Marie Nilsson

Lifestyle counselling is part of healthcare professionals' work, but when focused on individual lifestyle counselling, its effects are often limited or context-dependent, highlighting the need for a person-centered approach where motivation, readiness for change, and relational aspects are key. The SELC scale measures self-efficacy, relevant to care professionals' engagement, but interpretation needs further study. The aim of this study was to explore how participants understood and evaluated items in the SELC scale and to identify potential issues related to clarity, relevance, and response options through qualitative pre-testing interviews. Qualitative pre-testing interviews with eight strategically selected participants explored how SELC items were understood and evaluated, using a structured guide with probing, and were analyzed with deductive qualitative content analysis. Participants found most items clear and easy to understand, although some terms were perceived as ambiguous. Items were generally perceived as relevant and consistently structured. Response alternatives were regarded as easy to distinguish, and the instructions were clear and straightforward. However, the open-ended item was unclear, and comments suggested that item order and the expert-driven perspective reduced the instrument's practical usefulness. In the revised SELC 20 + 20, terminology was clarified, items neutrally phrased, sequence aligned with real-life conversations, and visual and structural consistency improved. Pre-testing interviews identified strengths and improvement areas in the SELC scale and guided its refinement. Combined with previously published psychometric testing, results suggest the SELC scale has potential for assessing self-efficacy among healthcare professionals and in educational settings, although further validation is needed.

Introduction: Many municipalities in Sweden offer group exercises for older persons at meeting places, i.e., senior centres. However, it is unclear whether older persons experience group exercises as in accordance with their needs and wishes. Aim: The aim was to explore older persons’ experiences of participating in group exercises held at meeting places in municipalities from a person‐centred perspective. Methods: Individual interviews were conducted with 18 persons aged 65 and over who participated in group exercises at meeting places in six different municipalities. The interview guide was based on a person‐centred framework. The data were analysed using content analysis, first deductively and then inductively. Findings: The findings were presented in two main categories. The first concerned incentives for older persons to continue exercising in groups, which were held at meeting places. Such incentives were the encouragement they felt from the power of the group and the fact that the group exercises made them feel good. They also felt a sense of worth from having time and effort invested in them. The second main category included mixed feelings about the interaction between the older persons and the stakeholders, primarily the exercise leader. On the one hand, the older persons felt a strong trust in the exercise leaders, but on the other, they felt ambivalent and had ambiguous feelings regarding their own opportunities to influence the group exercises. Conclusions: To conclude, the group exercises held at meeting places contribute to meaningful relationships and a sense of social belonging and togetherness. The intervention not only promotes physical and mental health but also counters loneliness and social isolation, and therefore needs to be scaled up even more. This study highlights the need to make group exercises more person‐centred and to introduce processes that include the needs and wishes of older persons in the design of such interventions.

Background: Health-promotive interventions targeting older persons are important for active and healthy ageing. Hence, physical group exercises for community-dwelling older persons are arranged by various stakeholders via meeting places within the municipalities. Increased knowledge of how group exercises via meeting places can be arranged to promote health for the older population is needed. Therefore, the aim was to explore involved stakeholders’ experiences of group exercises for older persons arranged via meeting places in municipalities in relation to health promotion. Methods: Six focus group interviews were conducted online with 25 stakeholders from seven municipalities in Sweden. The stakeholders were managers of prevention units, municipal coordinators for physical activity, group exercise leaders, stakeholders from study associations, sports associations and private stakeholders, and non-profit stakeholders who arranged group exercises via the meeting places. The data was analysed using focus group methodology, where the focus of the analysis was to obtain the stakeholders’ collective understanding of the topic. Findings: The analysis resulted in two main themes and seven categories. In the main theme Strategies to strengthen empowerment and exercise habits among older persons, the stakeholders highlighted strategies on an individual level. Strategies of importance to attract new participants and supporting them in maintaining their exercise habits, empowering them through social belonging, adapting to older persons through responsiveness and evaluation, facilitating participation in decision-making, and enabling older persons to lead group exercises. The other main theme, Strategies to strengthen the arrangement of group exercises over time, highlighted strategies on an organisational level concerning financial resources, supportive environments, the importance of human resources, competence development as well as collaboration. Conclusions: Person-centredness emerges in health-promoting strategies both at the individual and organisational level. The study contributes to an understanding of how person-centredness is significant when working with health-promotive interventions for healthy ageing. Thus, a potential implication is to use a person-centred approach in the encounter with older persons and in the organisation when arranging group exercises for community-dwelling older persons.

Background: Even though there has been a cultural change within residential aged care to a more person-centered care, there remain improvements to be made for a more consistent way of working. Using a salutogenic approach along with person-centered care is a potential way to promote it. This study aimed to describe nurses’ experiences of combining person-centered care with a salutogenic approach at a nursing home for older people. Methods: Nine nurses, specially trained in salutogenesis and Sense of coherence, were individually interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach. Data was analysed through qualitative content analysis. Results: The nurses experienced that the residential aged care was improved by using salutogenesis and Sense of coherence as a complement to person-centered care. Core aspects of person-centered care were thereby promoted, as the resources of the older persons were emphasized, and aged care became more holistic. In addition to improved residential aged care, the results indicate that this manner of working also contributed to enhanced work satisfaction of the care personnel themselves. Conclusions: The results suggest that a salutogenic approach facilitates the implementation of person-centered care by focusing on the older persons’ resources and maintaining health. The organization needs to prioritize training staff in salutogenesis and person-centered care, as it supports working toward a common goal and benefits both the older persons and the staff.

Many municipalities today, together with other stakeholders, offer group exercises for the older population via municipal meeting places, focusing on promoting good health. During the Covid-19 pandemic, these group exercises either continued in a modified form or ceased. The aim of this study was to explore involved stakeholders’ experiences of group exercises for older persons arranged via municipal meeting places during the Covid-19 pandemic. Six online focus group interviews were conducted with 25 stakeholders, such as decision-makers and representatives from the non-profit sector, from seven municipalities in Sweden. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The collaboration around the group exercises was challenged due to affected communication and decision-making. The stakeholders described the importance of adapting and finding new ways to offer group exercise. Furthermore, the re-arranging of group exercises created concerns about the well-being of the older persons but also happiness with the older persons ability to act for their own well-being during the pandemic. This study highlights the importance of the municipalities exchanging experiences, making the older persons more involved in the decision-making process, enabling a person-centred encounter with the older persons when exercising in groups, and strengthening supportive environments by sharing the ownership of arranging the group exercises with the older persons.

BACKGROUND: Experiencing work-life balance is considered a health promoting resource. To counter-balance the negative development of teachers’ work situation, salutogenic resources need to be examined among teachers. OBJECTIVE: To examine resources r

This paper addresses a feasibility study of a method for recurrent collegial reflection. A qualitative approach, using a participatory research design, was adopted. The collegial reflection was implemented in a school, in a middle‐sized municipality in southern Sweden, with 21 teachers participating in the intervention. Data collection included digital recordings of collegial reflection, open questions by mail, and individual interviews. Findings indicated one major theme, paradoxes in the design of the collegial reflection, and three categories: wanting to decide and wanting to be guided; meeting each other as teachers and/or as persons; and looking for the safe and/or looking for the new. Before implementing the method in another context, management needs to appreciate these contradictory experiences, allow for voluntary participation, address participants’ expectations, and allocate time and tasks. This study implicates that collegial reflection may contribute to teachers’ professional development, and it is thereby relevant to teachers’ classroom practice and pupils’ learning. We conclude that, by creating a structure which supports teachers’ collegial reflection, the school may function as a supportive environment, which may contribute to teacher retention.