Sweden's population holds today one of the highest life expectancies in the world and an increasing number of Swedes believe that they have good health. However, the problem still remains that there exists significant differences in health between different population groups and neighborhoods. Two neighborhoods that demonstrate high inequality in health status are Rinkeby and Danderyd in Stockholm County.    The purpose of this study was to examine why health differs between different neighborhoods and how Residents experience the area and their health. To answer this purpose a combination of statistical data and qualitative interviews with Residents in Danderyd and Rinkeby has been used with an additional literature review.      The study showed that the causes of health inequalities between these neighborhoods was primarily concerned with the factors of education, economic conditions, ethnicity, conditions of comfort and companionship and the surrounding residential environment. The population in Danderyd, made up largely of people with high education, good economic conditions and few foreign-born, while the majority of Rinkeby?s population consists of individuals with low education, poor economic conditions and a high proportion of inhabitants of foreign origin, which are determining factors leading to poorer health status among the population.

The purpose of this thesis was to create a deeper comprehension for the role of place marketing within Swedish municipalities and how it is applied to attract visitors and Residents. A case study was performed to obtain this purpose. Interviews with three northern municipalities were conducted in order to retrieve essential information. This was compared to previous studies of place marketing in order to find similarities and differences. The results of this study showed that municipalities emphasise on creating an attractive image, directed to the Residents as well as to people outside.

The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the constructions andinterplay of gender, ethnicity and sexuality between female and male careworkersand Residents in a nursing home. To explore this from a qualitativeeveryday life?s approach, material was collected through participating observations,interviews, and informal conversation with careworkers and Residents.The result points out that historical patterns of gender and caring relatedto this context still matter and affect both careworkers and Residents. Forexample, female careworkers talked about the concept of caring as a genuinefemale experience, while male careworkers, who were in a minority, insteadtalked about caring in more gender-neutral words. The result also indicatesthat a larger number of male careworkers not necessarily leads to a highergrade of gender equality.

It has become increasingly common for cities and municipalities to take greater account of the place marketing, and to see the physical location as a brand. An early step in this process is to make the image measurements of the place, in order to develop better marketing strategies. A method often used in tourism research for this type of measurements is Etchner and Ritchie's theoretical framework. The framework is initially designed to measure visitor's image of a tourist destination.Almost all previous research in this area is based on the visitor's perspective, but Olofsson and Skredsvik have used this framework to measure a location's image among the Residents. They feel that the Residents of a place can be seen as ambassadors of the place because they know the site well.

This case study, ?The sense of place in a courtyard in Gothenburg?, examines whether the city planners? vision correspond to the Residents? perception regarding the sense of place and the physical environment in a courtyard in Gothenburg. By carrying out a questionnaire survey, the inhabitants? perception has been explicated, which we have then compared to the total vision for the design of the courtyard that we have gathered from doing interviews with the planning executive, the developer and the landscape architect as well as reviewing the development plan. The study has shown that the vision coincides relatively well with the Residents? perception, but it differenciates when it comes to social aspects.

The purpose of this study was to examine how the design of the wards, at Björnkulla nursing home, affects the Residents? wayfinding ability and autonomy. Thus, the aim has been to make a design proposal that, trough color and design can increase the Residents? chance to independent mobility. Since the study aimed to examine how the environment affect and can support people with dementia, qualitative methods were used.

This essay focuses on the elderly and their religious beliefs and is based on the origin idea of a secular Sweden, but where immigration has been the source of additional various religious affiliations. This study intends to nuance the problems that previous researchers focused on when doing research on immigration, by interviewing staff members of nursing homes in immigrant dense areas, especially Malmoe, Gothenburg and Stockholm.The aim is to investigate how the allocation of Residents, with different religious than Protestant Christians, is distributed at nursing homes and to see if there is a need for adjustments. Additionally, the thesis about immigrants and immigrants' identity and attitudes to Swedish society is discussed with John Berry´s acculturation theories and strategies.The results show that the majority of the nursing homes have Residents with different religious affiliations and that some practical adjustments have been done, but it also shows that nursing homes have changed to the extent that they have adapted to a secular society. Ignorance and prejudice contribute to the problem in terms of seeing all Residents as individuals and at the same time ensuring adaption according to all their needs, which is exemplified in the solutions made by using multi-cultural staff members and specialized departments. The relationship between nursing homes and the Swedish church continues but the role of the church service has changed.

Title: Elderly deaf - The significance of an own senior housing. A qualitative interview studyon how special senior housing affects the experience of well-being of elderly deaf [translated title]The purpose of the study was to examine how elderly deaf people experience living in aspecial senior housing, which is the country?s first and only housing with sign language fordeaf and deafblind in the region of Stockholm. The focus was to study how this seniorhousing affected the well-being of the Residents and their experience of this accommodation.The study was based on a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. Interviews wereconducted with four Residents who have lived in the senior housing for deaf and deafblindpeople since it opened in spring 2013.

AbstractIn my study I have investigated how a constructed outdoor green environment can beused, managed and how it works. The study also investigates the concept of socialsustainability, where, for example, civil dialogue is a method to promote this. Thisinvestigation mainly gives account for the inhabitants viewpoint but also a gardenersperspective. The study focuses on the planning process of the study object, what theoutcome has been and how the users of the green environment, think about the result. Inthe process there has been a strong concern of involving the Residents and others usingthe area.

User participation in the planning process of renewing the yards of existing residential areas was introduced in Sweden in the 1970s. It arose as a solution to many of the problems which became common in the residential areas built within the Swedish million program. The aim with the million program was to build one million homes within ten years. The same year as the million program was completed, in 1975, government subsidies to improve the residential yards were introduced. One of the conditions to get the subsidies was that the Residents had to be involved in the planning process.

It is increasingly important for cities to attract visitors, potential new Residents and businesses. Jönköping is one of the cities working with place marketing, a strategy that intends to mediate a positive image of the city, in order to accomplish just that.People often have a need to preserve the memory of a trip into something tangible. Anyone visiting Jönköping encounters a souvenir choice, much like the one in many other cities. Linked to the idea of positive place marketing, our work aims to investigate how we as product developers can create a product that en¬hances the image of Jönköping based on the thought that all Residents are con¬sig¬nors. Accordingly, we develop three different products from the Residents' own image of the city.Our research questions are:Based on the photographs, what image of Jönköping do the ambassadors mediate of their own city?As designers, what in Jönköping's history versus the image of Jönköping today, can we seize in order to give products for visitors a sense of authenticity?As designers, how can we use knowledge of place branding in the development of souvenirs?We performed interviews within three different aspects: history, souvenirs and place branding, all focused on the city of Jönköping.

The city of Kalmar has a desire that their 3D maps of the city should come to a greater use and get Residents more involved in Kalmar city. The purpose of this report is to show one way to work with these 3D maps when it comes to presenting information about Kalmar for its Residents and tourists in a specific area.  The report also includes information about advantages and disadvantages with the use of 2D and 3D maps in different environments. Various reports and other sources indicate an interest in 3D and a use for this, but even that 2D is still seen as a natural way to read a map. By collecting information from relevant literature, interviews and user testing, the group has obtained sufficient background information to present the results of a web site, where the visitor can navigate in both 2D and 3D in a specific area of Kalmar. User tests and surveys have been conducted in two rounds and the web site has been revised after their results..

The city of Kalmar has a desire that their 3D maps of the city should come to a greater use and get Residents more involved in Kalmar city. The purpose of this report is to show one way to work with these 3D maps when it comes to presenting information about Kalmar for its Residents and tourists in a specific area.  The report also includes information about advantages and disadvantages with the use of 2D and 3D maps in different environments. Various reports and other sources indicate an interest in 3D and a use for this, but even that 2D is still seen as a natural way to read a map. By collecting information from relevant literature, interviews and user testing, the group has obtained sufficient background information to present the results of a web site, where the visitor can navigate in both 2D and 3D in a specific area of Kalmar. User tests and surveys have been conducted in two rounds and the web site has been revised after their results..

Between 1999 and 2009, I followed three of my grandparents, all of whom suffered from dementia. Numerous times, when I visited them in their nursing homes, I was met by Residents of the ward who were very unhappy. Through conversations at home with my family, I understood more and more that this was a commonly occurring problem at nursing homes. All too often it was solved with heavy medication, which made the Residents tired and they slept more often.During my undergraduate education at Konstfack, I have reflected on whether I, as an interior designer and furniture designer, can have an influence on spaces and furniture so that dementia patients can experience greater calm and security. The idea is if that I perceive the environment as calm and secure, I will also be calm and secure.In my degree project, I want to study how interior design and furniture design can contribute to decreased agitation in people with dementia in nursing homes..

The purpose of this study is to shed light on and describe Kramfors travel centers function and relationship to the surrounding urban environment, and how this core is experienced by Residents and visitors. To do this, the use of the travel center, its relationship to Kramfors city center and the perception of it, as well as possible improvement areas has been studied.This has been examined using a quantitative method by designing a questionnaire and the usage of a research strategy through the implementation of a small-scale survey. Within this a cluster sampling was applied.The result shows that Kramfors travel centers is primarily used for traveling and is used most frequently by the visitors within the study. It is also shown that Residents 'primary reason for traveling from the travel center is friends and family, followed by shopping, and that the visitors' primary motive for traveling is friends and family as well, followed by work. The mode of transportation between the travel center and destinations are mainly walking, while the mode of transport between homes and the travel center proves to be the car.