Bakgrund och syfte: Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) står för en direkt och målinriktad intervention där hunden stimulerar till en fysisk, social, emotionell och/eller kognitiv funktionsutveckling hos patienten. Det är en dokumenterad och utvärderad process i USA som används av många professioner. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad hunden kan tillföra den sjukgymnastiska rehabiliteringen i Sverige. Metod: En enkät med öppna frågor skickades ut till två sjukgymnaster, en rekreationsterapeut och en omsorgspedagog för att undersöka hur de använder hunden i aktivitet med rehabilitering av patienter. Resultat: Inom AAT brukas hunden främst som en motivations höjande faktor inom geriatrik, barnhabilitering, neurologiska sjukdomar samt vid traumatiska hjärnskador.

Syftet med studien var att bland högskoleanställda undersöka skillnader i Work-Life Balance och arbetstillfredsställelse beroende på deltagarnas kön samt beroende på om deltagarna hade barn under 18 år eller ej. Studien syftade även till att undersöka skillnader i arbetstillfredsställelse beroende på deltagarnas ålder. I studien ingick manliga och kvinnliga högskoleanställda som arbetade minst 80 % och som undervisade och/eller forskade inom den aktuella tjänsten. Studien genomfördes som en web-enkätundersökning på två högskolor i Sverige. Totalt besvarade 125 deltagare på enkäten som utgick ifrån två olika mätinstrument; Netemeyers, Boless och McMurrians (1996) skala som användes för att mäta Work-Life Balance uppdelat på Family-Work Conflict samt Work-Family Conflict och Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) som mätte inre och yttre arbetstillfredsställelse.

The present study examines the effect of a nine-hour Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) intervention for teachers who experience stress. Twenty-two teachers from four different counties in southern Sweden were randomly allocated to an ACT intervention (n=15) and a control group (n=7). The ACT condition received three three-hour sessions of ACT over a six-week period, and the control group received a three-hour stress lecture at one occasion. At a follow-up four-weeks after completed intervention, ACT participants showed significant in-group differences on stress, psychological flexibility, general health, and burnout. At a between group comparison, only psychological flexibility was significantly enhanced at the follow-up.

Title: Artistic methods for persons with dysfunctions.The idea to the paper was born in my work, as a pedagogue, with young persons with dysfunctions. My pedagogic method is eurhythmics but I wanted to examine in what other ways you could work with artistic expression in similar areas such as circus, dance therapy and psychodrama. These areas were chosen because they have components that are interrelated, which I find very interesting. Mind and body are considered from a holistic point of view. The purpose of this paper is to bring about a better understanding of how persons with dysfunctions respond to various artistic teaching methods.

The purpose of this randomized controlled study was to investigate the effect of internet- administered guided self-help for women suffering from psychological problems following traumatic childbirth. The eight-week treatment program consisted of written chapters based on cognitive behavioral therapy. 56 participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 28) or a waiting list group (n = 28).The results showed that post-traumatic symptoms decreased as a result of the treatment, with large within-group effects measured by both the Traumatic Event Scale (TES) (d = 1.33) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) (d = 1.3). The difference between the groups was only significant when measured by the IES-R in which case the between-group effect was large (d = 0.97). The proportion of the participants who showed clinically significant improvement was considerably greater in the treatment group than in the waiting list group.

In this study the aim is to examine how employees in treatment programmes relate to girls that self-harm. To achieve this four questions were formulated: (1) What experiences does the empolyees have of meeting girls that self-harm? (2) Based on the employees? experiences, what has been the background to why the girls self-harm? (3) Based on the employees? experience, what increases or decreases the risk of self-harm? (4) How do the employees? work with girls that self-harm? The method being used was qualitative interviews with vignettes. The theoretical framework is Becker?s Labeling Theory and Bronfenbrenner?s Ecology of Human Development.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ongoing changes in German family policy. It explores the issue of whether the German welfare state, in this policy field, can still be regarded as a conservative welfare model or rather approaches a more liberal or social democratic model. A qualitative method is used to analyze the material, especially from the German government, including press releases, other public documents and also articles from the political weekly magazines Der Spiegel and Die Zeit. The changes analyzed are the new parental benefit, the expansion of child care, the concept of whole-day schools and the system of joint taxation. The point of departure is Gösta Esping-Andersen?s categorization of three types of welfare states: the social democratic, the conservative and the liberal.

The aim of our thesis was to describe how the connection between co-dependent relatives and the alcohol-dependent influences the family into changes in their teamwork.Our purpose was also to answer the following questions: How is it living with an alcoholic? Are there any differences in how men and women feel and behave in their relationship with an alcoholic? Are factors like cultural belonging, genre or social class important for how the co-dependent relatives feels and behaves and handle their co-dependency?To answer these questions we made twelve thematic qualitative interviews with six adult children to alcoholics and six people married to alcoholics. We compared the results of these interviews with earlier research. We also applied System Theory and Goffman's Role Theory, as well as Bourdieu´s Capital and Habitus concept.We believe that co-dependency is a family divergence that is very similar to family disease, but that a change in attitude can trigger recovery. According to the interviews many spouses stand by their alcoholic husbands and do actions that perpetuate the alcoholic dependence and thereby hold back any recovery.

The aim of this master thesis is to create an understanding of what it can be like to grow older as a homosexual man in Sweden today. The study has an intersectional and queer theoretical approach and is based on eight in depth interviews with men who are aged between 68 and 82 years old. In the analysis I deal with the problem of how sexuality can be inter- preted with the experience of aging. Central to the analysis is the criticism of norms connected to age, sexuality, social- and family life and gay culture.The results show that the norm-breaking sexual orientation of the men affects their life path in terms of how to organize social life, where friends often replace the traditional family. New ways of forming relationships and living their lives imply other obligations rather than the traditional for significant others, which was shown to influence the expectations and outcome of old age in terms of care and support.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how same-sex couples experience the second-parent adoption process. To assist us, we have used our questions: how do the couples describe their experiences of the adoption process? Which are the couples? stories about the experience of contact with the involved professionals? What are the opportunities and barriers for same-sex couples to start a family? How do the couples describe their experience of reactions from the community and society, and how do they think the future will look like for same-sex couples? This study has been achieved through a qualitative approach. The empirical data is based on seven semi-structured interviews with same-sex couples or pair members that want to or have had a second-parent adoption. The theory we have used for analyzing the results is phenomenology with focus on queer theory, heteronormativity, and power.

The aim of this qualitative study was to examine bereaved individuals? experiences of support from their social networks and participation in support groups. The theoretical framework is based on theories about social support and parts of the attachment theory. Data were collected from four interviews and analysed by the study?s theoretical framework.

Jönköping Small Animal Hospital is today the only clinic in Sweden to offer radiation therapy as a treatment of tumours. The body contains of billions of cells that all have to obey the regulations that are established. If a cell is exposed to a harmful substance, for example a chemical, it can be transformed into a tumourcell. Normally the body has a good defence but the tumourcell can survive and start to divide unrestrained. A tumour is starting to develop.

This master thesis is looking into the stories on the internet forum www.resedagboken.se. The stories of Swedish teenaged exchange students in the U.S. are studied and the main purpose is to see both what they are writing about and the reason for why they are spending their time writing down their experiences in a public forum.Even though most of the teenagers here are writing with a specific audience in mind, all the stories are free to anyone to take part of and this causes a difficult position for the teenagers who often seem to forget the public point of view when they are telling about their personal lives.The study is divided into two parts. The first one looks into the content of the stories and the other one focuses on the storytellers and their reasons for writing. The teenagers are writing both a lot about their everyday lives in their new environment, but also a lot of things to keep in touch with what their friends and family in Sweden are doing.

Background: Children in our present society spend more time sedentary, and food has become more accessible. It is important to pay attention to obese children, because of the risk for serious diseases in the future. Obesity can also cause mental suffering for the child. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the nurse?s care of obese children.

Background: When a child is diagnosed with food allergy with risk of anaphylaxis, it affects the whole family. The child must learn to live with a chronicle disease and learn the importance of avoiding the specific allergens that may cause a life-threatening condition. The parents must adapt to a way of life with limitations in the everyday life as well as a constant concern for the child. They must learn to handle an auto-injector and to recognize symptoms of a coming anaphylaxis. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe parent?s experiences of living with children who has foodallergy with special focus on anaphylaxis.