Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med studien var att utifrån ett salutogent perspektivundersöka professioners uppfattningar om och yrkeserfarenheter av att upptäcka tidigasignaler på stress och hur dessa kan hanteras. De frågeställningar som besvaras är; I) Vilkauttryck tar sig dagens psykiska ohälsa i arbetslivet? II) Hur kan individen upptäcka tidiga varningssignaler på stress? III) Vilka strategier kan individen tillämpa för att främja sin förmåga att hantera stress? IV) Vad anses vara hälsofrämjande på de olika systemnivåerna?Metod: Studien utgår ifrån en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med inspiration av den fenomenografiska ansatsen. Metoden för insamlad data bestod av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultat: Resultatet har presenterats i fyra huvudkategorier - Gränslöst arbete, Tidiga varningssignaler på stress, Hantering av stress, Hälsofrämjande arbetssätt, tillsammans med åtta subkategorier - Ett individualistiskt samhälle, Krav och prestationer, Bakomliggande orsaker, En mindre hållbar situation, Individens egna val, Individ- och gruppnivå, Organisationsnivå, Samhällsnivå. Konklusion: Symptom som trötthet, oro och sömnsvårigheter är varningssignaler på stress. Att arbeta med hälsofrämjande insatser på ett tidigt studium är en framgångsfaktor som respondenterna talar om. Det är viktigt att vara lyhörd för tidiga symptom och bakomliggande orsaker, det vill säga att ta reda på "vad det är som prasslar". / Purpose and issues: The purpose of the study was to examine, from a salutogenic perspective, professionals' perceptions and work experiences of detecting early signals on stress in working life and how they can be managed. The questions to be answered are: I)What are the expressions of mental illness in working life today? II) How can the individual discover early warning signals on stress? III) What strategies can the individual apply to promote his/her ability to cope with stress? IV) What is considered to be a health promotionfor the different system levels? Methods: The study design is qualitative inspired by the phenomenographic approach. Semistructured interviews were used for collecting data. Results: Four main categories emerged - Borderless work, Early warning signals of stress, Managing stress, Working in a health promotion manner. Eight subcategories were found –An individualistic society, Demands and achievements, Underlying causes, An unsustainable situation, The individual's own choices, Individual- and group level, Organizational level and environmental- and societal level. Conclusion: Symptoms such as fatigue, anxious and insomnia are warning signals of stress. Working in a health promotion manner in early stages is a success factor mentioned by the respondents. It is important to be responsive to early symptoms and underlying causes, that is, to examine "what is the rustle".

War inevitably impacts on the lives of soldiers who participate in them. The impact often suggests a negative nature, leaving some soldiers with permanent physical and emotional scars. Some soldiers will return from war suffering from several psychological disorders as the result of their exposure to combat trauma. Pathologies such as post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety and mood disorders are not uncommon. Yet, for others war has provided them with numerous positive experiences from which they can find meaning for themselves. It was Aaron Antonovsky who developed the idea of salutogenesis, mainly focussing on the psychological factors that allow individuals to find meaning in their adversity. This study attempts to investigate the impact of service rendered in the South African Special Forces during the Angolan war on current levels of well-being and sense of coherence amongst former Special Forces members. It is commonly known that these soldiers were exposed to severe battle related conditions, often working behind enemy lines for unknown periods of time whilst being self-reliant. It would seem that most of these soldiers have adapted adequately to society 15 years after their participation in the Angolan war (South Africa’s “Border War”). Some of these soldiers have achieved success in many different ways after leaving Special Forces. Some have embarked into the world of business and others chose professional careers and then there are those who became successful entrepreneurs. A sample of 32 respondents was collected. All of the respondents were members of the South African Special Forces during the Angolan war but have resigned since. The respondents were requested to complete a questionnaire consisting of a biographical information section, Antonovsky’s 13-item Orientation to Life Questionnaire (OLQ) and Diener’s Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The purpose was to determine the respondents’ current sense of coherence and level of well-being and to determine to what extent service in Special Forces has contributed to these levels. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Inferential statistics included Chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, Spearman correlation coefficient and the t-test. Analysis of data suggests that the sample currently measures high on both levels of sense of coherence and well-being. The means of both OLQ and SWLS of this sample compare higher to any other samples they were administered to. However, statistically no clear correlation could be determined between service rendered in Special Forces and current levels of well-being. Respondents did however indicate that they feel that their service in Special Forces did have a positive impact on their lives and their current levels of functioning. / Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

Chronic diseases are usually the result of complex interactions between various lifestyle factors, physiological processes and societal factors. While some of these factors are not modifiable, modification of several of these factors have, to a large extent, demonstrated preventative properties against the development or further development of various chronic diseases. Health-related behaviours are modifiable factors. Behaviour plays an important role in both the development and the management of chronic diseases. One way of investigating this role is to evaluate the impact of health-related behaviours on health. Positive health-related behaviours include eating a healthy diet, regularly engaging in physical exercise, having regular screenings and checkups, not smoking, moderate alcohol use, getting vaccinations and seat belt use. Negative health-related behaviours include eating an unhealthy diet, leading a sedentary life style, not having regular screenings and checkups, smoking, excessive alcohol use and irresponsible driving. Various models of health-related behaviour use social cognitive factors as proximal determinants of health-related behaviours. A social cognitive factor that has received little attention in relation to health-related behaviour, that is sense of coherence (SOC), was used in this study. Although personality factors tend to be only distally associated with health-related behaviour, they do however seem to contribute to a better understanding of these behaviours. Trait emotional intelligence (EI) as a lower order personality trait was used in this study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the relationships between SOC, trait EI and health-related behaviours. A cross-sectional, correlational research design was used. Participants were selected based on convenient and easy access. Participants completed an online questionnaire that consisted of a health behaviour survey as well as the short form of the Orientation to Life Questionnaire and the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. The health behaviour survey assessed some aspects of people's health-related behaviour, including diet, sleep and preventive behaviours, alcohol use, exercise and smoking. Health behaviour correlated significantly with both SOC and Trait EI. SOC and Trait EI were also significantly correlated. When controlling for a third variable, neither SOC nor trait EI correlated significantly with health behaviour. Although none of the predictors made significant contributions to the prediction of health behaviour, the basic regression model reached statistical significance. Trait EI made a significant contribution to the prediction of health behaviour in a more parsimonious regression model, which also reached statistical significance. / Dissertation (MA (Research Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

Psychotherapists in full-time, long-term private practice face a variety of occupational demands. They usually maintain private practices for long periods of their lives often under difficult circumstances and emotional pressures and have come to sustain their practices. From literature it is revealed that various demands, as well as benefits and successes are part and parcel of working in private practice full-time. These various factors can have an impact on the well-being of psychotherapists. Apart from the literature review, the personal experience of the researcher, a psychotherapist in full-time private practice, also contributed to ideas and hypotheses about the study. From a position of exploration and further enquiry, the researcher was interested to explore the experiences of psychotherapists in full-time private practice from a fortigenic perspective. A second objective was to determine if this study could contribute to the development of the theoretical assumptions of positive psychology. The research is grounded in the theoretical perspective of positive psychology and fortigenesis. Both these fields are relatively new in psychology and seem to still be forging a niche within the discipline. This perspective was deliberately chosen due to the applicability to the exploration of strengths and vigour, with regards to the maintenance of the professional context of the psychotherapist. The qualitative research process is presented in a narrative approach by means of narrative synthesis and synergy. The findings of the research conversations are presented in the form of a literary short story. Suggestions are made about the fortigenic qualities of psychotherapists essential for maintaining their work in full-time private practice. It’s applicability and usefulness is discussed. Furthermore, suggestions are made with regards to the field of positive psychology and the way forward for this sub-discipline. Ideas relating to narrative research and qualitative research are also discussed. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

Public health policy and practice principally acknowledge a needs-based approach when developing, implementing, and evaluating community health programs. This needs-based perspective receives criticism because it focuses too heavily on what is missing or wrong with communities as opposed to building on their strengths. As a result, community members are perceived as passive recipients, which is disempowering, and ultimately risks creating unsustainable and ineffective programs. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in achieving a balance between the needs-based approach and the asset-based approach, which accentuates positive capabilities. While the amount of literature discussing the benefits of this latter perspective has grown substantially, accompanying evaluation required to sustain continued investment has been limited. Compared to needs-based research, there is less literature on asset-based evaluation. Emphasis on such research could contribute to the progression of evaluation methodologies and theories, ultimately encouraging their use. The purpose of this study is to apply an existing public health evaluation framework – the RE-AIM model (Glasgow, Vogt, and Boles, 1999) – to asset-based community health interventions and to examine the utility of such an evaluation structure across a variety of asset-based health projects. A multiple case study design facilitated comparison of the applicability of the RE-AIM model dimensions – Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance across three cases in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets, United Kingdom. These included the Local Links Asset-mapping project, the Healthy Early Years Project, and the Good Moves project. The RE-AIM framework is additionally guided by principles of the Realist Evaluation approach (Pawson and Tilley, 1997). This research study contributes to asset-based research by providing a guideline and conceptual framework to support asset-based intervention evaluation theory and practice.

Syftet med studien har varit att med fokus på organisationsförändringar undersöka vilka bakomliggande orsaker som ligger till grund för hur en Region i Sverige arbetar med införandet av egna slutenvårdsplatser inom abstinensvård, utifrån de nationella målen för god vård och hur införandet av sådana vårdplatser kan komma att påverka vården. Genom att analysera Regionens egen utredningsrapport tillsammans med den revisionsrapport som externa konsulter skapat på uppdrag av Regionen, har denna kvalitativa fallstudie bidragit till en övergripande bild av bakomliggande orsaker som ligger till grund för beslutet. För att ge en fördjupad förståelse för dessa bakomliggande orsaker har studien kompletterats med en intervju där områdeschefen för Regionens beroendevård har bidragit med sin kunskap inom området. Resultatet tyder på att upphandlad abstinensvård kan försvåra säkerställandet av vårdens kvalitet, då det är problematiskt för den offentliga sektorn att kontrollera och utvärdera vård som tillhandahålls av privata vårdgivare. / The aim of the study has been to focus on organizational changes to examine the underlying causes of the Regions decision to implement a new unit for withdrawl treatment, based on the national goals for good health care and how the implementation of such new unit can affect provided care. By analyzing the Regions own enquiry report along with a review report made by external consultants on behalf of the Region, this qualitative study has compiled a general comprehension of underlying causes that the decision to open a new unit is based upon. For a deeper understanding of the underlying causes a supplementary interview took place with the area manager of the withdrawl treatment in this Region, who added knowledge to the study. The result indicates that outsourced health care can lead to difficulties in ensuring the quality of good care, because it is problematic for the public sector to control and evaluate care provided by private care givers.

Bakgrund: Systematiskt arbetsmiljöarbete kan förebygga ohälsa och olycksfall på arbetsplatser. Genom god arbetsmiljö kan kvalitén på utfört arbete öka, arbetet göras mer hållbart för arbetstagare och vården mer patientsäker. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur tandhygienister inom privat tandvårdssektor upplever sin organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljö. Metod: Metoden var en kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie med enkät som mätinstrument. Urvalet bestod av tandhygienister inom privat sektor i en region i södra Sverige. Insamlade data analyserades i SPSS med Spearman’s Rho korreationsanalys. Resultat: Enkäten besvarades av 28 tandhygienister som generellt visade positiva upplevelser gällande organisatorisk och social arbetsmiljö [OSA]. Fler antal anställda tandhygienister gav ökade upplevelser av att utvecklas i arbetet ( = 0,404, p = 0,033) och att behöva arbeta utöver planerad arbetstid ( = –0,477, p = 0,010). Fler yrkesaktiva år som tandhygienist ökade upplevelsen av meningsfullt arbete ( = 0,404, p = 0,033). Slutsats: Utöver de identifierade salutogena faktorerna i resultatet sågs utvecklingspotential för OSA inom dimensionen förändringsarbete. För att få förståelse och orsak till upplevd OSA kan vidare forskning via kvantitativ ansats vara av värde för att identifiera salutogena faktorer som kan bidra till förbättrad OSA. / Background: Systemically work environment enhancing work can prevent illness and accidents among employees at workplaces. Maintaining a good working environment can improve the quality of performed work, become more sustainable and increase patient safety. Aim: To investigate how dental hygienists in private dental sector experience their organizational and social work environment. Method: A cross-sectional study with questionnaire as measuring instrument was performed. The sample consisted of dental hygienists in private dental sector in Sweden. Data were processed in SPSS through Spearman’s Rho correlation analysis. Results: 28 dental hygienists responded to the questionnaire and reported positive experiences regarding organizational and social work environment [OSA] in general. A higher number of employed dental hygienists reported more positive experiences of work development ( = 0,404, p = 0,033) and required to work beyond working hours ( =–0,477, p = 0,010). More professional years as dental hygienist increased positive experiences of meaningful work ( = 0,404, p = 0,033). Conclusion: In addition to the identified salutogenic factors in the results, protentional for development regarding OSA was found in the dimension reorganization. To gain understanding and reasons for experienced OSA, research via qualitative approach would be valuable to identify salutogenic factors that may contribute to improved OSA.

Given the negative consequences the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to both the physical and mental health, there is a growing need to find the ways how to support and strengthen psychological resilience and mental health of the individuals in such an unprecedent situation. Consequently, this thesis explores the A. Antonovsky's salutogenetic model of health with a focus on the concepts of sense of coherence (SOC) and sense of national coherence (SONC) as potential predictors of mental health during COVID-19 pandemic. In the theoretical part, the topic of mental health, it's coneptualisation and predictors are presented, with an emphasis on the concepts of SOC and SONC. Additionally, the review of present research on mental health during COVID-19 pandemic is included. The research project analyses the data obtained through an online survey as a part of an international research study investigating the predictive factors of mental health during COVID-19 pandemic. Data collection in Czech sample was conducted in December 2020 and January 2021, using the Mental Health Continuum, SOC-13 and SONC scales. The sample included 476 participants. Multiple regression analysis confirmed the SOC as a significant predictor of mental health during COVID-19 pandemic among Czech sample. However, the predictive value...

Psykisk ohälsa bland barn och unga är ett stort folkhälsoproblem i dagens samhälle, studiervisar att ungdomars psykiska ohälsa debuterar redan innan 14-årsåldern och forskning harvisat att hälsoundervisning i skolan har en positiv påverkan på elevernas välbefinnande. Barn och unga spenderar stor del av sin vardag i skolan vilket gör skolan till en bra arena för attfrämja hälsa och förebygga ohälsa. Med utgångspunkt i det folkhälsovetenskapliga arbetetsyftar studien till att undersöka hur skolor arbetar med psykisk hälsa i mellanstadiet ur ettlärarperspektiv. Studien hade till avsikt att besvara frågeställningen: Hur vill lärare arbeta medpsykisk hälsa i skolan? Vilka hinder uppfattar lärare att det finns för att tillämpa psykisk hälsai skolan? En kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats och deskriptiv design tillämpades för att få insikt ilärarnas erfarenheter och upplevelser inom ämnesområdet. Vi samlade in empirin genom 10semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomfördes via Zoom med mellanstadielärare runt om ilandet. Informanterna valdes ut genom ett avsiktligt urval där mellanstadielärare medvetetvaldes ut för att de besitter förmågan att belysa ett specifikt fenomen. Inklusionskriterierna fördeltagandet var att arbeta som mellanstadielärare inom friskolor och kommunala skolor. Degenomförda intervjuerna transkriberades och analyserades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys.Studien utgår från de teoretiska utgångspunkterna Salutogenes och Organizational citizenship behavior. Resultatet av studien visar att lärare saknar stöd, kompetens och resurser för att kunna arbetahälsofrämjande med elevers psykiska hälsa. Skolornas arbete med psykiskt arbete skiljer sigåt skolor emellan, likaså skiljer lärarnas arbetssätt åt i ämnet. Detta tycks bero på att skolornasaknar en gemensam kunskapssyn i arbetet samt att de aktuella riktlinjerna i läroplanen intebetonar hur man ska arbeta med elevers psykisk hälsa utan lämnas för fri tolkning. / Mental illness among children and youth is a major public health problem in today's society,studies show that young people's mental illness begins before the age of 14 and research hasshown that health education in school has a positive impact on students' well-being. Childrenand young people spend a large part of their daily life at school, which makes school a goodarena for promoting health and preventing ill-health. Based on public health science work, thestudy aims to investigate how schools work with mental health in middle school from ateacher's perspective. The study intended to answer the question: How do teachers want towork with mental health in school? What barriers do teachers perceive there to be inimplementing mental health in schools? A qualitative method with an inductive approach and descriptive design was applied to gaininsight into the teachers' experiences in the subject area. We collected the empirical evidencethrough 10 semi-structured interviews that were conducted via Zoom with middle schoolteachers around the country. The informants were selected through purposive sampling wheremiddle school teachers were deliberately selected because they possess the ability to shedlight on a specific phenomenon. The inclusion criteria for participation were to work as amiddle school teacher in independent and municipal schools. The conducted interviews weretranscribed and analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. The study is based on thetheoretical starting points Salutogenesis and Organizational citizenship behavior. The results of the study show that teachers lack support, competence, and resources to be ableto work health promotion with students' mental health. The schools' work with psychologicalwork differs between schools, as do the teachers' working methods in the subject. This seemsto be due to the fact that the schools lack a common view of knowledge in the work and thatthe current guidelines in the curriculum do not emphasize how to work with students' mentalhealth but are left to free interpretation.

I denna studie undersöks lärares förståelse av fenomenet skolfrånvaro/skolnärvaro utifrån ramsättningarna: roll och ansvar. Då fenomenet är komplext, sammanvävt inom ömsesidiga relationella beroenden mellan elev, lärare, skola, familj, vänner, hälsa, juridik, politik, och så vidare, sker studien genom kvalitativ tematisk analys för att undersöka empirin. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med mellan- och högstadielärare i kommunala grundskolor i en mellanstor kommun i Sverige. Intervjumaterialet har analyserats i ljuset av tidigare forskning samt med hjälp av teorier som på olika vis utgår från en systemisk förståelse. Forskningsfrågorna kunde besvaras genom studien och resultatet som följer visar att meningsskapande och förståelse för det sammantagna fenomenet polariseras av respondenterna. Frånvaro betraktas ur ett patogent perspektiv, likt något som behöver botas, och närvaro ur ett salutogent perspektiv, något som kan främjas. Implikationerna som kan följa av detta resultat är de mest intressanta produkterna från studien, vilka kan ge upphov till idéer för möjlig fortsatt forskning. / This study examines teachers' understanding of the phenomenon of school absence/attendance based on the frameworks: role and responsibility. Since the phenomenon is complex, interwoven within mutual relational dependencies between student, teacher, school, family, friends, health, law, politics, and so on, the study uses qualitative thematic analysis to examine the empirical data. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with middle and high school teachers in municipal primary schools in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. The interview material has been analyzed in the light of previous research and with the help of theories that in various ways are based on a systemic understanding. The research questions could be answered through the study and the results that follow show that the creation of meaning and understanding of the overall phenomenon is polarized by the respondents. Absence is considered from a pathogenic perspective, as something that needs to be cured, and presence from a salutogenic perspective, something that can be promoted. The implications that can follow from this result are the most interesting products of the study, which can give rise to ideas for possible further research.