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The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of professional carers’ experiences in caring situations when a conflict of interest arises with the older person receiving care. The findings reveal the complexity of the carers’ ambivalence when facing a conflict of interest, weighing between the older persons’ right to self-determination and external demands. The carers are alone in their ambivalence and the conclusion is that they need help and support to be more present in the encounter. The implication for this study is a person-centred practice, and to focus on people as interdependent on support carers to maintain older people’s right to self-determination in the relationship.

The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of older people’s dependence on caregivers’ help, and of their opportunity to make independent decisions.

Background. Throughout the world, the older population is growing, and in Sweden, the system of care for older people is currently undergoing change. Older people in the need of care are expected to live at home for as long as possible.

Design.A qualitative and life world approach was used.

Methods. Audio-taped interviews were conducted with twelve older persons living at home, dependent on daily municipal home help service. A phenomenological hermeneutic method was utilised to disclose the meanings of lived experiences.

Finding. The findings revealed three themes : being facilitated to make one’s own decisions, being hindered from making one’s own decisions, struggling for vs. resigning oneself to losing the opportunity to make one’s own decisions.

The comprehensive understanding revealed that as older people become more dependent on caregivers’ help, their opportunity to self-determine is challenged and this is stressful for them.

Conclusion. The older persons assess their opportunity to self-determine differently, depending on who they are as a person. The caregivers need an awareness of this, and further research is needed to gain knowledge and understanding of how caregivers can improve the way they support and enhance older people’s opportunity to decide for themselves.

Implications for practice. The findings revealed older persons need to exercise more self-determination and caregivers’ need for knowledge to enable this. Further, it indicates a move towards a person-centred approach to focus on persons as individuals and see them as interdependent. The findings contribute to improvements in similar contexts worldwide.

This study focuses on the meaningful encounters of patients and next of kin, seen from their perspective. Identifying the attributes within meaningful encounters is important for increased understanding of caring and to expand and develop earlier formulated knowledge about caring relationships. Caring theory about the caring relationship and provided a point of departure for the study. The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaningful encounter in health care contexts narrated by patients and next of kin. A qualitative explorative design with a hermeneutic narrative approach was used to analyze and interpret the written narratives. Phases were: Naïve interpretation, structure analysis on two different levels a) analysis of narrative structure b) analysis of deep structure through metaphors and finally a dialectic interpretation. In the narratives the meaning of the meaningful encounter was sharing, a nourishing fellowship, common responsibility and coming together experienced as safety and warmth and gives, by extension, life changing moments, a healing force and dissipated insight. The meaningful encounter can be seen as a complex phenomenon that has different attributes. Understanding the meaningful encounter will enable nurses to plan and provide professional care, based on caring science focusing on patient and next of kin experience.

Background: The fact that patients and relatives experience poor healthcare encounters is evident in the number of complaints to patients’ advisory committees, and from studies and statistics. Looking at ‘the other side of the coin’, research into good caring encounters experienced as meaningful encounters in healthcare is scarce.

Aim: To illuminate the signification of meaningful encounters in healthcare. 124 narratives from patients, relatives and healthcare staff regarding experiences of meaningful encounters in Swedish healthcare were analysed using a phenomenological hermeneutic research method.

Conclusions: The results indicate that a meaningful encounter means gratefulness, is founded on trust, cooperation and courage, and results in self-trust through wellbeing, increased understanding and life-changing insights. The encounters have given insight into, and increased understanding of, the patient’s own life, the families’ lives, and/or healthcare professionals’ lives. With this, and awareness of the importance and power of meaningful encounters, healthcare staff might use a meaningful encounter as a powerful instrument in caring.

Implications for practice:

• For patients and relatives, trust derived from meaningful encounters in healthcare leads to self-trust
• Caring within healthcare consisting of meaningful encounters, ‘the other side of the coin’ gives important knowledge that could facilitate improvements in healthcare staff’s encounters with patients and relatives, and also enrichment in their own professional development
• Increased understanding and awareness of the power of meaningful encounters can be discussed in terms of patient safety

In today’s healthcare system, there is an imbalance between what patients expect of caregivers’ care and their perception of the care they get. How is it possible to reduce this imbalance? The aim of this paper was to describe attributes associated with meaningful encounters in the Swedish healthcare system based on patients’ and caregivers’ written narratives and to note the differences and similarities between the attributes identified by the two groups. This paper is a qualitative descriptive study. The analysis was guided by qualitative content analyses. Based on patients’ narratives, attributes associated with a meaningful encounter fell into four categories: the kind-hearted caregiver, the thoughtful caregiver, the mutually oriented caregiver, and the helpful caregiver. Based on caregivers’ narratives, the attributes were categorized as being humane, caring through physical contact, caring by nurturing communication, joy and laughter in care, and a sense of mutuality. The results show that there are both similarities and differences in patients’ and caregivers’ opinions about the attributes of ameaningful encounter. Knowing more about the attributes associated with meaningful encounters makes it possible for caregivers to individualize care for patients and makes it easier to help and support patients in what they most need support with.

In today's healthcare system, there is an imbalance between what patients expect of caregivers' care and their perception of the care they get. How is it possible to reduce this imbalance? The aim of this paper was to describe attributes associated with meaningful encounters in the Swedish healthcare system based on patients' and caregivers' written narratives and to note the differences and similarities between the attributes identified by the two groups. This paper is a qualitative descriptive study. The analysis was guided by qualitative content analyses. Based on patients' narratives, attributes associated with a meaningful encounter fell into four categories: the kind-hearted caregiver, the thoughtful caregiver, the mutually oriented caregiver, and the helpful caregiver. Based on caregivers' narratives, the attributes were categorized as being humane, caring through physical contact, caring by nurturing communication, joy and laughter in care, and a sense of mutuality. The results show that there are both similarities and differences in patients' and caregivers' opinions about the attributes of a meaningful encounter. Knowing more about the attributes associated with meaningful encounters makes it possible for caregivers to individualize care for patients and makes it easier to help and support patients in what they most need support with.

The aim of this literature study was to suggest a value ground for nursing anchored in two ethical principles:

the principle of human value and the right to experience a meaningful life. Previous nursing research

between the years 2000 and 2009 was analysed. Presented values suggested in this value ground are

thus in line with the nursing context and science of today. Statements within ethical literature have been

used in order to formulate arguments aimed at supporting the values that were found in the study. In

the literature study six values were found: trust, nearness, sympathy, support, knowledge and

responsibility. These values hold equal status and are not presented in hierarchical order. They vary due

to the persons involved, nursing situations and cultural surroundings, but have the common requirement

of being non-excluding. In order to implement the values within the value ground, two prerequisites are

discussed and claimed as essential: ethical dialogue and a caring encounter between care provider and

patients.

The aim of this study was to conduct a validation and assess the test–retest reliability of the health questionnaire based on Nordenfelt’s Welfare Theory of Health (WTH). The study used a questionnaire on health together with the Short Form 12-Item Health Survey (SF-12) questionnaire, and 490 pupils at colleges for adult education participated. The results of the study are in accordance with Nordenfelt’s WTH. Three hypotheses were stated, and the first was confirmed: People who were satisfied with life rated higher levels than those who were dissatisfied with life concerning both mental and physical health, measured with the SF-12. The second hypothesis was partially confirmed: People with high education were more often satisfied with life than those with low education, but they were not healthier. The third hypothesis, that women are unhealthy more often than men, was not confirmed. The questionnaire on health showed acceptable stability.