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

Inledning: Den psykiska ohälsoutvecklingen bland barn och unga är idag ett allvarligt folkhälsoproblem. Evidens påvisar att den existentiella hälsan har betydelse för psykisk hälsa och välbefinnande. Snacka om livet (SOL) är ett projekt som utformats för att främja barn och ungas existentiella hälsa. Ett fortsatt arbete med projektet är beroende av att det skapas förutsättningar för områdets implementering och att politiken och beslutsfattare prioriterar området. Syfte: Att undersöka upplevelsen av den existentiella hälsan inom Skånes kommunala och regionala sektorsövergripande folkhälsoarbete i främjandet av barn och ungas psykiska hälsa. Metod: Studien hade en kvalitativ ansats med tio deltagare med ledande befattning inom kommun och region. Informanterna selekterades utifrån ett strategiskt urval. Intervjuerna genomfördes med semistrukturerad metod och med ett genomgående etiskt beaktande. Empirin analyserades utifrån kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: I resultatet framkom att området är nytt, viktigt och aktuellt i relation till den psykiska ohälsan bland barn och unga. Begreppet upplevdes i viss mån komplext och tabubelagt men beskrevs även ha stora vinster för individ och samhälle. Den existentiella hälsan uppfattades kunna stärka och rusta barn och unga. En förutsättning för områdets implementering menades bland annat vara att begreppet inkluderas i folkhälsoarbetet. Konklusion: Studien har kunnat bidra med ytterligare evidens och kunskap till detta relativt nya och outforskade område. Den existentiella hälsan är en resurs i såväl det förebyggande som främjande folkhälsoarbetet. Studien har identifierat att health literacy kan vara ett viktigt verktyg för områdets integrering inom folkhälsan. Begreppet behöver tydliggöras, medvetandegöras och få utrymme i det folkhälsovetenskapliga perspektivet. / Introduction: The development of mental illness among children and adolescents is a serious public health problem today. Evidence shows that spiritual health is important for mental health and well-being. Snacka om livet (SOL) is a project designed to promote the existential health of children and adolescents. Continued work on the project depends on creating the conditions for the area’s implementation and on policymakers prioritizing the area. Purpose: To investigate the experience of existential health within Skåne's municipal and regional cross-sectoral public health work in the promotion of children and young people's mental health. Methods: The study had a qualitative approach with ten participants with senior positions within the municipality and region. The informants were selected based on a strategic selection. The interviews were conducted with a semi-structured method and with thorough ethical considerations. The empirics were analyzed based on qualitative content analysis. Results: The results showed that the area is new, important and of current interest in relation to mental illness among children and adolescents. The concept was to some extent perceived as complex and taboo but was also described as having great benefits for individuals and society. Spiritual health was perceived to strengthen and equip children and adolescents. A prerequisite for the area’s implementation was meant, among other things, to include the concept in public health work. Conclusion: The study has been able to contribute additional evidence and knowledge to this relatively new and unexplored area. Spiritual health is a resource in both prevention and promotion of public health work. The study has identified that health literacy can be an important tool for the area's integration into public health. The concept needs to be clarified, made aware and given space in the public health perspective.

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.

Inspired by Valerie DeMarinis quantitative study Pastoral care, existential health, and existential epidemiology: a Swedish postmodern case study (2003), and Peter Strang and Susann Strang’s research Questions posed to hospital chaplains by palliative care patients (2002) the aim of this quantitative research was to continue to investigate the field of Existential health and pastoral care. With the background of previous research within the field of Psychology of Religion and Existential health, this study also wants to direct attention to a group especially affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic: the group of old adults, living at retirement homes in Sweden. A group who, bound by the restriction orders, got isolated from their social surroundings outside their homes. By investigating priests and deacons in the Church of Sweden's perception of their relations and conversations with older adults before, during, and after the implemented Covid-19 restrictions, this study tries to answer the following research questions: (1) How has the expression of existential health, according to priests and deacons who work with old adults living at elderly centers, has been affected during the pandemic? (2) In what way has the relationship between the Church of Sweden and retirement homes gotten affected during the pandemic? By using DeMarinis theory on levels of health and existential information, (DeMarinis 2003:2008) a suggestion of categorisation of themes in pastoral care was created. The original themes in this study were based on DeMarinis survey posed to church chaplains (DeMarinis, 2003) and got categorized into seven head categories: (a) Loneliness, (b) Psychological themes, (c,) Identity-themes, (d) Social themes, (e) Existential themes, (f) Religious- and Spiritual themes, and (g) Fysical themes. The head categories were later used in the analysis. The material was collected through a survey, posed to priests and deacons within the Church of Sweden. The survey was sent by email to 644 parishes all across the country, and answered anonymously by 355 priests and deacons. By dividing the survey into four parts: (1) demographic information about the respondents, followed by repeated questions to (2) the time before the restraining orders (3) the time during the restraining orders, and (3) the time after the release of the restraining orders, the results came out as following: through all the time-periods loneliness was the most common theme, followed by Psychological themes. Identity-themes, such as life story, work, ageing, decreased during the times of restriction orders. In the same period of time, existential and religious themes got more common, especially themes that can be seen as negatory, such as depression, fear of death, God’s absence, suicidal thoughts. Regarding the relational question between the Church of Sweden and retirement homes, the respondents indicated a change in frequencies of contact, and places of contact. Before the pandemic, the majority of the respondents often had contact with older adults living at the retirement homes, usually in relation to the parish activities at the centers. With the restrictions 80% (N=350) had contact less than once a month, compared to before, 57,8% (N=351) had contact more than 2-3 times a month. Contact by phone got more common, and the contact depended on either staff at the elderly-center, relatives to the elderly, or the respondent during the restraining orders.

Syftet med den här uppsats är att undersöka varför människor med barndomstrauma kan finna mytologiska symboliska berättelser i existentiell kultur läkande. De frågor som ställs är: På vilket sätt kan berättelser om superhjältar ge ökad förståelse om barndomstrauma, både för de som själva upplevt det, samt de som inte upplevt det? Hur kan berättelser om superhjältar verka psykiskt läkande vid barndomstrauma? Vilken betydelse har känslor i läkandeprocessen av barndomstrauma? Material som använts är TV-serien Moon Knight och kommentarer från YouTube. Teoretiska perspektiv som används är positiva psykologiska teorier, John P. Wilsons avgrundupplevelse och Viktor Frankls viljan till mening samt analytiska teorier om filmtolkning och hur det digitala samhället kan ge en existentiell kontext, med Jung, Tilander och Duppils forskning. Metoden som använts är grundad teori (GT). Tidigare forskning har visat ett samband mellan meningsskapande och populärkultur, främst berättelser om superhjältar, likaså de psykiskt läkande effekter film och TV-serier kan ha. Barndomstrauma har visat både negativa risker och positiva aspekter och har stor psykisk inverkan även i vuxen ålder. Den här uppsatsen visar ett samband mellan barndomstrauma och en ökad förmåga, förståelse, begär och upplevelse av existentiellt meningsskapande från mytologiska symboliska budskap från populärkultur, i uppsatsen benämns det existentiell kultur som även förklaras närmre. Det ger psykiskt läkande effekter och bidrar till välbefinnande och själslig helhet som kan jämföras med det som kan upplevas i religiösa sammanhang. Dessa resultat är viktiga eftersom barndomstrauma och meningsskapande i populärkultur är relativt outforskade områden men som kan komma till hjälp för barn och vuxna som upplevt barndomstrauma. Det blir ett sätt att både förstå och hjälpa dessa, likaså ett sätt för dem att enklare förstå sig själva för att sedan kunna läka och finna välbefinnande. / The aim of this paper is to investigate why people with childhood trauma can find mythological symbolic stories in existential culture healing. Questions asked: In what way can stories about superheroes provide increased understanding about childhood trauma, both for those who have experienced it themselves, as well as those who have not? How can stories about superheroes have a psychological healing effect following childhood trauma? What is the importance of emotions in the healing process of childhood trauma? Materials used are the TV series Moon Knight and comments from YouTube. Theoretical perspectives used are positive psychological theories, John P. Wilson's the abyss experience and Viktor Frankl's will to meaning as well as analytical theories about film interpretation and how the digital society can provide an existential context with Jung, Tilander, and Duppils’ research. The method used is grounded theory (GT). Previous research has shown a connection between meaning-making and popular culture, mainly stories about superheroes, as well as the psychological healing effects from films and TV series. Childhood trauma has shown both negative risks and positive aspects and has a large psychological impact even in adulthood. This paper shows a connection between childhood trauma and an increase in ability, understanding, desire and experience of existential meaning-making from mythological symbolic messages from popular culture, called existential culture in this paper, a term that will be explained. It provides psychological healing effects and contributes to well-being and a spiritual wholeness that can be compared to some religious experiences. These findings are important because childhood trauma and meaning-making in popular culture are relatively unexplored areas but can be helpful for children and adults who have experienced childhood trauma. It becomes a way to both understand and help these, as well as a way for them to understand themselves more easily, to heal and find an inner peace.

Through my own professional experience, the essay explores how place may have significance for exercising practical knowledge. It also sheds light on the conditions and qualities surrounding my, as therapist, presence in interpersonal meetings, as well as perspectives in relation to meetings around life issues. Of special notice is place as nature and garden. With support in stories as representations and in dialogue with philosophers, several different perspectives and analyses are shown about the place's importance for the pursuit of practical knowledge. The drive of the research is supported by three themes, place, body, meeting. They lead the survey forward in dialogue with Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Martin Buber preferably together with geography professor, Edward Relph and researchers and writers within the fields of practical knowledge and naturebased interventions. The essay uncovers a complex area of understanding. It puts emphasis on the relationship between us as humans and our environment. In this relationship, place is of importance to practical knowledge. Interplay and movement between different approaches emerges as a common denominator.