Clinical profiles and temporal patterns of psychiatric emergency room visitors in Sweden.

Aims: To describe persons visiting the psychiatric emergency room (PER) in Sweden and to compare persons who frequently (PFV) and infrequently (PIFV) visit PERs in terms of group size, age, gender, PER location inside versus outside the home municipality, diagnosis (ICD 10), temporal patterns of visits and hospital admissions.

Methods: This register study included all visits to PERs in one Swedish county over 3 years, 2013-2015 (N = 67,031 visits). The study employed descriptive statistics as well as Chi-square tests combined with Bonferroni correction to compare PFV with PIFV.

Working with Stories: Street-Level Bureaucrats and Their Work with Individuals with Psychiatric Disability Exposed to Interpersonal Violence.

The focus of our attention is the meeting between street-level bureaucrats and individuals with psychiatric disability exposed to interpersonal violence. Based on 11 interviews, we illustrate how stories are understood, used, and made meaningful to the street-level bureaucrat. The contribution of this article is first of all that of being a framework, from a storytelling point of view, for the work and organizational experiences of street-level bureaucrats.

Lesbian, gay and bisexual parents' experiences of nurses' attitudes in child health care-A qualitative study.

Aims And Objectives: To describe lesbian, gay and bisexual parents' experiences of nurses' attitudes in child healthcare.

Background: Lesbian, gay and bisexual people are often reluctant to disclose their gender identity for fear of discrimination. This fear may lead to avoidance of healthcare for themselves or their children and may negatively affect families' health and well-being.

Meaning in work and emerging work identities of housing support workers: A quest for a comprehensible plot.

Background: Work and employees are often marginalized in studies on community-based psychiatric care and support systems. This paper highlights the role of the worker at congregated supported housing for people with severe mental illness (SMI). Housing support workers (HSW) are a fairly new professional role and have developed as a result of major changes in Swedish mental health care and services.

Living in supportive housing for people with serious mental illness: a paradoxical everyday life.

Since the closure of large psychiatric institutions, various types of community-based supportive housing for people with serious mental illness (SMI) have been developed. There is currently limited knowledge about users' experiences of living in supportive housing. The aim of the present study was to describe user experiences of living in supportive housing for people with SMI.

Landlords' experiences of housing tenants suffering from severe mental illness: a Swedish empirical study.

The aim of this Swedish study was to describe landlords' experiences of having tenants suffering from severe mental illness. Sixteen landlords working in private and public housing agencies participated in open in-depth interviews. Data were subjected to a thematic latent content analysis.

Living an unstable everyday life while attempting to perform normality - the meaning of living as an alcohol-dependent woman.

Aims And Objectives: To illuminate the meaning of living with alcohol dependency as a woman.

Background: The number of women suffering from alcohol dependency is increasing. Today there are shortcomings in knowledge about the lived experiences of being a woman with alcohol dependency; knowledge which might be of importance for meeting these women's specific needs of care.

Victimization in individuals suffering from psychosis: a Swedish cross-sectional study.

The aims of the study were to investigate: (1) self-reported adulthood and last-year victimization in male and female outpatients suffering from psychosis; (2) relationships to perpetrators; (3) whether drugs or alcohol were involved in victimization situations; (4) places where victimization occurred. Patients were randomly selected from five outpatient units geared to patients with psychosis; 174 patients participated in a structured face-to-face interview. Experiences of victimization in adulthood were reported by 67%, 33% in the previous year.

Being in a safe haven and struggling against alcohol dependency. The meaning of caring for male patients in advanced addiction nursing.

The aim of the present study was to explore and illuminate the meaning of advanced nursing caring for men with alcohol dependency, as narrated by the men themselves. Ten male patients were interviewed in-depth and data were subjected to a phenomenological-hermeneutic analysis. Caring meant having the opportunity to rest in a safe haven together with professional caregivers, to struggle for liberation from dependency, and to expand the life-sphere by starting to accept oneself and broaden social participation.

Mental health users' experiences of being interviewed by another user in a research project. A qualitative study.

Background: Although user involvement in research is an area of high priority there is a lack of knowledge about how users of the mental health system perceive participation in studies carried out by other users.

Aim: The aim of the study was to describe how users experience participation in research interviews performed by other users.

Method: A varied sample of 17 mental health users with experience of being interviewed in a research project by another user was thematically interviewed in this qualitative study.

Staff experience and understanding of working with abused women suffering from mental illness.

The phenomenon of abused women with mental illness is often unrecognised by staff working within welfare services. This may be explained by staff members' attitudes, insecurity or lack of awareness. Today, there are shortcomings in the knowledge of staff members' experiences and interpretations of abuse against women suffering from mental illness.

Elderly women's experiences of living with fall risk in a fragile body: a reflective lifeworld approach.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experience of fall risk from a lifeworld perspective in elderly women with previous fragility fractures. Thirteen elderly women with a high risk of fall and fracture, aged 76-86, living in their own homes in rural areas, were recruited from a voluntary fracture prevention programme. All women had a history of fragility fractures and were interviewed in their homes from spring to autumn 2004.

Construct and discriminant validity and dimensionality of the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI) in three psychiatric samples.

This study was aimed at investigating the psychometric properties of the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI), in terms of construct and discriminant validity and unidimensionality, in three psychiatric samples with varying prerequisites for social interaction: 1) an outpatient sample of working age with mixed diagnoses, 2) an outpatient sample with schizophrenia, and 3) an inpatient sample composed of mentally ill, male offenders. The target constructs were psychosocial functioning and satisfaction in different life domains. It was hypothesized that the ISSI would mainly be related to psychosocial functioning and life domains characterized by social interaction, such as friends and family.

Self-reported consequences and needs for support associated with abuse in female users of psychiatric care.

The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence of adult abuse in female users of psychiatric care, the relationship between abuse and self-esteem and self-reported consequences of abuse, and women's self-reported needs of support. A total of 1382 women participated in the study. A self-administrated anonymous questionnaire with both closed-ended and open-ended questions was used.

The prevalence of abuse in Swedish female psychiatric users, the perpetrators and places where abuse occurred.

The aims of the study were to investigate self-reported physical, sexual, emotional and economical abuse in Swedish female users of psychiatric services, who the perpetrators were and in which places abuse occurred. An anonymous self-administrated questionnaire was answered in the waiting room of the services. The drop-out rate was 21% and n=1382 women completed the questionnaire.

The structure of Antonovsky's sense of coherence in patients with schizophrenia and its relationship to psychopathology.

The main aim of the study was to investigate whether the three hypothesized subscales of Antonovsky's sense of coherence (SOC) scale: comprehensibility, meaningfulness and manageability, can be found when measuring SOC in a sample of patients with schizophrenia living in the community. A further aim was to study the relationship between SOC and psychopathology. The concept of SOC has been proposed to explain successful coping with life stressors.

Childhood abuse in Swedish female users of psychiatric services.

Introduction: The aims of this study were to investigate: (1) the prevalence of childhood abuse in women admitted to psychiatric services in a county in the south of Sweden; (2) who the perpetrators were; and (3) the women's self-reported consequences of childhood abuse.

Method: The study had a cross-sectional design and was a part of a more comprehensive study. An anonymous self-reported questionnaire was used which included both closed and open-ended questions.

Subjective versus interviewer assessment of global quality of life among persons with schizophrenia living in the community: a Nordic multicentre study.

Background: Few studies have investigated differences between subjective and externally assessed quality of life in individuals with a severe mental illness. In a sample of 387 patients with schizophrenia living in the community the present study investigated the association between subjective and interviewer-rated quality of life, clinical and sociodemographic factors related to the two assessments, and if discrepancies in the assessments were related to any clinical or social features of the patients.

Method: The study was a Nordic multicentre study with a cross-sectional design.

Mastery in patients with schizophrenia living in the community: relationship to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, needs for care and support, and social network.

In line with user involvement and empowerment in individuals who suffer from a severe mental illness, the sense of mastery is important. Few studies have investigated factors that contribute to mastery in individuals with schizophrenia. The aims of the present 18-month follow-up study were to investigate associations between mastery and clinical and sociodemographic factors, needs for care and support and social network, and to investigate whether changes in mastery were related to changes with regard to these aspects in a group of patients (n = 120) with schizophrenia living in the community.

The influence of temperament and character on functioning and aspects of psychological health among people with schizophrenia.

Research findings that link personality factors to functioning and symptoms in schizophrenia are inconsistent, and further studies are needed within the area. The purpose of this study was to investigate how personality, as measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), was related to demographic factors, subtypes of diagnoses, level of functioning, and aspects of psychological health, including sense of coherence, perceived control, and self-esteem, among people with schizophrenia. Subjects were 104 individuals, aged 20-55 years, in psychiatric outpatient care.

Schizophrenia and contact with health and social services: a Nordic multi-centre study.

Background: In a Nordic multi-centre study investigating the life and care situation of persons with schizophrenia living in the community, factors explaining use of health and social services were examined.

Method: Four hundred and eighteen individuals with schizophrenia from 10 sites were interviewed about their contact with different services (support functions within and outside the mental health services, general practitioners (GPs), physicians in the mental health, psychotherapy, day-care and inpatient treatment), psychopathology, social network and needs for care.

Results: Physicians and support contacts within the mental health system were most used and GPs and psychotherapy least.

The relationship of needs and quality of life in persons with schizophrenia living in the community. A Nordic multi-center study.

The relationship between needs for care and support and subjective quality of life was investigated in a cross-sectional multi-center study including 418 individuals with schizophrenia from 10 centers in Nordic countries. Needs in 22 domains were investigated by interviews with key workers and their patients using the Camberwell Assessment of Need scale, and quality of life by the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile. The results showed that key workers rated slightly more needs than patients.

Clinical and social changes in severely mentally ill individuals admitted to an outpatient psychosis team: an 18-month follow-up study.

Aim: The study investigated clinical and social changes during an 18-month follow-up period in a group (n = 76) of schizophrenic outpatients admitted to a newly implemented outpatient psychosis team. Changes related to level of contact with the psychosis team were also examined as well as aspects of the content of the treatment interventions and work situation from a staff perspective.

Methods: Structured face-to-face interviews with the patients were performed at baseline and after 18 months.

Living situation, subjective quality of life and social network among individuals with schizophrenia living in community settings.

Objective: To investigate the relationships between characteristics of the living situation in the community and subjective quality of life and social network among community-based individuals with schizophrenia.

Method: A total of 418 individuals with schizophrenia from 10 sites were interviewed with regard to quality of life, psychopathology, social network and needs for care. Characteristics of the living situation investigated were: living alone or not, living with family or not, and having an independent or a sheltered housing situation.

The relationship of personality dimensions as measured by the temperament and character inventory and quality of life in individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder living in the community.

The influence of personality factors on the appraisal of subjective quality of life in individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder is not much investigated. The present study examined this relationship in a sample of 104 patients living in the community. The temperament and character inventory was used to assess personality and the Lancashire quality of life profile was used to assess quality of life.