Kvinnors och mäns återhämtning från psykisk ohälsa

The overall aim with this thesis is to describe and analyze women’s and men’s recovery processes. More specifically, the aim is to determine what women and men with experience of mental illness describe as contributing to the personal recovery process. The point of departure for the studies was 30 in-depth interviews conducted with 15 men and 15 women. The selection of interview subjects was limited to individuals who had been treated in 24-hour psychiatric care and diagnosed as having schizophrenia, psychosis, a personality disorder, or a bipolar disorder.   Four studies have been carried.  Study 1 was a baseline article that examined what people in recovery from mental illness outline as facilitating factors to their recovery. The results that emerged from that study indicated areas for further analysis to condense the understanding of the recovery process. In study 2 the similarities and the differences in recovery described by women and men were examined. In Study 3 women’s and men’s meaning-making with reference to severe mental illness facilitate the recovery process were studied. The forth study explored how peer-support contribute to women’s and men’s recovery from mental illness.   The results emphasize recovery from mental illness as a social process in which relationships play a key role in creating new identities beside the mental illness. For a majority of the participants meeting peers facilitated the recovery process. The participants described how peer support meant an end to isolation and became an arena for identification, connection, and being important to others. Throughout these recovery processes the impact of gender has been emphasized. The results from this thesis provide new insight into gender as an important factor in understanding the recovery processes. The results from the four studies emphasize the mental patient, the psychiatric interventions and the individual recovery strategies as being influenced by gender constructions.

Sjuksköterskans uppfattning om omvårdnadsinsatser som främjar livskvalitet vid bipolär sjukdom : En kvalitativ intervjustudie

Bakgrund: Flera studier har visat att personer med bipolär sjukdom har en sämre livskvalitet jämfört med övriga befolkningen. Som sjuksköterska inom psykiatrisk vård är det viktigt att ha kunskap om sjukdomen för att ge bästa möjliga behandling med mål att stabilisera symtom, förebygga återfall och främja livskvalitet. Syfte: Att utifrån sjuksköterskans uppfattning beskriva vilka omvårdnadsinsatser som främjar livskvalitet vid bipolär sjukdom. Metod: En kvalitativ innehållsanalys som baserades på åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultat: Resultatet visade tre huvudteman: Kunskap om sjukdomen: betydelsen av att både patient och anhöriga fick kunskap om sjukdomen; Trygghet och kontinuitet i vården: veta var och till vem man vänder sig i vården hade stor betydelse samt Personcentrerad vård: att bli sedd och bemött som en unik person. Slutsats: Patientutbildning där man tar upp vikten av regelbundna levnadsvanor, att undvika stress samt att bli medveten om sina tidiga tecken kan hjälpa att stabilisera symtom och förebygga återfall.