Barneansvarliges rolle, knyttet til barn som er pårørende til foreldre med psykiske lidelser – en fenomenografisk studie

Child-responsible role, related to children as caregivers of parents with mental illness – a phenomenographic studyChildren as caregivers of parents with mental disorders are a vulnerable group. They have been invisible to service providers until recent years. These children have an increased risk of developing behavioral problems and impaired psychosocial functioning. In 2010, law amendments require that special health have child-responsible personnel, to ensure children and their families proper measures. There is little knowledge of how this role works. The purpose of this study is to uncover the perceptions child-responsible personnel have of their own role.The study is qualitative with a phenomenographic approach. Child-responsible personell have a special interest in working with young caregivers. They act as "watchdog" for colleagues and they provide guidance for parents. Follow-up of children is random where responsibilities are added to therapists. Child-responsible personnel collaborate with municipality, and public health nurse is specifically mentioned. There is still a way to go before the role works as intended

Barneansvarliges rolle, knyttet til barn som er pårørende til foreldre med psykiske lidelser – en fenomenografisk studie

This is an Open Access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) and originally published in Nordisk tidsskrift for helseforskning. You can access the article by following this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/14.3771Dette er en vitenskapelig, fagfellevurdert artikkel som opprinnelig ble publisert i Nordisk tidsskrift for helseforskning. Artikkelen er publisert under lisensen Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC BY 3.0). Du kan også få tilgang til artikkelen ved å følge denne lenken: http://dx.doi.org/10.7557/14.3771Children as caregivers of parents with mental disorders are a vulnerable group. They have been invisible to service providers until recent years. These children have an increased risk of developing behavioral problems and impaired psychosocial functioning. In 2010, law amendments require that special health have child-responsible personnel, to ensure children and their families proper measures. There is little knowledge of how this role works. The purpose of this study is to uncover the perceptions child-responsible personnel have of their own role.The study is qualitative with a phenomenographic approach. Child-responsible personell have a special interest in working with young caregivers. They act as "watchdog" for colleagues and they provide guidance for parents. Follow-up of children is random where responsibilities are added to therapists. Child-responsible personnel collaborate with municipality, and public health nurse is specifically mentioned. There is still a way to go before the role works as intende

Public health nurses’ experiences working with children who are next of kin: a qualitative study

Background There are a substantial number of children who are the next of kin of parents suffering from illness or substance abuse. These children can experience emotional and behavioral problems and may need support from professionals. In Norway, the specialist health service in hospitals is required to have a designated practitioner in each department to ensure support for and follow up of children who are next of kin; however, this is not regulated by law in the health care in the municipalities. The aim of this study was to explore public health nurse’s experiences working with children who are next of kin. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 public health nurses working in the child health clinic and the school health service in four municipalities. Data were analysed using content analysis. Reporting of this study is conducted in accordance to COREQ’s checklist. Results The analysis resulted in one main theme: ‘Lack of guidelines and routines among public health nurses working with children who are next of kin’. The main theme consisted of four categories: (1) identifying children who are next of kin are incidental; (2) public health nurses must be observant and willing to act; (3) communication is an important tool; and (4) follow up over time is not always provided. Conclusion The public health nurses experienced uncertainty concerning how to identify and follow up children who are next of kin but were vigilant and willing to act in the children’s best interest. Doing so necessitated collaboration with other professionals. The need for guidelines around the role and responsibilities for the public health nurse were emphasized. The knowledge provided by the current study offers valuable insight into strengths and limitations in the support of children who are next of kin and can inform stakeholders in organizing sustainable support for this group.publishedVersio

Unge jenters oppfatning av hvordan stress påvirker kroppen deres en fenomenografisk studie

Målet med denne studien er å undersøke hvilke oppfatninger unge jenter har av hvordan stress påvirker kroppene deres. Blant jenter har det vært en økning av psykiske helseplager. De rapporterer mer stress og fysiske helseplager enn gutter. Studien er kvalitativ med en fenomenografisk tilnærming. Det ble gjennomført 23 individuelle intervjuer av jenter mellom 15 og 18 år. Utvalget var strategisk valgt. Stress, når det gjelder eksterne og interne krav, påvirker jentenes kropper og uttrykkes som smerte, ubehag og misnøye med kroppen. Jentene ignorerer eller merker ikke kroppssignalene. De forsømmer egen kropp og dens behov. Gjentatte vaner kan føre til ytterligere stress og ubehag som kan føre til psykisk lidelse.publishedVersio

Norwegian public health nurses’ competence areas

Objective: To explore the competence areas of public health nurses in Norway. Design: A qualitative and comparative design was employed. Sample: A purposive sample of 41 public health nurses participated. Measurements: Data were gathered from focus groups and individual interviews. The interviews centered around an open question about public health nurses’ knowledge. They also discussed 10 proposed competence areas for public health nursing, developed from the literature. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts, followed by a synthesis of the data from the interviews and earlier developed competencies. The 10 competence areas for Norwegian public health nursing were then refined. Finally, we compared the affirmed competence areas with earlier developed cornerstones and the new educational guidelines. Results: The interviews revealed 10 competence areas. These 10 competence areas were synthesized with the 10 proposed competencies from literature. Ten affirmed competence areas, which mostly corresponded with the competences from literature, were developed. The affirmed competencies were supported by the previously developed cornerstones and new educational guidelines. Conclusions: The affirmed competencies will help promote and explain the content and focus of PHNs’ work in Norway and may have implications for education and international research.publishedVersio

Psychotropic drug use among 0-17 year olds during 2004-2014: a nationwide prescription database study

This is an Open Access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) and originally published in BMC Psychiatry. You can access the article by following this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12876-016-0446-zDette er en vitenskapelig, fagfellevurdert artikkel som opprinnelig ble publisert i BMC Psychiatry. Artikkelen er publisert under lisensen Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC BY 3.0). Du kan også få tilgang til artikkelen ved å følge denne lenken: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12876-016-0446-zBackground Time-trend studies on psychotropic drugs among children and adolescents are scarce, and most of them are outdated. The purpose of this study was to study prevalences of psychotropic drug use during 2004–2014 among Norwegians aged <18 years, overall and in psychotropic sub-groups. Methods Data were obtained from the Norwegian Prescription Database, which covers all dispensed prescription drugs in Norway from 2004 and onwards. Psychotropic drugs included: antipsychotics (ATC-group N05A), anxiolytics (N05B), hypnotic/sedatives (N05C), antidepressants (N06A), stimulants (N06BA), and alimemazine (R06AD01). Period (1-year) prevalence of use, overall and in subgroups of psychotropic drugs, was estimated by identifying individuals <18 years who had at least one psychotropic drug dispensed during each year. Results Psychotropic drug use increased in 0–17 year olds over an 11-year period, in which the main contributing drugs were stimulants (boys overall; 15.0 to 20.8/1000, girls overall; 3.8 to 8.5/1000), hypnotic/sedative drugs in adolescents (boys overall; 4.2 to 10.8/1000, girls overall; 2.6 to 8.8/1000) and to some extent antidepressants among adolescent girls (girls overall from 3.1 to 4.0/1000). Psychotropic drug use was, however, reduced by half in the youngest children, attributed to reduction of alimemazine only (1-year olds: boys; from 36.6 to 10.2/1000, girls; 26.9 to 7.2/1000). A higher level of psychotropic drug use was observed among younger boys, but there is a shift towards girls using more psychotropic drugs than boys during adolescence for all psychotropic drugs except for stimulants. Conclusion Different trends in psychotropic drug use exist in age and gender subgroups. Psychotropic drug use has decreased among the youngest children, attributed to alimemazine, and increased in older children and adolescents, attributed mainly to stimulants and hypnotics/sedatives

Facilitation of Employability for Maternity and Parental Leavers in Europe: A Scoping Review

This report presents the findings of an European project concerning facilitation of employability for parental leavers in European countries. The conclusions and recommendations in this report build on comparisons of relevant European policy documents, country nates from five European countries (France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovakia) and a search in relevant databases. Taken together, these data form an approximate scoping review - to map a wide range of literature. Both the concepts of maternal and parental leave are used in the present report. Research related to leave in connection with young children use the term maternity leave until the last decades where more frequent parental leave is used. We are aware that a distinction between parental and maternity leave does not apply in same countries. A main finding is that parental leave and employability is a complex and context sensitive area. This relates to the fact that parental leave must be seen in connection with both individual, organisational, cultural, historical and political (legislative) issues on both national and European level. In this study, the focus has been mainly descriptive on the political (legislative) level, while a more interpretative analysis is made on how to develop tools and educational programs concerning development of employability skills relevant for parental leavers and employers. Analysis of the situation regarding parental leavers' employment in the partner countries shows that maternal employment in France, Slovakia and Hungary is rather low. Although, in Hungary there are networks which provide special counselling for women and support them when it comes to their (re)integration into the labour market. In Western Europe, such as the Netherlands and Norway, the situation is more favourable, employers are more flexible and part-time job is a frequent option offered. However, the up-to-date level of skills of parental leavers coming back to work may be a challenge in these countries too. The duration and generosity of paid parental leave seems to affect when (after what time) parents return to work. The period of leave cannot be too short, nor too long. The optimal length of the leave varies greatly depending on national conditions and cultural frameworks. In any case, it should not be so long that the parental leavers become uninteresting for the labour market and lose working competence (Kalb, 2018; Whitehouse, Romaniuk, Lucas & Nicholson, 2013).This project has been funded with support from the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission

Mental Distress and Psychotropic Drug Use among Young People, and Public Health Nurses` Conceptions of Their Roles

Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to study mental distress, health and lifestyle habits, social factors and psychotropic drug use by young people, and how PHNs conceive their roles in relation to this. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Study I included data  from the Norwegian Youth Health Study (NYHS, 11 620 participants, aged 15-16 years) (2000–2003) linked to the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD) (2004–2009). Study II included prescription data on psychotropic drugs among 15-16 year olds from the NorPD (2006–2010). Eight young people were interviewed and qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data (III). Study IV included interviews with 20 Public Health Nurses (PHN), and was analysed using a phenomenographic approach. Main results: Mental distress was reported among 15.5% of the adolescents non-users of psychotropic drugs, 75% of whom were girls. In both genders reporting mental distress, incident psychotropic use was higher one to nine years, up to 27.7% among girls, as compared with the rest of the participants. In addition, health, lifestyle habits and social factors were associated with incident use (I). Psychotropic drug use increased during 2006–2010, hypnotics and melatonin accounted for most of the increase. In total, 16.4% of all incident psychotropic drug users in 2007 were still having prescriptions dispensed in 2010 (II). Young people experience both beneficial and undesired effects from psychotropic drugs. Access to professional support and follow-up was experienced as insufficient. Life with family, friends, school and work was influenced by psychotropic drug use, and they were afraid of being lonely and stigmatized (III). The PHNs conceived their roles in relation to young people as; the discovering PHNs who became aware of psychotropic drug use in the health dialogues and chose either to act or not to act in relation to this. Those PHNs who took action continued to be the cooperating PHNs who cooperated with the young people, their families, schools, and others. If cooperation was established, the supporting PHNs teach and support the young people in relation to psychotropic drug use (IV). Conclusions: Attention must be paid to poor mental health and increasing psychotropic drug use by young people. Advances in knowledge, treatment and follow-up are needed. The prevalence of mental distress among young people, with differences between the genders, as well as between socioeconomic groups, should have consequences for health promotion strategies. PHNs in Norway, working in health centres and schools, have responsibility and opportunity to identify and follow-up young people with mental health problems.Baksidestext International studies indicate an increase in mental distress and psychotropic drug use among young people. In this thesis mental distress is reported among 15.5 % of the young people. Of those reporting mental distress 75 % were girls. One quarter of the girls reporting mental distress at 15-16 years of age was incident users of psychotropic drugs one to nine years later. Psychotropic drug use, increase among young people, particularly hypnotic drugs. The young people experience beneficial and undesired effects of the psychotropic drugs. They miss out on professional availability and follow-up, and experience negative reactions related to their psychotropic drug use by their significant others. The public health nurse who discovers psychotropic drug use among young people chooses either to act or not to act in relation to this. Those who choose to act continue to cooperate with the young people and others. An established cooperation was followed by a public health nurse who supports and teaches the young people. The prevalence of mental distress, with a high frequency of initiation of psychotropic drug use among young people should have consequences for health promotion in the school health service. Public health nurses, working in health centers and schools, have a responsibility to promote health and prevent health problems. They have the responsibility and opportunity to identify young people struggling with mental health problems and psychotropic drug use as well as teach and support significant others

Barneansvarliges rolle, knyttet til barn som er pårørende til foreldre med psykiske lidelser – en fenomenografisk studie

Children as caregivers of parents with mental disorders are a vulnerable group. They have been invisible to service providers until recent years. These children have an increased risk of developing behavioral problems and impaired psychosocial functioning. In 2010, law amendments require that special health have child-responsible personnel, to ensure children and their families proper measures. There is little knowledge of how this role works. The purpose of this study is to uncover the perceptions child-responsible personnel have of their own role.The study is qualitative with a phenomenographic approach. Child-responsible personell have a special interest in working with young caregivers. They act as "watchdog" for colleagues and they provide guidance for parents. Follow-up of children is random where responsibilities are added to therapists. Child-responsible personnel collaborate with municipality, and public health nurse is specifically mentioned. There is still a way to go before the role works as intende

Unge jenters oppfatning av hvordan stress påvirker kroppen deres en fenomenografisk studie

Målet med denne studien er å undersøke hvilke oppfatninger unge jenter har av hvordan stress påvirker kroppene deres. Blant jenter har det vært en økning av psykiske helseplager. De rapporterer mer stress og fysiske helseplager enn gutter. Studien er kvalitativ med en fenomenografisk tilnærming. Det ble gjennomført 23 individuelle intervjuer av jenter mellom 15 og 18 år. Utvalget var strategisk valgt. Stress, når det gjelder eksterne og interne krav, påvirker jentenes kropper og uttrykkes som smerte, ubehag og misnøye med kroppen. Jentene ignorerer eller merker ikke kroppssignalene. De forsømmer egen kropp og dens behov. Gjentatte vaner kan føre til ytterligere stress og ubehag som kan føre til psykisk lidelse