To get closer to an answer to the questions of how the pandemic affected one's mental health after the pandemic, but also how it affected one's church involvement and one's own faith in God, interviews were conducted with five young women, aged 19–25 years. I used a mixed method, namely three short questionnaires where the informants had to assess their mental, existential, physical, and social health, as well as describe their church involvement, before, during and after the pandemic. These questionnaires were then the basis for the interviews, where they had to nuance their answers even more. In this way, the study's material and empirical data were collected. This was then analyzed based on selected theories dealing with coping, religious coping, meaning-based coping, and spirituality processes. The results of the study show that the pandemic affected the informants in different ways and to different extents. What one brought into the pandemic when it comes to one's mental, existential, physical, and social health tends to influence how one coped with it and what consequences the pandemic created for one's well-being. On the other hand, most of the informants expressed that they take with them new perspectives and lessons learned from the pandemic that they did not have in the same way before. Much of what they mention is that you learned how the body works and that your well-being is better from physical activity, or that now, after the pandemic, you can choose in a different way what you want to be involved in when it comes to the social aspect, but also concrete social interactions and relationships. They prioritize their well-being and well-being in a different way.

Climate change is perceived as one of the most serious threats to humanity. Overthe last decade self-reported anxiety has increased in the Swedish population,especially among children and young adults. In the context of perceived secularity of the Swedish population, the existential questions in the community and inindividuals might be difficult to address. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore existential perspectives within the scope of climate anxiety, and how young adults cope withthe existential concerns. The study also investigated how professionals support young people experiencing existential questions connected to climate change. The design of the study is holistic including micro, meso and macro levels. Empirical data was collected within the framework of the project Terra-Pi/Klimatkraft, developing methods to support young people to better deal with climate-related thoughts and feelings. Phenomenologically inspired interviews were conducted with three young adults and two professionals whose work involves dimensions of young people´s climate worry. An observation was conducted at a Climate Power Group meeting in the project. Further, the study investigated the meaning of existential health, resilience and climate change in the proposal for a new national strategy for mental health, through a content analysis and an interview with anexpert at the Public Health Agency of Sweden. In this study, a deductive thematic analysis was performed to explore the applicability of the “givens of existence” (Yalom 1980), developmental resilience theory (Masten 2021; Ungar 2021) and the connection between meaning making, health and culture according to psychology of religion in Scandinavia. Participants described experiences of existential dimensions adhered to death anxiety, existential quilt, meaninglessness and meaning, existential isolation and future orientation/temporality. Most important coping strategies were climate activism, support from attachment relationships and finding a personal meaning.The project Terra-Pi/Klimatkraft boosts important protective factors for resilience in the participants, and supports the capacity of the professionals to do so. The proposal for a new national strategy for mental health confirms the connection between existential issues and mental health as well as the importance of increased knowledge and interventions within that field. Society would benefit from social actors providing spaces, contexts and competence for addressing existential issues that the climate crisis evokes.

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.

Contemporary pastoral care appears to both ignore queer theological advancements and to have lost its heritage in Luther`s pastoral care theology.This study aims to investigate which aspects of Lutheran theology can be denoted queer, and thereby of particular relevance for pastoral care undertaken by the Church of Sweden in today's rainbow-aware context. Thus, the study intends to contribute to deepening understanding of contemporary contextual pastoral care, by bringing together two theoretical areas, Lutheran theology and Queer theology, to inform and develop new approaches to pastoral care needs and interventions. A literature review provides the basis for theory-driven analysis that is qualitatively inductive.The main finding of this study identifies the social dimension of both approaches as being vital for contemporary pastoral care. Luther`s social theology for example emphases the social vulnerability of human beings and their experiences of oppressive social systems. This emphasis is also a driving force in Queer theology. Both perspectives also challenge us not only to actively counter experienced social inequality but also to undertake the care of those in need. The work reported in this thesis demonstrates the potential of such an approach for bringing forth certain aspects of Lutheran theology as queer, not only in a broader sense, but in particular for the development of theological and pastoral care encounters for a new era and a new societal situation involving individuals in existential crises. This study thus provides a foundation for a pastoral care that is queer-informed and importantly, thoroughly Luther.

Introduktion: Enligt World Health Organisation (WHO) definieras hälsa som ett tillstånd av fysiskt, mentalt och socialt välbefinnande och inte endast frånvaro av sjukdom. Utifrån denna definition kan en människa uppleva hälsa och livskvalitet hela livet, oavsett ålder, diagnos eller prognos. Förhållningssättet till livet påverkar den självskattade psykiska, fysiska och sociala hälsan. I Sverige används begreppet existentiell medan begreppet andlig oftast används internationellt. Både existentiell och andlig relaterar till en inre dimension som interagerar med den yttre världen; den egna kroppen, andra människor och de sekulär eller religiösa system som en individ kan relatera till. Syfte: Syftet är att bedöma hur WHO:s åtta faktorer för existentiell hälsa definieras och hur de används i vetenskapliga studier. Metod:Studien bygger på en litteraturstudie i vilken tjugo vetenskapliga artiklar granskats och analyserats. Både kvalitativa och kvantitativa studier, som undersöker existentiell hälsa har inkluderats. För att besvara forskningsfrågan och uppfylla studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats valts för att söka en slutsats utifrån tidigare forskning. De vetenskapliga artiklarna som valts ut har inhämtats via tillförlitliga databaser som PsychInfo, PubMed, SwePub,Google Scholar, och från Socialmedicinsk tidskrift. Resultat: Vid analys av artiklarnas innehåll har vi använt följande teman: andlig kontakt, mening och syfte med livet, upplevelse av förundran, helhet och integration, andlig styrka, harmoni och inre frid, hoppfullhet och optimism samt tro som resurs. Av dessa kom behovet av optimism, inre frid och hopp först. På andra plats kom behovet av mening och syfte med livet. Resultat visade att det är notoriskt svårt att definiera och mäta andlighet på grund av dess omtvistade definition, förhållandet till religiositet och olika kulturer. De olika definitionerna utmanar tillämpningen av begreppen i olika kontexter och kulturer. Slutsats: Då forskning kring existentiell hälsa är begränsad och relativt outforskat behöver framtida forskning fler kvalitativa och kvantitativa forskningsinsatser för att analysera faktorer som påverkar den existentiella hälsan utifrån ett kulturellt och kontextuellt perspektiv. Teorier och metoder kan på så sätt utvecklas för att skapa en evidensbaserad existentiell hälsointervention. / Introduction: According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), health is defined as a state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease. Based on this definition, a person can experience health and quality of life throughout their life, regardless of age, diagnosis or prognosis. The approach to life affects the self-assessed mental, physical and social health. In Sweden, the term existential is used, while the term spiritual is most often used internationally. Both existential and spiritual relate to an inner dimension that interacts with the outer world; one's own body, other people and the secular or religious systems to which an individual can relate. Purpose: The purpose is to assess how the WHO's eight factors of existential health are defined and how they are used in scientific studies. Method: The study is based on a literature study in which twenty scientific articles were reviewed and analyzed. Both qualitative and quantitative studies investigating existential health have been included. In order to answer the research question and fulfill the purpose of the study, a qualitative method with an inductive approach has been chosen to seek a conclusion based on previous research. The scientific articles that have been selected have been obtained via reliable databases such as PsychInfo, PubMed, SwePub, Google Scholar, and from the Journal of Social Medicine. Results: When analyzing the content of the articles, the following themes were used to categorise findings: spiritual contact, meaning and purpose in life, experience of wonder, wholeness and integration, spiritual strength, harmony and inner peace, hopefulness and optimism and faith as a resource. Out of theseeight themes, the need for optimism, inner peace and hope came first. In second place came the need for meaning and purpose in life. Results showed that it is notoriously difficult to define and measure spirituality due to its contested definition, relationship to religiosity and different cultures. The different definitions challenge the application of the concepts in different contexts and cultures. Conclusion: As research on existential health is limited and relatively unexplored, future research needs more qualitative and quantitative research efforts to analyze factors that affect existential health from a cultural and contextual perspective. Theories and methods can thus be developed to create an evidence-based existential health intervention.

I essäns form utforskar jag i den här uppsatsen gränser och förhållningssätt för arbete och privatliv.  Jag reflekterar kring hur arbete tar plats i min yrkespraktik där jag lever och verkar till stora delar på samma ställe, Färentuna Hälsoträdgård, en tillrättalagd mötesplats för hälsofrämjande, förebyggande och läkande för främst psykosocial och existentiell hälsa. Genom mitt skrivande undersöker jag också hur min riktning att sammanlänka de olika delarna i livet kan påverka de möten som uppstår med människor jag arbetar för. I essän låter jag gestaltande berättelser från mitt yrkesliv, genom min egen röst, gå i dialog med bland annat R Paulsen, A Gorz i tankar rörande arbete, H Arendt om människans villkor och E Fromm och M Buber med resonemang om livsvärldar och möten. Eftersom en del av mitt arbete och liv innebär att ta hjälp av natur och konstuttryck lyssnar jag också på forskare och skribenter inom dessa områden för att fördjupa reflektionen. Undersökningens resultat uttrycker ett behov av en alternerande rörelse mellan olika definitioner för arbete och roller. / In the form of an essay I explore, in this text, limits and approach for work and private life. I reflect on how the work takes place in my professional practice where I live and work, most of the time, in the same place, Färentuna Hälsoträdgård, a prearranged garden, an area, for health promotion, disease prevention an healing for psychosocial and existential health. Through my writing I also examines how my direction to link the different parts of life can affect the meetings that occur with people I work for. In the essay I let the stories from my professional life, by my own voice, go to dialog with for example R Paulsen, A Gorz and thoughts concerning work, H Arendt about human conditions and E Fromm and M Buber with reasoning about life-worlds and meetings. As part of my work and life means taking the help of nature and art expressions, I also listen to researchers and writers in these areas to deepen the reflection. The survey results are expressing a need for an alternating movement between different definitions of work and roles.

Bakgrunden till studien bygger på en önskan om att hela befolkningen ska ha en god hälsa. Även de grupper i samhället som har någon form av funktionsnedsättning. För att främja en god hälsa har djur länge visats sig ha en god påverkan på människans hälsa, framförallt hästen. I ett folkhälsovetenskapligt intresse att arbeta förebyggande och hälsofrämjande är det med ett stort intresse att undersöka hur hästen påverkar människans hälsa. I föreliggande studie har syftet varit att studera hur deltagarna med någon form av funktionsnedsättning i den dagliga verksamheten ”hälsa med hästkraft” upplever hur hästen påverkar deras hälsa. Metoden som använts för att undersöka följande syfte har varit kvalitativ metod, och genomförts med sex stycken deltagare i två fokusgruppsintervjuer.  I resultatet framkom det hur hästen främjat och bidragit till individernas hälsoupplevelser, både psykiskt och fysiskt samt dess sociala och personliga utveckling. Resultatets slutsats presenterar att hästen kan användas och benämnas som en hälsofrämjande resurs, och att ytterligare användning av hästen och forskning inom området kan göra att fler kan leva ett hälsosamt liv. / The background of the study is based on the desire of a healthy population. Even those groups in society who have some form of disability. To promote good health, animals have for a long time been proven to have a good impact on human health, especially horses. In a public health interest to preventing and promoting health, is it of great interest to investigate how the horse effect human health. The purpose of this essay has been to study how participants with forms of disability in the daily activity "Health with Horsepower" experience how horses contribute to their health. Used method in the investigated purpose has been a qualitative method and implemented with six participants in two focus group interviews. The result emerged how the horse promoted and contributed to the health experiences of the human, both psychologically and physically, as well as in social and personal development. The result concludes that the horse can be used and called a health promotion resource, and further use of horses and research in the area can allow more people the opportunity to live a healthy life.

This master thesis explores health as a primarily active process and what role theoretical and practical medicine should play in health. Health is divided up into four rooms: the room of the theoretician who works in medicine, the meeting between the theoretician and practician, the meeting between practician and patient, and lastly the individual’s cultural room. By phenomenologically unveiling the transmutation of life defined as death within the cartesian framework of mind-body dualism and its influences on modern Western medicine it becomes apparent that health as defined by biomedicine (lack of disease) is a problematic concept in regard to the experience of being ill in the individual’s room, which is the phenomenological starting point. In the West there exists a cultural tendency among both natural scientists and laypersons to use natural science and medical theory to explain and give meaning to individual diseases and healths, which has also lead to a cultural crisis in the ill individuals’ identity as the cartesian mind-body dualism is more complex than two opposing forces – it is more correct to describe this relation of mind and body identity as a ‘trialism’. The thesis mainly rests on the works of Drew Leder and Jenny Slatman; their works on health and illness in relation to cartesian dualism, and on their concepts of authentic materialism and differential materialism respectively, to formulate a phenomenological theory of health (from the room of the individual) understood as primarily an activity. It concludes that health within the individual’s room is an activity in the now that consists in accepting one’s bodily state and the choices one has made in life to land oneself in the body one now experiences. A healthy choice is grounded in a will to be one’s self, to be one’s own body, although one does not coincide with it. The role of practical medicine is to help the individual want to be themselves, their own body, – by working with the two concepts of health presented as the theoretical health (absence of disease) and the phenomenological (will to be oneself).

Bakgrund: Elever idag rör sig mindre, upplever mer krav och mår psykiskt sämre. Ett socialt stöd ökar möjligheten att hantera krav och stress i vardagen. Både fysisk aktivitet och dans har visat sig påverka en mångdimensionell hälsa positivt. Syfte: Studien syftar till att kartlägga eventuella skillnader mellan dansande och icke dansande elevers hälsa. Följande frågeställningar användes för att besvara syftet: Visas en ökad existentiell, psykisk, social, fysisk och emotionell hälsa hos de gymnasieelever som dansar på skoltid eller fritid i jämförelse med elever utan regelbundna inslag av dans? Visas att en ökad existentiell, psykisk, social, fysisk och emotionell hälsa är knuten till dans specifikt eller fysisk aktivitet i allmänhet hos deltagande gymnasieelever? Metod: Undersökningen var kvantitativ och datainsamlingen skedde via webb- och pappersenkät. Enkäten innehöll 31 frågor om samspel mellan kropp, sinne och själ, tro, självkänsla, krav, kontroll, stöd, fysisk aktivitet och dans samt 2 öppna frågor “Vad betyder självkänsla för dig” och “Vad betyder kontroll och stöd för dig?”. 95 enkätsvar analyserades. Bearbetning av resultaten gjordes i Microsoft mjukvara och statistikprogrammet Minitab där testerna utgjordes av oparat t-test. Resultat: Resultaten visade signifikanta skillnader gällande fysisk aktivitet i skolan (p<0,001) och upplevt samspel mellan sinne, kropp och själ (p<0,01) mellan dansande på skol- och fritid och de som inte dansar alls. Inga större skillnader visas i medelvärden mellan grupperna i självkänsla, kontroll och stöd. Endast 34 % dansare respektive 44 % icke dansade upplevde stöd från skolan. I enkätens öppna frågor relaterade dansare (37 %) i högre grad till en egen upplevelse gällande självkänsla i jämförelse med icke dansare (13 %). 46 % dansare och 24 % icke dansare skrev fram en egen upplevelse angående kontroll och stöd. Slutsats: Baserat på studiens resultat kan dans användas som ett hälsopromotivt redskap i skolan då dansande elever relaterade i större utsträckning till egna emotionella upplevelser och redovisar ett ökat samspel mellan kropp, sinne och själ samt fler positiva skillnader i olika hälsodimensioner. Dans som redskap kan också rekommenderas för hälsovägledare och andra professioner som arbetar inom och utanför skolans kontext för att främja hälsa hos unga vuxna.  Nyckelord: Hälsopromotion, existentiell hälsa, fysisk hälsa, psykisk hälsa, social hälsa, emotionell hälsa, dans, fysisk aktivitet, gymnasieelever / Background: Students today are less physically active, experience more demands and feel mentally worse. Social support increases the ability to handle demands and stress in everyday life. Both physical activity and dance have been shown to affect a multidimensional health positively. Purpose: The study aims to map health differences in dancers and non-dancing students' health. The following research questions were asked: Can we see an increased existential, mental, social, physical and emotional health of high school students dancing at school or leisure compared to students without regular elements of dance? In participating high school students, can we see any increased existential, mental, social, physical and emotional health linked to dance specifically or physical activity in general? Method: The study was a quantitative study in which data collection was done using web and paper surveys. The questionnaire contained in total 31 questions about interplay between body, mind and soul, faith, self-esteem, control, demand and support, physical activity and dance as well as 2 open questions "What does self-esteem mean to you" and "What does control and support mean for you?". 95 questionnaires were analyzed. Data processing of the results was done in Microsoft software as well as the statistics program Minitab where the tests consisted of unpaired t-tests. Results: The results showed significant differences in physical activity at school (p<0,001) and perceived interplay between mind, body and mind (p<0,01) between those who dance and those who do not dance at all. No greater differences are shown in the mean values ​​of the groups in self-esteem, control and support. 34 % dancers and 44 % non dancers experienced support at school. In answering the open questions, dancers (37 %) related more to their own experience of self-esteem than non-dancers (13 %). 46 % dancers and 24 % non dancers defined control and support by means of experience. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, dance can be used as a health-promoting tool in school, since dancing students relate more to their own emotional experiences and report an increased interaction between body, mind and soul and more positive differences in several health dimensions. Dance as a tool can also be recommended for health counselors and other professions working within and outside the school context to promote the health of adolescents. Key words: Health promotion, existential health, physical health, psychological health, social health, emotional health, dance, physical activity, Senior High School

Existentiell hälsa är ett relativt nytt begrepp i Sverige och handlar om vårt sätt attse på och förhålla oss till livet i stort. Trots vissa påvisade hälsoeffekter, harmöjligheten att träna den existentiella hälsan på arbetstid ännu inte nått sammastatus som möjligheten att träna och förbättra den fysiska och psykosocialahälsan.Studiens syfte var att undersöka erfarenheter och upplevda effekter av enarbetsplatsförlagd hälsointervention under en serie av åtta tillfällen, medutgångspunkt i den existentiella hälsoaspekten. Semistrukturerade intervjuergenomfördes med sex informanter som genomgått hälsointerventionen under detsenaste året. Studien är kvalitativ och materialet analyserades med den tolkandefenomenologiska analysmetoden (IPA). Fyra huvudteman identifierades varav detre första kopplas till erfarenheter och det sistnämnda till egenupplevda effekter:Att bli sedd och uppskattad; Vikten av delandet; Existentiell hälsa – en del av migoch Ett nytt förhållningssätt. Resultatet visar på mycket positiva erfarenheter avatt ha blivit sedd som människa mer än som arbetstagare samt en stark gemenskapmed övriga deltagare. Resultaten indikerar en ökad grad av öppenhet och tillit,både till sig själv och till sina kollegor, i takt med träffarna. Detta gav pågruppnivå en upplevd ökad effektivitet i dagliga arbetsuppgifter tack vareförbättrad samarbetsförmåga. På individnivå indikeras en upplevd ökad inrestyrka tack vare starkare självkänsla och integritet. Slutsatsen vi drar av studienär att gruppträning i existentiell hälsa är ett kompletterande verktyg i kampen förförbättrad hälsa, ökad arbetsglädje och effektivitet. / Existential health is a relatively new concept in Sweden and is about our way oflooking at and relating to life in general. Despite some proven health effects, theopportunity to exercise existential health during working hours has not yetreached the same status as the opportunity to exercise and improve physical andpsychosocial health.The purpose of the study was to investigate experiences and perceivedeffects of a workplace-based health intervention over a series of eight occasions,based on the existential health aspect. Semi-structured interviews were conductedwith six informants who had undergone the health intervention during the pastyear. The study is qualitative and the material was analyzed using the interpretivephenomenological analysis method (IPA). Four main themes were identified, ofwhich the first three are linked to experiences and the latter to self-perceivedeffects: Being seen and appreciated; The importance of sharing; Existential health- a part of me and A new approach. The results show very positive experiencesof having been seen as a human being more than as an employee and a strongcommunity with other participants. The results indicate an increased degree ofopenness and trust, both to oneself and to one's colleagues, during the meetings.At a group level, this resulted in a perceived increase in efficiency in daily tasksthanks to improved collaboration skills. At the individual level, a perceivedincreased inner strength is indicated thanks to stronger self-esteem and integrity.The conclusion we draw from the study is that group training based on existentialhealth is a complementary tool in the fight for improved health, increased jobsatisfaction and efficiency.