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Experiences of meaning in life in urban and rural Zambia
No full textMeaning in life has become an important topic in empirical research in the psychology of religion. Although it has been studied and found applicable in many different contexts, research on meaning in life and sources of meaning in African countries is scarce. This study qualitatively investigates understandings and experiences of meaning in life and sources of meaning among urban and village dwellers with different educational backgrounds in Zambia. Seven focus group interviews (total N=52) were conducted and analysed, drawing on Schnell’s model of meaning in life and sources of meaning. The results indicate that the concept of meaning in life is relevant to both urban and village dwellers in Zambia. Meaning experiences and sources of meaning are associated with certain life domains: relationships; religion; education and work; leisure activities; and health and survival. Each life domain includes several fundamental sources of meaning, which can be related to Schnell’s four dimensions of sources of meaning: self-transcendence, self-actualisation, order and well-being and relate.publishedVersio
Praksisfellesskap i endring i norsk grunnskole? Læreres erfaringer med tverrfaglig samarbeid om elevers faglige og sosiale mestring
Get PDFThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.Med bakgrunn i politiske og faglige føringer for styrket tverrfaglig samarbeid i skolen, var studiens hensikt å utforske læreres erfaringer forankret i et konkret endringsprosjekt hvor alle barne- og ungdomsskoler i en mellomstor norsk kommune utforsket samskapende prosesser for tverrfaglig samarbeid. Studiens mixed-methods-design omfattet nettskjema med kvantitative og kvalitative spørsmål knyttet til samarbeid om elevers faglige og sosiale mestring. Studiens resultat gir implikasjoner for videreutvikling av det nasjonale prosjektet Et lag rundt læreren. Resultatene synliggjør bredde i læreres samarbeidsrelasjoner, samt variasjon knyttet til fag- og kontaktlærers rolle og skolers varighet i prosjektet. Studiens resultat viser at økt tilstedeværelse og støtte fra pedagogisk-psykologisk tjeneste (PPT) og helsesykepleier i lærers skolehverdag og etablering av skolevise, tverrfaglige lag bidrar til praksisfellesskap med mer relevant støtte til elevers faglige og sosiale mestring. Studiens resultat drøftes i lys av systemteoretiske perspektiv. Tverrfaglig samarbeid utforskes som sosial støtte i læreres praksisfellesskap og som samskaping på system-nivå. Konklusjonen peker på utfordringer ved ulik tverrfaglig samarbeidspraksis mellom skoler og læreres meningsforhandlinger av prosjektets kunnskapsgrunnlag, noe som utfordrer ledelse av utviklingsarbeidet i prosjektet.publishedVersio
User participation through interest organisations: A qualitative study of representation, strategies and impact for people in vulnerable life situations
Get PDFAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission.This thesis explores collective user participation by focusing on interest organisations representing people in vulnerable life situations. In this thesis, collective user participation-or simply user participation-refers to activities where service users aim to affect the development of services provided by the welfare state. Service users' participation in developing better welfare services is a goal for service users, professionals and politicians and is anchored in legislation and national and supranational documents. However, user participation can be particularly challenging for people in vulnerable life situations, who may depend on support to participate or be represented by others. Hence, interest organisations are vital in promoting these groups' interests. With both collective user participation and interest organisations related to these groups having received little attention in research, the thesis provide new knowledge on these topics by focusing on representation, strategies and impact. The overarching research question in the thesis is as follows: How do representatives in interest organisations perceive user participation?
Paper l address the research following questions: How do people in vulnerable life situations participate in interest organisations? What are the dilemmas related to the representation of people in vulnerable life situations? The paper is based on interviews with 14 representatives of interest organisations. These people represented people with dementia, intellectual disabilities, substance use problems, asylum seekers, children in contact with the child protection service and children of parents with substance use problems. The thematic analysis resulted in the development of two main themes. The first, namely participation as representatives of the organisations, revealed that a spokesperson's role often depends on competence and that the users of public services rarely obtain such a position. However, people with experience in using public services participate as living examples in external activities, increasing the groups' visibility through their physical presence and their stories. The second theme was titled participation in organisational activities. The extent to which people with lived experiences participate in formal meetings varies, but they are often consulted by the organisations and attend events and informal gatherings. Notably, people in vulnerable situations interact with and, thus, influence the service-providing organisations.
Paper 2 addresses the following research question: How are interest organisations for people in vulnerable life situations influencing public actors, and what are the perceived impacts? The second paper is based on analysis from the same interviews as the first paper. In the analysis, three themes were developed related to how the informants described their organisations’ dealings with services, municipalities, politicians and other public actors. The cooperative strategy refers to participation as an arena for collaboration and partnership in which they assumingly would share interests and goals. The oppositional strategy shows how the participants would use open conflict and confrontation as a tool for influence, often through the media and complaint systems. The third strategy—negotiation—illustrates how organisations would manoeuvre between being critical and constructive while maintaining a relationship with public actors. Paper 3 addresses the following research question: What types of impact are associated with collective user participation for people in vulnerable life situations in the research literature? The paper is a scoping review of the research literature. The finding shows that, at the individual level, user participation could facilitate personal empowerment among the involved users and affect the involved professionals’ knowledge. However, some users also experienced disempowerment because of their involvement in user participation activities. Impacts at the organisational level were that user participation resulted in changes in attitudes, knowledge, culture, professional practice, interventions, an increased number of employees, organisational development and changes in policies. This thesis discusses how the participation of people in vulnerable life situations can be understood as direct, assisted, indirect and via others. It also addresses the terminology related to organisations representing people in vulnerable life situations. Here, I argue for describing them as interest organisations rather than service user organisations. Further, the thesis discusses how organisations manoeuvre in a landscape of power and tokenism. Finally, I discuss the challenges and opportunities to make and identify impacts associated with participation. The novel contribution of this thesis is that it provides new knowledge about user participation through interest organisations by focusing on representation, strategies and impacts concerning user participation for people in vulnerable life situations. Paper 2 addresses the following research question: How are interest organisations for people in vulnerable life situations influencing public actors, and what are the perceived impacts? The second paper is based on analysis from the same interviews as the first paper. In the analysis, three themes were developed related to how the informants described their organisations' dealings with services, municipalities, politicians and other public actors. The cooperative strategy refers to participation as an arena for collaboration and partnership in which they assumingly would share interests and goals. The oppositional strategy shows how the participants would use open conflict and confrontation as a tool for influence, often through the media and complaint systems. The third strategy-negotiation-illustrates how organisations would manoeuvre between being critical and constructive while maintaining a relationship with public actors.
Paper 3 addresses the following research question: What types of impact are associated with collective user participation for people in vulnerable life situations in the research literature? The paper is a scoping review of the research literature. The finding shows that, at the individual level, user participation could facilitate personal empowerment among the involved users and affect the involved professionals' knowledge. However, some users also experienced disempowerment because of their involvement in user participation activities. Impacts at the organisational level were that user participation resulted in changes in attitudes, knowledge, culture, professional practice, interventions, an increased number of employees, organisational development and changes in policies. This thesis discusses how the participation of people in vulnerable life situations can be understood as direct, assisted, indirect and via others. It also addresses the terminology related to organisations representing people in vulnerable life situations. Here, I argue for describing them as interest organisations rather than service user organisations. Further, the thesis discusses how organisations manoeuvre in a landscape of power and tokenism. Finally, I discuss the challenges and opportunities to make and identify impacts associated with participation. The novel contribution of this thesis is that it provides new knowledge about user participation through interest organisations by focusing on representation, strategies and impacts concerning user participation for people in vulnerable life situations.
Paper l: Gathen, J. M., Slettebø, T., & Skjeggestad, E. (2023). The participation of people in vulnerable situations in interest organisations: A qualitative study ofrepresentatives views. Journal of Social Policy, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279423000089
Paper II: Gathen, J. M., Slettebø, T., & Skjeggestad, E. (Submitted manuscript). Three strategies of user participation. Interest organisation representatives' views on how they make an impact on service development.
Paper III: Gathen, J. M., Slettebø, T., & Skjeggestad, E. (2022). User participation among people in vulnerable situations at service level. A scoping review exploring impact for individual stakeholders and services. Nordisk Välfårdsforskning [Nordic Welfare Research] 7(1), 52-67. https://doi.org/10.18261/nwr.7.1.4publishedVersio
Sexual health and quality of life in cancer survivors with pelvic radiation injuries
Get PDFBackground: Little knowledge exists on how late radiation tissue injuries (LRTIs) affect sexual health and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in pelvic cancer survivors. Objective: To explore sexual health and HRQOL in cancer survivors with pelvic LRTI.
Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, including 83 pelvic cancer survivors with LRTI. Data on sexual health, LTRIs, and HRQOL were collected by validated questionnaires, whereas medical variables were collected from medical records.
Results: Participants’ sexual health was severely impaired. Bowel and urinary LRTIs correlated with most of the symptoms of impaired sexual health (Pearson r = −0.241 to −0.376, P < .05–.01). Men and women reported different sexual challenges related to functional and symptomatic variables but not on the gender-neutral aspects of sexual health. Younger survivors, gynecological cancer survivors, or those who received external and internal radiation or additional chemotherapy reported significantly (P < .05–.001) higher levels of sexual impairment. Participants’ HRQOL was impaired. Several dimensions of sexual health correlated significantly (P < .05–.001) with the functional dimensions of reduced HRQOL.
Conclusion: Cancer survivors with pelvic LRTIs experience severely impaired sexual health across genders, with negative consequences for their HRQOL.
Implications for Practice: Healthcare professionals should include sexual health as an important part of individual patients’ health and HRQOL throughout their treatment trajectory and follow-up, by screening sexual health, implementing measures and interventions to promote sexual health, and supporting survivors’ coping and health-promoting strategies.publishedVersio
Physiotherapy in Norwegian nursing homes – a qualitative study of physioterapists’ experiences
No full textHensikt: Studien belyser hvilke erfaringer fysioterapeuter har med å gi fysioterapibehandling til beboere med langtidsopphold i norske sykehjem, og hvordan fysioterapeutene er involvert i behandlingen av beboere i livets sluttfase.
Design, materiale og metode: Artikkelen er basert på eksplorerende kvalitative intervjuer med seks fysioterapeuter som jobber i sykehjem. Intervjuene var semistrukturerte og datamaterialet ble analysert med systematisk tekstkondensering.
Funn: Deltakerne inntar i stor grad en tradisjonell fysioterapeutrolle med fokus på trening. De anerkjenner at fysioterapeuter har kunnskap og ferdigheter som er relevante for beboerne i livets sluttfase, men er i liten grad involvert i det tverrfaglige teamet rundt den døende.
Konklusjon: Fysioterapeutene som jobber i langtidsavdelinger i sykehjem bruker mesteparten av arbeidstiden sin på tradisjonell fysioterapi. De er ikke er involvert i lindrende behandling og omsorg i livets sluttfase, men mener at de har relevant kunnskap - og således er en ubrukt ressurs. Mangelen på fysioterapeuter i det tverrfaglige palliative teamet er et resultat av at fysioterapeutene selv ikke gir uttrykk for at de ønsker å bidra, samtidig som leger og sykepleiere ikke etterspør deres kunnskap på dette området. Organiseringen av fysioterapitjenesten i sykehjem ser også ut til å kunne påvirke det tverrfaglige samarbeidet.publishedVersio
Norske misjonærer i møte med boliviansk kultur og samfunn : En kvalitativ studie av faktorer som har konsekvenser for integrering
Get PDFMaster's thesis MIKA. VID Specialized University, Stavanger, May 2023Denne oppgaven handler om faktorer som påvirker norske misjonærers integrering i Bolivia. Den er basert på fem intervjuer av misjonærer som var misjonærer for Misjonssambandet, NLM, i Bolivia. Oppgaven belyser både faktorer som var viktige før flytting, i startfasen og deretter den påfølgende tiden.
Hovedlitteraturen jeg har brukt i studien omtaler spesifikt hvordan kristne misjonærer kan tilpasse seg og arbeide i en ny kultur. Viktige teoretiske begreper som tas opp i oppgaven er tilpasning, integrering, og kultursjokk.
I oppgaven har jeg kommet fram til at faktorer før man ankommer landet, opplevelsen av å være ledet til oppgaven av Gud, samt år med forberedelser som inkluderer innføring i interkulturell kompetanse hadde positive konsekvenser både for å dempe det mye omtalte kultursjokket, for å ta språklæring på alvor, og for å være nysgjerrige og utholdende både når man skulle stifte nye bekjentskap og når man skulle forstå hvordan en kultur og et samfunn fungerer. Studien viser også hvordan sunne holdninger og idealisme er viktige for å fortsette når motivasjon daler og man kan kjenne på frustrasjon.
I studien blir det igjen bekreftet viktigheten av å beherske språket godt for å kunne lykkes med integrering. Det argumenteres for hvorfor en omfattende og kanskje kostbar språklæring kan være en verdifull investering.
I studien leser vi om vennskap og relasjoner som etableres mellom mennesker med svært ulik bakgrunn og forutsetninger. Det kommer fram at det å få kontakt med mennesker i en ny kultur var ganske enkelt, men at det kunne være krevende å utvikle dyp fortrolighet i relasjonene. Tid man tilbragte sammen løftes fram som den viktigste faktoren for dype relasjoner. Viktigheten av å møte menneskene med respekt og åpenhet viser seg også å ha vært avgjørende.
Misjonærene som er intervjuet i oppgaven valgte å leve med en høyere standard enn mange av menneskene de jobbet blant, de var likevel velvillige til å prøve all type mat, jobbe under krevende hygieniske forhold, og godtok hardt arbeid og lange gåturer til fots. Dette var deres svar på en måte å innpasses på. Det å skulle leve et enkelt og primitivt liv stilles det i oppgaven spørsmål ved om ville blitt oppfattet som falskt og lite hensiktsmessig.This thesis is about factors that affected the integration of Norwegian missionaries in Bolivia. It is based on five interviews with missionaries who were missionaries for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission, NLM, in Bolivia. The thesis illuminates both factors that were important before moving, in the initial phase and then the following time.
The main literature I have used in the study specifically mentions how Christian missionaries can adapt and work in a new culture. Important theoretical concepts that are taken up in the thesis are adaptation, integration, and culture shock.
In the thesis, I have come to the conclusion that factors before arriving in the country, the experience of being led to the task by God, as well as years of preparation that include the introduction of intercultural competence had positive consequences both for mitigating the much-discussed culture shock, for taking language learning seriously, and to be curious and persistent both when making new acquaintances and when understanding how a culture and society works. The study also shows how healthy attitudes and idealism are important to continue when motivation drops and you can feel frustration.
The study once again confirms the importance of having a good command of the language in order to succeed in integration. It is argued why extensive and perhaps expensive language learning can be a valuable investment.
In the study, we read about friendships and relationships that are established between people with very different backgrounds and assumptions. It emerges that making contact with people in a new culture was quite easy, but that it could be demanding to develop deep familiarity in the relationships. Time spent together is highlighted as the most important factor for deep relationships. The importance of meeting people with respect and openness also turns out to have been decisive.
The missionaries interviewed in the thesis chose to live with a higher standard than many of the people they worked among, they were nevertheless willing to try all types of food, work under demanding hygienic conditions, and accepted hard work and long walks on foot. This was their response in a way to fit in. Living a simple and primitive life is questioned in the thesis as to whether it would be perceived as false and not appropriate.submittedVersio
Ivaretakelse av terapeuten. En kvalitativ IPA-studie av terapeuter ansatt i familievernet sin opplevelse av hva som beskytter dem og virker ivaretakende i deres arbeidshverdag
Get PDFHensikten med denne kvalitative studien har vært å utvide forståelsen av hvilke faktorer som kan virke beskyttende og ivaretakende i terapeuters arbeid, i en kontekst av familievernet.
Studien har følgende problemstilling: Hvilke faktorer opplever terapeutene at beskytter dem og virker ivaretakende i deres arbeidshverdag?
For å belyse problemstillingen har jeg intervjuet fire terapeuter ansatt på ulike familievernkontorer, som har jobbet henholdsvis, 10, 12, 15 og 33 år i samme stilling, og som ikke har vært langtidssykmeldte grunnet arbeidssituasjonen. Funnene er beskrevet etter gjennomføring av fire semistrukturerte intervjuer, og analysert med hjelp av Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Ut fra dette analysearbeidet endte jeg opp med fire hovedkategorier, som med sine tilhørende underkategorier belyser studiens problemstilling. Materialet er drøftet opp mot tidligere forskning og teori.
Funnene indikerer en vesentlig betydning av fokus på beskyttende faktorer, og anerkjennelse av sårbarheten i terapeutyrket. Studien løfter frem behovet for ivaretakelse på flere ulike nivå, og betydningen av dette for den enkelte terapeut, kollegiet og for klientene. For studiens terapeuter, er de mest betydningsfulle faktorene deres evne til grensesetting, planmessighet, evne til selvmedfølelse og deres sterke opplevelse av mening i arbeidet. Men også deres fokus på faglig utvikling, deres gode relasjoner og bevissthet rundt helhetlige helse og kroppslig ivaretakelse; med et spesielt fokus på pustens betydning.
Studien kan bidra til å kaste lys på og øke bevisstheten rundt det å forebygge, samt inneha et fokus på å gjennom beskyttelsesfaktorer bygge opp motstandskraft til å tåle belastninger og balansere omsorg for andre og omsorg for en selv
Quality of life in Norwegian pregnant women and men with pregnant partners, and association with perception of sleep and depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional study
Get PDFBackground: Pregnant women and men with pregnant partners experience variations in quality of life (QoL) during pregnancy, a period characterized by physical, psychological, and social changes. Pregnancy is associated with reduced QoL, depressive symptoms, and sleep problems. This study aimed to: (1) determine whether Norwegian pregnant women and men with pregnant partners differed in QoL levels in the third trimester of pregnancy; (2) determine whether the relationship between perception of sleep and QoL is moderated by depressive symptoms, when analyzed separately in pregnant women and men with pregnant partners; and (3) determine whether selected possible predictive factors were associated with QoL when stratified by level of depressive symptoms, in pregnant women and men with pregnant partners separately.
Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted between October 2018 and January 2020 included 228 pregnant women and 197 men with pregnant partners in the third trimester of pregnancy. The age range was 22–50 years. QoL was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire brief version, depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and perception of sleep by a single item. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 28 using descriptive statistics, the PROCESS macro for moderation analyses, and multivariate linear regression. The level of statistical significance was p < 0.05.
Results: Pregnant women reported significantly lower QoL scores on the physical health and psychological domains than the men with pregnant partners. Our data did not reveal any moderating effect of depressive symptoms on the relationship between the perception of sleep and QoL. Depressive symptoms in the pregnant women were found to be a significant predictor of lower QoL in all domains. In the men with pregnant partners, getting enough sleep was a significant predictor of higher QoL in all domains. In the pregnant women without depressive symptoms, higher QoL in the physical health domain was significantly associated with the perception of getting enough sleep.
Conclusion: Women in the final trimester of pregnancy experience poor QoL compared to the men with pregnant partners. Pregnant women with depressive symptoms have lower QoL compared to those without depressive symptoms. The perception of getting enough sleep was associated with better QoL.publishedVersio
Kombinasjonsklasser - En god læringsarena for å lykkes?
Get PDFMaster's thesis MIKA. VID Specialized University, Stavanger, May 2023Denne masteroppgaven tar for seg hvordan ungdommer med kort botid i Norge opplever og har opplevd å gå i kombinasjonsklasser i videregående skole, og hvordan lærere opplever og har opplevd å undervise denne elevgruppen. Gjennom kvalitative intervjuer har jeg intervjuet lærere og elever fra to skoler i to fylker i Norge. Formålet med denne undersøkelsen er å belyse kombinasjonsklasser som læringsarena sett fra lærere og elevers perspektiver, og følgende problemstilling ble valgt: Hvordan kan kombinasjonsklassene bidra til at elever med kort botid i Norge gjennomfører og består videregående skole?
Utgangspunktet for denne studien var egne erfaringer fra undervisning av elever med kort botid. Jeg har undervist i barne- og ungdomsskole, videregående skole og i voksenopplæring. Jeg har møtt flere frustrerte elever og lærere fra egen arbeidskontekst som opplever og har opplevd skolehverdagen som krevende. Gjennom denne studien har jeg fått muligheten til å lese tidligere forskning og teori om emnet, møte intervjupersoner og få deres beskrivelser og perspektiver fra kombinasjonsklasser. Analysen er ikke representativ, fordi hver enkelt av intervjupersonene har ulik bakgrunn og ulike opplevelser, men jeg har fått muligheten til å få frem deres individuelle stemme samtidig som jeg har sett noen fellestrekk ved deres opplevelser.
Funn fra datamaterialet viser at elever med kort botid har store utfordringer i videregående skole. Elevenes individuelle «mangler» i møte med det norske skolesystemet gjør utdanningsløpet ekstra krevende for denne elevgruppen. Tidligere forskning og teori viser at minoritetselevers utfordringer er større og mer omfattende enn majoritetselevenes. Gjennom drøfting av teori og funn har jeg forsøkt å belyse problemstillinger og utfordringer, men også positive aspekter fra skolehverdagen i kombinasjonsklasserThis master's thesis examines how young people with a short period of residence in Norway experience and have experienced going to combination classes in upper secondary school, and how teachers experience and have experienced teaching this group of students. Through qualitative interviews I have interviewed teachers and students from two schools in two counties in Norway. The purpose of this investigation is to shed light on combination classes as a learning arena from the perspectives of teachers and students, and the following research question was chosen: How can combination classes contribute to students with a short stay in Norway completing and passing upper secondary school?
The starting point for this study was my own experiences from teaching pupils with short periods of residence in Norway. I have taught in primary and secondary school, upper secondary school and education for adults. I have met several frustrated students and teachers from my own work context, who experience and have experienced everyday school life as demanding. Through this study, I have had the opportunity to read previous research and theory on the subject, meet interviewees and get their descriptions and perspectives from combination classes. The analysis is not representative, because each of the interviewees has a different background and different experiences, but I have been given the opportunity to bring out their individual voices while at the same time seeing some common features in their experiences.
Findings from the data show that students with a short period of residence have major challenges in upper secondary school. The student's individual "shortcomings" in dealing with the Norwegian school system make the course of education extra demanding for this group of students. Previous research and theory show that minority pupils' challenges are greater and more extensive than those of majority pupils. Through discussion of theory and findings, I have tried to shed light on issues and challenges, but also positive aspects from everyday school life in combination classes.submittedVersio
Holding and professional care: On self-determination for persons with profound and intellectual and multiple disabilities
Get PDFPersons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PMID) are in danger of not being granted the human right to experience self-determination. Attitudes questioning the relevance of the rights of persons with significant support needs and a lack of guidance on how to practically go about ensuring selfdetermination might explain this. Providing knowledge about this matter, this article contributes through an ethnography highlighting the relationship between persons with PIMD and professionals. The concept of holding another’s identity was found to be a possible, fruitful approach toward self-determination in this context. Descriptions of holding dialogues with an ethics of care suggest specific conditions for moving practices toward self-determination: recognize the role of the professional, emphasize embodied empathy, and enable involvement. The ethnography suggests a broadened understanding of self-determination, pinpointing the importance of sensitivity toward the other’s particularity.publishedVersio