Managing workplace health promotion in municipal organizations: The perspective of senior managers.

Background: Previous research indicates that companies manage workplace health in various ways, but more in-depth empirical knowledge of how workplace health promotion (WHP) is managed in public sector organizations is needed.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore how WHP is managed and incorporated into the general management system in two large Swedish municipal organizations.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive approach was used.

Childrearing among thai first-time teenage mothers.

The aim of this study is to explore and describe the experiences of being a teenage mother and taking care of infants less than 6 months of age. Ten teenage mothers were interviewed. Latent content analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts with the teenage mothers.

Moving toward reclaiming life: lived experiences of being physically active among persons with psychiatric disabilities.

There is abundant documentation in research about the significant relationship between physical activity and mental health, but there is still more to be learned about what can enhance motivation to become more physically active. Fourteen persons with psychiatric disabilities were interviewed about their experiences of being physically active, and data was analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutic method. Five themes emerged: Capability for Living, Liberation from a Heavy Mind, Companionship in Being in Motion, Longing for Living One's Life, and Struggling with Limitations.

General beliefs about medicines among doctors and nurses in out-patient care: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Doctors and nurses are two natural partners in the healthcare team, but they usually differ in their perspectives on how to work for increased health. These professions may also have different beliefs about medicines, a factor important for adherence to medicines. The aim was to explore general beliefs about medicines among doctors and nurses.

Different development of general beliefs about medicines during undergraduate studies in medicine, nursing and pharmacy.

Objective: To analyze differences in general beliefs about medicines between healthcare students and to see if health education was of importance to general beliefs about medicines.

Method: The participants were students of medicine, pharmacy, pharmaceutical bioscience, dispensing pharmacy, nursing and economics (comparison group) at the University of Gothenburg. Data were collected twice in 2003 and 2005.

Beliefs about medicines and self-reported adherence among pharmacy clients.

Objectives: To analyse any association between general beliefs about medicines and self-reported adherence among pharmacy clients. Further, to examine general beliefs about medicines by background variables.

Methods: The data were collected by questionnaires including the general section of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ), the self-reporting Medication Adherence Report Scale (MARS) and the following background variables: gender, age, education, country of birth and medicine use.

Psychosocial factors at work and in every day life are associated with irritable bowel syndrome.

The etiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) tends to be complex and multi-factorial and there is still a lack of understanding of how different psychosocial factors are associated with the syndrome. Our aim was to examine the occurrence of psychosocial and behavioural factors among patients diagnosed with IBS in primary care. The study had an epidemiological population-based case-control design comparing 347 IBS cases to 1041 age and sex matched controls from the general population.

A population-based case-control study of work and psychosocial problems in patients with irritable bowel syndrome--women are more seriously affected than men.

Objective: Everyday psychosocial functioning and quality of life are known to be reduced for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but few previous studies have analyzed associations with functioning in working life. Accordingly, we examined perceptions of working conditions, functioning in the workplace, quality of life, and psychological complaints among IBS patients compared with age- and sex-matched controls.

Methods: A case-control study design was used based on 347 IBS patients from Swedish general practice who were compared with age- and sex-matched controls (N = 1,041) randomly selected from the general population.

Advice to patients in Swedish primary care regarding alcohol and other lifestyle habits: how patients report the actions of GPs in relation to their own expectations and satisfaction with the consultation.

Background: Lifestyle advice given by general practitioners (GPs) may be a cost-effective means of health promotion; however, it is not fully put into routine practice. The aim of this study was to explore to what extent GPs' patients expect and receive advice concerning alcohol, tobacco, exercise and diet in relation to sociodemographic characteristics, type of visit and patient satisfaction.

Methods: A postal questionnaire was sent to a representative sample (n = 9750) of patients who had consulted GPs in a county in Sweden.

Feasibility of an email-based electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) to college students in Sweden.

An email-based electronic screening and brief intervention (e-SBI) with personalized normative feedback on alcohol habits was offered to all 3,875 second term students at Linköping University, Sweden. The students received an email with a link to a computerized alcohol habit test and were offered personalized feedback directly on the computer screen. The students evaluated the test and were asked to state whether they were going to consider changing or actually change their alcohol habits.

Under what circumstances are nurses willing to engage in brief alcohol interventions? A qualitative study from primary care in Sweden.

To improve alcohol prevention in primary health care, it has been suggested that primary care nurses are an under-utilised resource. The aim of this study was to identify under what circumstances primary care nurses in Sweden are willing to engage in alcohol prevention. All nurses at three primary health care centres in Ostergötland, Sweden were invited to participate in focus group interviews; 26 nurses participated.

The more time spent on listening, the less time spent on prescribing antibiotics in general practice.

Objective: To analyse the variation between primary care centres (PCCs) with regard to prescribing antibiotics and to investigate whether the variation can be explained by factors related to patient satisfaction and to socio-demographic characteristics of the populations in the catchment areas of the PCCs.

Methods: The frequency of prescription of antibiotics by GPs at the PCCs was used as the dependent variable in a multivariate regression analysis. Questionnaire data for patient satisfaction and register data for socio-demographic characteristics were used as explanatory variables.

Unfavourable working conditions for female GPs. A comparison between Swedish general practitioners and district nurses.

Objective: The aim was to analyse gender and occupational differences in the psychosocial working conditions of general practitioners (GPs) and district nurses (DNs) in Sweden.

Design: A stratified random sample of GPs (n = 566) and DNs (n = 554) from four county councils in Sweden. The overall participation rate was 83%.

Early intervention for problem drinkers: readiness to participate among general practitioners and nurses in Swedish primary health care.

An exploration was made of attitudes and practices of general practitioners (GPs) and nurses concerning early identification of, and intervention for, alcohol-related problems. Sixty-five GPs and 141 nurses in 19 primary health centres in a county in southern Sweden answered a 28-item questionnaire before implementation of an intervention programme. The questionnaire covered experiences with patients with alcohol-related health problems, knowledge and perceived capacity concerning early identification and intervention, attitudes towards the role of primary care staff in early identification and intervention and current intervention methods in use at the health centre.