The aim of this qualitative study was to explore older persons' experience of participation in and influence on decisions about public home help/care when undergoing needs assessment and receiving public home help. A purposive sample of 28 home help recipients over the age of 75 were selected. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews. A content analysis revealed one overarching category: 'Having to be satisfied, adjust, and walk a fine line when balancing between needs and available help'; and three principal categories: Balancing the comfort and guilt--receiving help from the family at the limits of their capacity; 'A necessary evil'--balancing feelings and resources against having no choice but to accept; Incorporating the home help into daily life to gain a sense of continuity. The findings indicate that older persons have difficulties coping and adapting to their new life situation and have no actual influence over the decisions about their home help. The officer told them what was available. This implies a need to pay attention to the frail persons' mental state in the needs assessment and to ensure adequate understanding of information. Further, it suggests that the needs assessment and the home help officer should to a larger extent focus on individual needs as a whole, involve and encourage the older person to strengthen his or her sense of being in control.

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore older persons’ (n = 28, 75–96 years of age) experience of becoming in need of public home help, their experience of participation and of having influence on the needs assessment procedure and the decisions made about public home help. A content analysis revealed a broad overarching category, labelled: experiencing discontinuity in life as a whole – the countdown has begun. In addition, four principal categories emerged from the data: comparing the past with the present and losing parts of oneself and connectedness; worrying about the losses and what they will bring about; struggling against losing abilities to avoid dependency and home help; and struggling with conflicting feelings about being/becoming in need of help, and from whom. That older people can so perceive their life situation needs to be recognised if they are to be empowered to become involved in and exert influence on the assessment process and its outcome as well as on their life situation as a whole.

BackgroundNurses in Sweden have a high absence due to illness and many retire before the age of sixty. Factors at work as well as in private life may contribute to health problems. To maintain a healthy work–force there is a need for actions on work-life balance in a salutogenic perspective. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of resources in everyday life to balance work and private life among nurses in home help service.MethodsThirteen semi-structured individual interviews and two focus group interviews were conducted with home help service nurses in Sweden. A qualitative content analysis was used for the analyses.ResultIn the analyses, six themes of perceptions of recourses in everyday life emerged;(i) Reflecting on life. (ii) Being healthy and taking care of yourself. (iii) Having a meaningful job and a supportive work climate. (iv) Working shifts and part time. (v) Having a family and a supporting network. (vi) Making your home your castle.ConclusionsThe result points out the complexity of work-life balance and support that the need for nurses to balance everyday life differs during different phases and transitions in life. In this salutogenic study, the result differs from studies with a pathogenic approach. Shift work and part time work were seen as two resources that contributed to flexibility and a prerequisite to work-life balance. To have time and energy for both private life and work was seen as essential. To reflect on and discuss life gave inner strength to set boundaries and to prioritize both in private life and in work life. Managers in nursing contexts have a great challenge to maintain and strengthen resources which enhance the work-life balance and health of nurses. Salutogenic research is needed to gain an understanding of resources that enhance work-life balance and health in nursing contexts.

No abstract

The aim of this study was to explore school nurses' experience of challenges related to documenting schoolchildren's psychosocial health in Sweden. Six focus group discussions were carried out. Areas for discussions included questions about situations, especially challenging to document as well as what constrains and/or facilitates documenting psychosocial health problem issues. Qualitative content analysis was used for interpreting the data. The analysis resulted in one overarching theme: having to do one's duty and being afraid of doing wrong; and three subthemes: uncertainty related to one's own ability, concerns related to future consequences, and strategies to handle the documentation. School nurses relying on their intuition and using a structured documentation model may increase the opportunities for a reliable documentation. To further develop their professional skills with regular, clinical supervision can be of great importance. This in turn may increase contributions to research and development for the benefit of schoolchildren's psychosocial health.