Nurses are to be aware of sensory stimulation as a possible intervention to improve persons' quality of life.

The aim of this study was to explore undocumented migrant women's subjective experiences of their health conditions and access to health care. The study is based on eight qualitative interviews with undocumented migrant women and eight qualitative interviews with health personnel at a health center for undocumented migrants in Oslo. The women were recruited by self-selection from patients at the health center. Both the women and the health professionals related the women's health problems to their living conditions. Even though all of the women had extremely difficult living situations, their living conditions varied. Some lived in an apartment with a partner. Some had to move among the homes of various friends and had to be out all day while those friends were at work. The women with paid work had more structured daily lives than the others, with living situations that gave them some opportunities for rest and privacy. Domestic work in the black market for labor was associated with health problems due to the heavy and repetitive tasks performed while cleaning private homes. Limited rights to health care, fear of being reported, financial difficulties and poor language skills were mentioned as barriers to health care. These barriers lead to delay in seeking medical care and use of alternative health-seeking strategies. Factors that indirectly affected the health of the women included a lack of knowledge of both their rights and the available services in Norway. The pregnant women were unaware of their right to receive prenatal care.

There is a need for a systematic approach to provide sufficient support to spouses throughout their partners' dementia progressions to assist their ongoing involvement.

Healthcare personnel must recognise the severity of some spouses' experiences of losing couplehood and be aware of how these experiences can fluctuate and be situation dependent.

The experience of homelessness not only affects physical health, but can also constrain access to required health care. In a number of European countries, national strategies to tackle homelessness have sought to deliver integrated solutions across housing, health and other social policy areas. This article examines approaches to meeting the health care needs of homeless people in relation to such strategies, drawing upon recent research in Norway and Scotland. The article presents a comparative analysis of approaches to service provision in relation to welfare models and the concepts of universal and specialist provision. The analysis suggests a cross-national shift in the conceptualisation of appropriate responses to the health care needs of those who experience homelessness. The provision of some specialist health services, while reflecting a selective model of welfare, need not be solely interpreted as conflicting with a more universal model of ensuring access to mainstream services. Rather, the challenge is to recognise the need for a process approach which supports an effective transition from the (sometimes necessary) use of specialist services for this group, towards (the ideal of) full integration into mainstream health care.

AimGlobally, cancer incidence counts for more than 14 million cases and the number increases with age. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression in association with demographic and clinical factors.DesignA cross‐sectional descriptive design was used.MethodsWe performed descriptive statistics to analyse the questionnaires completed from 174 older home‐dwelling people with cancer.ResultsThe people with cancer reported low occurrence of pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression. We found strong correlation between anxiety and depression. Women reported significantly higher scores of anxiety and depression than men. A higher pain score was associated with higher scores of fatigue and anxiety.ConclusionsHome care personnel meeting older home‐dwelling people with cancer should emphasize these people’ mental health problems and be aware that pain, fatigue and anxiety may occur at the same time.

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Research has highlighted the importance of health and social care professionals' collaboration with family caregivers. In the field of mental healthcare, involvement of family members is perceived as beneficial to the recovery process of the care recipient. Furthermore, family care‐giving is an essential part of elderly care. It is well documented that family members need support to prevent negative consequences of care‐giving. Nevertheless, involvement of and support for family caregivers have not developed into a common practice, and research has identified professional barriers to collaboration with family caregivers in several areas. The aim of this study was to explore professionals' experiences of collaboration with family caregivers of older persons with mental health problems, and how they understood their responsibility towards families. We conducted three focus group interviews with 18 health and social care professionals working in community‐based services, in three rural municipalities in Western Norway. The thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke guided the analysis. The findings in relation to the professionals' role and responsibility towards family caregivers are presented in three themes: family caregivers – a resource that needs support; a responsibility with unclear boundaries; and balancing different needs. Professionals recognised family caregivers' need for support and acknowledged the importance of family relationships. However, they experienced dilemmas in performing their dual responsibility of caring for the older care recipient as well as the family member, which they described as having unclear guidelines. They also experienced that they had insufficient knowledge to take on this responsibility. We argue that the exercising of discretion is essential for the professionals' responsibility, and that clarification of their responsibility is needed. We recommend a stronger focus in education on developing competence in the family perspective. Furthermore, the apportionment of professionals' responsibility needs to be formalised, especially when several services are involved in providing care.