ABSTRACT Background: Aging and losing cognitive and physical functions is difficult. To also be affected by dementia means that you lose some part of your identity and the ability to take care of yourself. It is important to find alternative, non-pharmacological ways to increase health for the elderly and those who are affected by dementia. When dogs are used for therapeutic purposes in health care it is roughly divided into two different forms; AAA (Animal Assisted Activity) and AAT (Animal Assisted Therapy). AAI (Animal Assisted Intervention) is also used as a term, in which AAT is included.

Background: Traditional oral health education is seldom enough in order for dental care personnel to motivate their patients to good, long-lasting oral health care habits and there is a need for evaluation of other more efficient methods. One of these methods is motivational interviewing. An overview of its origin, definition, theoretical background and practical methods is given by way of introduction. Aim: The aim of the investigation was to review studies that had used motivational interviewing in order to obtain oral health, focusing on prevention and treatment of gingivitis, periodontitis and dental caries. Method: Systematic review. A search question was run through the databases ASSIA, ERIC, PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts and PubMed. The articles were reviewed based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Five publications (based on three studies) met the inclusion criteria.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe how immigrants have experienced nurse's attitude and how they would like nurse´s to care for them in the Swedish health care. Method: The authors have conducted an interview study with qualitative approach. The sampling method used was a convenience sample. The informants were recruited at a school after the authors received the principal's approval. Eight semi-structured interviews were performed with an interview guide for support.

This study aims to examine the effect the evaluation system used by the Stockholm County Council, has on how the healthcare providers themselves conduct the evaluation regarding their own operations. This is done through a qualitative case study of the evaluation systems of the Stockholm County Council and of four primary healthcare producers concerning one primary healthcare contract. The evaluation systems were analysed using Merchant and Ver der Stede's (2007) framework for different types of control. In order to give a more detailed picture this framework was complemented with different types of performance measurement. The evaluation that the Stockholm County Council conducts was found to have little influence on the providers own evaluation with the exception of the quality indicators that are rewarded with a monetary bonus..

Energy efficiency is important both to reduce costs and to reduce greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. In Sweden 40 percent of the energy consumption is related to the buildings sector. Hospitals are complex buildings with different activities in the same building, which requires flexible technical systems for ventilation, heating and lightning. A quarter of the total energy consumption in Swedish hospitals is related to user activities in the hospitals. Therefore it is not only important to work with operational optimization but also to change user activities, to reduce energy consumption.The objective of this thesis was to examine the user-related energy efficiency work at two care units, at the central hospital in Sundsvall within Västernorrlands County.

 Background: Self-injury can be defined as deliberate harm one's own body without conscious intent to commit suicide. These patients need skilled care. Purpose: Illuminate nursing staff attitudes and treatment of patients with self-injury behaviour for individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Method: A general literature study has been made. Based on the objective was a literature search in various databases with ten relevant articles were selected and reviewed.

ABSTRACTBackground: People with colorectal cancer undergoing rectum amputation get a permanent colostomy, which affects the social life. It may be valuable for health care what these people experience living with colostomy in order to provide the greatest possible support. Objective: The aim of this study is to describe how people who received a colostomy experience their daily lives and the support they have received from the health services.Method: Qualitative interview study with six people, with a descriptive phenomenological approach.Results: The analysis of the interviews about how it's like to live with a colostomy resulted in three themes: 1) Living with a colostomy gives an uncertainty that affect the social life, 2) Physical and psychological impact of getting a colostomy and 3) Support for health care and relatives.Conclusion: Subjects had a positive attitude towards life, which contributed to that they could adjust to living with a colostomy and feel a meaningfulness of life. The study shows that all the interviewed people overall were satisfied with the information provided by the healthcare personnel. It was good with both oral and written information and very appreciated with repeated information. One aspect that could be improved was the information given aboute the closure of anus during surgery and the following complications.

Background: Isolation care may be necessary when a patient is carrying infection or is being inflicted with disease that causes deficit immune system. Being isolated means that the patient is in a confined space and may stay only there. Even in ancient times, people discovered the importance of isolating people carrying an infection from the rest of society. According to the Infectious Diseases Act, patients should be isolated in order to reduce the spread of infection both from the patient to the surroundings as well as the opposite. Isolation care can be psychologically stressful for some patients.

Introduction: Increased ill health in the workplace in terms of increased workload, stress and pressure from employers is common in Sweden today, which may lead to a future variety of medical conditions and disabilities. Aim: The aim of the present study was to describe what employees at companies in the health industry experienced as a health and illhealth on a workplace. Method: A qualitative approach was used in which the interviews were based on an interview guide. The method of analysis was thematic analysis in which three themes emerged. Results: Tree themes emerged; a social interaction with colleagues, good leadership, and access to health care and movement.

The subject of this study was to research whether or not different forms of employment contracts had any effect on self reported health. Whether or not any difference between these forms could be explained through the use of employee health care was also a given point of interest. To achieve this, data from the national Swedish institute of health (FHI) was used, with 6465 of the 12 166 that participated in the study. Logistic regression was the primary statistical method.Initial Chi2-analyzation found no significant difference between the two main employment forms present in Sweden. However, when the variables age, sex and level of education were held constant through logistic regression, a difference of odds at 22% between the two employment forms could be identified.

Background: From a public health perspective it is of great interest to prevent the risk of noise induced hearing loss, because in addition to hearing loss, tinnitus and sound sensitivity also may lead to other health problems. About 1,4 million people in Sweden live with some form of hearing loss and 25000 of them are children under the age of 16. Studies have shown that hearing loss among adolescents is increasing and it is often associated with sound environments in their leisure time. Lectures in hearing prevention has been conducted in schools for adolescents but have not reached the desired results. Objective: To enquire caregivers? attitude, behaviour and perceived knowledge about sound exposure and its risks.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the care providers' experiences in enabling communionship and solitude in daily living for elderly living in old age homes in a South African context. Method: This study was done using a qualitative analysing method, with empirical data obtained from nursing staff of elderly. The study was phenomenological which aims at deepen the understanding of human experiences as phenomenon. The data was collected by using a groupinterview which included five informants from an old age home in Pretoria. The analysis included two steps; Naive reading and structural analysis in order to transform the individual elucidations into an abstract which had no individual touch.

The aim of our study is to examine experience of the quality of life for elderly people with assisted living from their own, and caretakers, perspectives. We also aim to examine how elderly people in assisted living, and caretakers, experiences that they could affect the elderly people´s quality of life. The study is based on a qualitative method and the data is collected by interviews with four recipient of care and three care takers. The result shows that there are many factors that have an importance when it comes to quality of life for the recipient of care. It has shown in the study that the recipient of care and the caretakers put emphasize in the same factors. These factors are health, the affect of assisted living, happiness, relationships and self-determination. The result has shown that the assisted living has a major importance when it comes to the quality of life for the recipient of cares..

Home care services have had, and will have a major imortance in the future. More people will be using home care services as a consequence of political strategies but also as an effect of caretakers own wishes. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the factors that are significant for a successful encounter between a caretaker and a caregiver. The study is made as a qualitative analysis of litterature. The data collection was based on Polit and Hungler's model of information retrieval and the data analysis on Graneheim and Lundman's model of analysis.

School can be an effective environment for achieving a more equal health among children and adolescents, since many individuals can be reached by the health promoting work in the school. In the year of 2000 a project in Skåne was started for the development of health promoting schools. The health promoting projects however, have shown to be of short duration. So, as an alternative, the integration of the health in school ought to be tried. The aim of this study is to give examples how health promoting schools can strengthen their profile.