situationer med andra fördjupas förståelsen för de egna upplevelserna. Ett medvetet närvarande i stunden och att hålla tillbaka sig själv verkar också utgöra en förutsättning för existentiell omvårdnad.Diskussion:Sårbarhet hos vårdpersonalen utgjorde hinder. Förutsättningarna förbättrades när vårdpersonalen ökade medvetenheten om den egna andligheten. Slutsats: Det ansågs viktigt att vårdpersonalen var medveten om sin egen andlighet för att kunna möta patientens existentiella behov. Background: The interest of existential issues has increased in healthcare. Since a lot of people in today´s society suffer from poor mental health, it would be an important task to healthcareprofessionals to integrate existential care in the meeting with the patient. Eventhough there has been a lot of studies done in the field of existential care, for it is wellknown that existential care should be a part of humanistic caring, healthcareprofessionals found it problematic to give existentialcare. The aim of this study wasto describe healthcareprofessionals experiences of existential care. Method: Literature review which was analyzed using qualitative content analysis described by Hällgren Graneheim and Lundman has been used as a method. The resultshowed that fear arose when healthcareprofessional were affected within. Awareness of their own vulnerability resulted in avoiding existential care. Healthcareprofessionals attitudes to their own spirituality involved knowing where the own self was positioned. By discussing situations with others deepens the understanding of their own experiences. A conscious presence in the moment and to restrain oneself also seems to be a prerequisite for spiritual care. Discussion: Vulnerability of healthcareprofessionals formed barriers. The conditions improved when healthcareprofessionals increased awareness of their own spirituality. Conclusion: It was considered important that healthcareprofessionals were aware of their own spirituality in order to meet the patient's existential needs. / Background: The interest of existential issues has increased in healthcare.Since a lot of people in today´s society suffer from poor mental health, it would be an important task to healthcareprofessionals to integrate existential care in the meeting with the patient. Eventhough there has been a lot of studies done in the field of existential care, for it is wellknown that existential care should be a part of humanistic caring, healthcareprofessionals found it problematic to give existentialcare. The aim of this study wasto describe healthcareprofessionals experiences of existential care. Method: Literature review which was analyzed using qualitative content analysis described by Hällgren Graneheim and Lundman has been used as a method. The resultshowed that fear arose when healthcareprofessional were affected within. Awareness of their own vulnerability resulted in avoiding existential care. Healthcareprofessionals attitudes to their own spirituality involved knowing where the own self was positioned. By discussing situations with others deepens the understanding of their own experiences. A conscious presence in the moment and to restrain oneself also seems to be a prerequisite for spiritual care. Discussion: Vulnerability of healthcareprofessionals formed barriers. The conditions improved when healthcareprofessionals increased awareness of their own spirituality. Conclusion: It was considered important that healthcareprofessionals were aware of their own spirituality in order to meet the patient's existential needs.

The aim of the study is, based on the staff’s perspective, to describe and analyse the existential needs of elderly in end-of-life living in nursing homes. The aim was also to examine how the staff perceive working with elderly in end-of-life care. Three qualitative focus groups were conducted by interviewing nursing home staff. The analysis is based on Weisman’s the appropriate death, Tornstam’s gerotranscendence and Hasenfeld’s human service organizations. The main findings were that the term ‘existential needs’ is described as wide and hard to define. Uneasiness and anxiety were common in the end-of-life and it was hard for the staff to meet the existential needs. The staff also described that the “little things” matter, such as holding one’s hand, as well as being present with the elderly. The relationship between the elderly and the staff was vital in order for the elderly to have as good an end-of-life and death experience as possible. The staff felt sorrow when the elderly had passed away and had little time to grieve. In difference to earlier research the staff did not request further education nor tutoring, however they wanted more time to grieve and process the deaths of the elderly.

Bakgrund: Andliga och existentiella frågor hamnar i allt större utsträckning hos sjukvårdspersonal. Det palliativa förhållningssättet betonar vikten av att ge en god omvårdnad vad gäller andliga och existentiella frågor. Sjuksköterskans roll är att genom goda relationer skapa en anpassad och balanserad omvårdnad för att öka välbefinnandet för patienten den sista tiden i livet. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturöversikten var att sammanställa hur andliga och existentiella frågor beskrivs i forskning utifrån sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av palliativ vård. Metod: En litteraturöversikt som sammanställer aktuell forskning inom det valda omvårdnadsområdet. Resultat: I resultatet framträdde att tid är det vanligaste hindret och utbildning är det som främjar givandet av andlig och existentiell omvårdnad. Att skapa relationer och kommunicera är viktiga aspekter inom vårdandets konst. Egenskaper som sjuksköterskan bör inneha för att underlätta givandet av andlig och existentiell omvårdnad är; en god självkännedom, empati, intuition och observationsförmåga. Slutsats: För att kunna ge en bättre andlig och existentiell omvårdnad behöver de yttre förutsättningarna ge tid för mötet mellan sjuksköterska och patient, vårdmiljön organiseras så detta möjliggörs, teamarbete tillämpas och utbildning ges. / Background: Spiritual and existential issues increasingly end up at healthcare personnel. The palliative approach emphasizes the importance of providing good care regarding existential and spiritual issues. The nurse's role is through good relationships create a customized and balanced care to improve the wellbeing of the patient, at the end of life. Aim: The aim of the literature review was to compile the spiritual and existential issues described in the research based on nurses' experiences of palliative care. Methods: A literature review that compiles current research in the chosen nursing field. Results: In the result time appeared as the most common obstacle and education promotes giving of spiritual and existential care. To establish a relationship and communicate is important aspects in the art of nursing. Characteristics that the nurse should possess in order to facilitate the giving of spiritual and existential care is; good self-knowledge, empathy, intuition and observation ability. Conclusion: To be able to ameliorate spiritual and existential care time is needed for the external conditions to enable the meeting between nurse and patient. The care environment should be organized so this is made possible, teamwork applied and education provided.

Aim: The overall aim was to create knowledge about what it means to live with bipolar disorder from an existential perspective, both for individuals with the diagnosis and for their close relatives.Method: An existential perspective in this context entails that it is explored and described from a lifeworld perspective of individuals who in various ways experience that which is termed as bipolar disorder. The lifeworld phenomenological approach Reflective Lifeworld Research (RLR) was used in the four empirical studies. Meaning-oriented interviews and analysis were conducted following the leading methodological principles of the chosen scientific approach. A synthesis, based on lifeworld hermeneutic existential philosophy, then presents how it is possible to understand the perspective of individuals with bipolar disorder and their close relatives as a coherent whole.Findings and conclusions: A magnitude and complexity of experiencing, which means that life with bipolar disorder is characterized by extra dimensions, specific tension and contradictions, has been elucidated. Knowledge of the meaning of these aspects enables for the persons with the illness and for their close relatives to understand, to put words to, and to communicate how their life is and what they need, which in turn enhances their ability to influence their lives. It also increases the opportunities for professional caregivers to develop care, both in content and organization, so that it can meet the actual needs of those concerned in an adequate way.Living with bipolar disorder means so much more than the usual description with changes between episodes of depression and mania. The diagnosis “bipolar disorder” thus appears to be an inadequate label that only reflects the more obvious and visible dimensions of the illness, while those that characterize life in its entirety remain hidden.The thesis also shows that the importance of the common everyday life of persons with bipolar disorder and their close relatives should be highlighted as the most important factor in a liveable existence. A change in the view of mental health care is thus needed; a change that is characterized by consensus, collaboration and transparent communication between the person with the illness, their close relatives and mental health care. The common goal should be about meeting actual needs, and to strengthen a profound connectedness in order to make everyday life more liveable. / Disputationen sker den 2012-11-16, Sal Myrdal, Hus K, Växjö, kl. 10:30.

The Christian doctrine of original sin has ever since the Reformation been a central part of Lutheran theological understandings of human beings. Therefore it is of vital importance to see how this doctrine can be understood in a plausible way, with regards to contemporary society, 500 years after Luther is said to have nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the church in Wittenberg. The present study explores what contemporary issues different interpretations of the doctrine must interact with, and suggest a way of evaluating the plausibility and Lutheran identity of such interpretations. Two expositions of the doctrine of original sin published by Lutheran theologians in the 2010s are then evaluated: Utanför paradiset by Eva-Lotta Grantén (ethicist, Uppsala) and In Adam’s Fall by Ian A. McFarland (professor of Divinity, Cambridge). Particularly four aspects of their interpretations are analysed: the relationship to human experience, the integration of contemporary science and culture, the internal coherence and their narrative’s Lutheran authenticity. Even though both interpretations have their flaws, they can largely be seen as both plausible and Lutheran. Grantén gives a wholly existential picture of the original sin, while McFarland tends to see it in ontological terms. In order to avoid the pitfalls in their interpretations, a further developed understanding of the doctrine is proposed, integrating both the ontological and existential aspects.

SAMMANFATTNING Bakgrund: Att drabbas av cancer innebär för många en dramatisk upplevelse som påverkar de fysiska, psykiska, sociala och andliga/existentiella dimensionerna hos människan. Syftet med studien var att undersöka upplevelser av medicinsk yoga som rehabiliteringsform bland personer som drabbats av cancer. Syftet var också att beskriva vilken uppfattning personerna hade angående deras psykiska och andliga/existentiella hälsa, samt den medicinska yogans eventuella betydelse för detta. Metod: Explorativ kvalitativ metod med individuella intervjuer där åtta informanter deltog. Rekryteringen utgick från en cancerrehabiliteringsverksamhet på Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala Läns landsting. Rehabiliteringsformen var inriktad på medicinsk yoga. Resultat: Den psykiska hälsan upplevdes förhållandevis god hos personerna men den hade varierat under tiden. Samtalsstöd var viktigt för den psykiska och andliga/existentiella hälsan. Beträffande andliga och existentiella frågor funderade många över sin sjukdom, död och meningen med livet. Den medicinska yogan gav positiva upplevelser. Samtliga informanter kände av och erhöll känsla av lugn och avslappning samt både under och efter yogapassen. Gruppträningen bidrog även till socialt umgänge som var betydelsefullt för flera av informanterna. Det framkom även andliga och existentiella upplevelser i samband med yogapassen. Slutsats: En cancersjukdom medför ofta att den psykiska och andliga/existentiella hälsan påverkas. Den medicinska yogan var betydelsefull som en del av cancerrehabiliteringen och berörde deras fysiska, psykiska, sociala och andliga/existentiella dimensioner. Med informanternas upplevelser i åtanke kan den medicinska yogan vara ett viktigt bidrag till sjukvården och bidra till en bättre hälsa hos personer som drabbas av cancer. / ABSTRACT Background: To suffer from cancer often means a dramatic experience that affects the physical, psychological, social and spiritual/existential dimensions. The purpose of this study was to examine experiences of medical yoga as a part of the rehabilitation for people who suffer from cancer. The purpose was also to describe what perception the people had concerning their psychological and spiritual/existential health, and the eventual significance of the medical yoga related to that. Method: Explorative qualitative method with individual interviews where eight informants participated. The recruitment emanated from a cancer rehabilitation center at the Academic hospital, Uppsala county council. The rehabilitation form was focused on medical yoga. Result: The psychological health was experienced as relatively good but it had varied over time. Therapeutic talks were important regarding the psychological and spiritual/existential health. Regarding the spiritual and existential issues many of the informants thought about their disease, death and the meaning of life. The medical yoga brought positive experiences. All of the informants felt and received a feeling of calmness and relaxation both during and after the yoga sessions. The group training lead to social interaction which was meaningful to several of the informants. Spiritual and existential experiences in connection with the yoga sessions arose. Conclusion: A cancer disease often affects the psychological and spiritual/existential health. The medical yoga was a meaningful part of the cancer rehabilitation and affected their physical, psychological, social and spiritual/existential dimensions. With the informants experiences in mind the medical yoga could be able as an important contribution to the health care and contribute to a better health among persons who suffers from cancer.

This thesis aims to investigate to what extent the centrality of religion influences the existential aspects of an individual’s meaning-system. To do this I used a meaning-system framework and a qualitative approach in which I gathered information through a questionnaire based on the Centrality of the Religious Meaning System Scale and by conducting 8 semi-structured interviews with young adults in Uppsala, Sweden. The analysis of these interviews was implemented through an abductive method. The theoretical perspective is based on the concept Global meaning and the General attribution theory. My conclusion is that those participating in the study describe their meanings differently depending on their religious meaning-system. The thesis also shows that the religious interpretations to a large degree were actualized by situational and dispositional factors. This suggest that the religious attributions were made to meet the participants need for meaning, control, and self-esteem. Finally, the thesis indicates that the centrality of one’s religion appears to inform the religious meaning-system, as well as, functions as a dispositional factor. Thus, this thesis suggests that the centrality of one’s religion can be an influential factor in how religious meaning is constructed regarding existential questions.

We explore the possibility of automating <i>NP</i>-hardness reductions. We motivate the problem from an artificial intelligence perspective, then propose the use of second-order existential (<i>SO</i>&#8707;) logic as representation language for decision problems. Building upon the theoretical framework of J. Antonio Medina, we explore the possibility of implementing seven syntactic operators. Each operator transforms <i>SO</i>&#8707; sentences in a way that preserves <i>NP</i>-completeness. We subsequently propose a program which implements these operators. We discuss a number of theoretical and practical barriers to this task. We prove that determining whether two <i>SO</i>&#8707; sentences are equivalent is as hard as GRAPH ISOMORPHISM, and prove that determining whether an arbitrary <i>SO</i>&#8707; sentence represents an <i>NP</i>-complete problem is undecidable.

Bakgrund: Allt fler människor drabbas av cancer och för vissa blir cancer obotlig. Såväl besked om obotlig cancer som behandlingar skapar emotionellt kaos, lidande och påverkar patientens livsvärld. Kroppsliga förändringar begränsar även den fysiska, psykiska och sociala tillvaron. Palliativ vård bygger på teamsamverkan och har betydelse för att möta patienters mångdimensionella behov. Sjuksköterskan har ett ansvar och en roll att stödja och stärka patientens hopp och minska lidandet. Syfte: Att belysa patienters upplevelser av att leva med obotlig cancer. Metod: Genom en kvalitativ metod har sex självbiografier analyserats med hjälp av innebördsanalys. Resultat: Beskedet om obotlig cancer väckte existentiella tankar och känslor. Det fanns ett behov av att bearbeta och hitta ett förhållningssätt till sjukdomen. Närstående blev allt viktigare och deras stöd värdesattes. Hoppet spelade en betydande roll och det fanns en ständig strävan efter känslan av kontroll. Diskussion: Genom att sjuksköterskan stöttar patienten mentalt och emotionellt för att stärka förhållningssättet till cancerdiagnosen, kan en känsla av hopp och livskvalitet uppnås. För att uppnå en god palliativ vård är samverkan mellan vårdgivare är en viktig del. Slutsats: Att drabbas av obotlig cancer påverkar hela människans livsvärld. Stöd från så väl närstående som sjuksköterska är en viktig del av patientens välbefinnande. / Background: More people suffer from cancer and for some people it becomes incurable. Diagnosis and treatment cause emotional chaos and suffering which affects patients’ life world. Physical changes in the body cause limitation on patient’s physical, mental and social existence. Palliative care is important to meet patients’ multidimensional needs, as it is a team based practice. Nurse’s role and responsibilities are to give support and strengthen patients’ hope and reduce suffering. Aim: To illuminate patients’ experiences of living with incurable cancer. Method: Through a qualitative approach, six autobiographies were analyzed by a meaning analysis. Results: The notification of incurable cancer created existential thoughts and feelings. Patients’ needed a process to deal and find an approach to the disease. Support from the family became more important. Hope played an important role and patients’ had constant ambition for self-control. Discussion: By the support from the nurse, patients can find the approach to the cancer, strengthen the feeling of hope and quality of life. To achieve a good palliative care, collaboration between healthcare providers is an important part. Conclusion: Incurable cancer affects the patient's whole life-world. Support from the loved ones and the nurse is an important part for the patient's wellbeing.