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Nursing approaches to self-care, self-management, and adaptation to illness encompass diverse strategies aimed at enhancing patient well-being and empowering chronic condition management. The BMC Nursing collection “Nursing Approaches to Self-Care, Self-Management, and Adaptation to Illness” invites research advancing knowledge and care quality in these areas.

Lifestyle programs are effective in improving the health of persons living with severe mental illness. However, the implementation of these programs and making them a sustainable part of daily care remain challenging. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to describe how staff worked with and experienced a lifestyle program in a municipality mental health care setting over time. The program intended to support persons living with severe mental illness to overcome health challenges. Data was collected at three time points spanning 7 years. The staff motivated the participants with SMI with severe mental illness to take part in the program, prepared them, and gave them individualized lifestyle support. A key factor of the program's implementation was the staff's interest and engagement in lifestyle questions. According to the staff it was apparent that small efforts such as running the present program could give synergic health effects such as improved mental- and social health. This study shows that it is feasible to conduct this lifestyle program in ordinary care without considerable resources. However, support from management is crucial, as well as the development of guidelines and routines of the work with lifestyle questions.

Introduction: Acoustic noise from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can cause hearing loss and needs to be mitigated to ensure the safety of patients and personnel. Capturing MR personnel's insights is crucial for guiding the development and future applications of noise-reduction technology. This study aimed to explore how MR radiographers manage acoustic noise in clinical MR settings.

Methods: Using a qualitative design, we conducted semi-structured individual interviews with fifteen MR radiographers from fifteen hospitals around Sweden. We focused on the clinical implications of participants’ noise management, using an interpretive description approach. We also identified sociotechnical interactions between People, Environment, Tools, and Tasks (PETT) by adopting a Human Factors/Ergonomics framework. Interview data were analyzed inductively with thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke).

Results: The analysis generated three main themes regarding MR radiographers’ noise management: (I) Navigating Occupational Noise: Risk Management and Adaptation; (II) Protecting the Patient and Serving the Exam, and (III) Establishing a Safe Healthcare Environment with Organizational Support.

Conclusion: This study offers insights into radiographers’ experiences of managing acoustic noise within MRI, and the associated challenges. Radiographers have adopted multiple strategies to protect patients and themselves from adverse noise-related effects. However, they require tools and support to manage this effectively, suggesting a need for organizations to adopt more proactive, holistic approaches to safety initiatives.

Implications for practice: The radiographers stressed the importance of a soundproofed work environment to minimize occupational adverse health effects and preserve work performance. They acknowledge noise as a common contributor to patient distress and discomfort. Providing options like earplugs, headphones, mold putty, software-optimized “quiet” sequences, and patient information were important tools. Fostering a safety culture requires proactive safety efforts and support from colleagues and management.

Asthma symptoms and experiences of dyspnea challenge participation in physical activity (PA). Therefore, in-depth understanding of experiences with PA is essential. In this meta-ethnography, we synthesized published qualitative studies of experiences of children and adolescents with asthma that influenced, or limited, participation in PA. We followed Noblit and Hare's 7 phases of meta-ethnography. We searched relevant databases by December 18, 2023 for published peer-reviewed studies (Medline (OVID), Embase (OVID), PsycINFO (OVID), CINAHL (EBSCHOhost), SPORTDiscus (EBSCHOhost), SocINDEX (EBSCHOhost), and Social Science Citation Index (WoS)) and theses (ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source, ProQuest Healthcare Administration Database, and ProQuest Public Health Database). We conducted study selection and assessment of methodological quality and data extraction using Joanna Briggs Institute’s methodology. Sixteen reciprocally related qualitative studies, representing experiences of 238 children and adolescents aged 4 to 18 years were included. We translated primary study concepts and findings into 3 themes covering relationships with others, emotions, and behaviors related to PA participation: (1) feeling related to and connected with friends and family in PA; (2) acquiring and managing new PA and asthma skills; and (3) enjoying PA and experiencing well-being. We also defined 3 themes covering aspects related to PA limitations: (4) feeling misunderstood and penalized in relation to PA; (5) experiencing nervousness, embarrassment, shame, and sadness during PA; and (6) withdrawing from PA due to asthma, environment, and/or socially imposed attitudes. The themes were synthesized into the following lines of argument: children and adolescents with asthma experience that PA enforces empathic/non-empathic relationships, vulnerability, and awareness; PA enhances resilient participation and well-being, or reinforces resignment to isolation and shame. From the outset of either relatedness or being penalized, youngsters with asthma either manage well and experience well-being, or experience shame and withdrawal.

Registration: PROSPERO No. 164797

Medical-technological advances and neurodevelopmental care have improved the survival of extremely- and very-low-birthweight infants born before 32 weeks' gestation. After months in neonatal care, the infants are discharged, and parents exited but full of anxiety. This review is designed as a meta-ethnography, addressing parents' discharge experiences to comprehend the synthesised research, which includes 12 eligible studies. From the analysis, we constructed three themes: ‘approaching discharge with both uncertainty and confidence’; ‘discharge as a longed-for though disordering turning point’; and ‘facing joys, worries and multiple challenges when at home’. The overarching interpretation was ‘discharge as double-edged sword’. We conclude that bringing home very-low-birthweight infants is a joyful event, yet parents also experience discharge as never-endingly worrying, as a time filled with challenges to which parents must adapt and as necessitating continuous support from knowledgeable providers.

Background: Qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) is an emerging methodology used in health research. The method literature states that the change in a phenomenon through time should be the focus of any QLR study, but in empirical studies, the analysis of changes through time is often poorly described, and the emphasis on time/change in the findings varies greatly. This inconsistency might depend on limitations in the existing method literature in terms of describing how QLR studies can present findings. The aim of this study was to develop and describe a typology of alternative approaches for integrating time and/or change in QLR findings.

Methods: In this method study, we used an adapted scoping review design. Articles were identified using EBSCOhost. In total, methods and results sections from 299 QLR articles in the field of health research were analyzed with inspiration from content analysis.

Results: We constructed a typology of three types and seven subtypes. The types were based on the underlying structural principles of how time/change was presented: Type A) Findings have a low utilization of longitudinal data, Type B) Findings are structured according to chronological time, and Type C) Findings focus on changes through time. These types differed in 1) the way the main focus was on time, change or neither; 2) the level of interpretation in the findings; and 3) how theoretical understandings of time/change were articulated in the articles. Each type encompassed two or three subtypes that represented distinct approaches to the aim and results presentation of QLR findings.

Conclusions: This method study is the first to describe a coherent and comprehensive typology of alternative approaches for integrating time/change into QLR findings in health research. By providing examples of various subtypes that can be used for results presentations, it can help researchers make informed decisions suitable to their research intent.

Background: Lack of routines and competence among healthcare professionals have been reported as barriers to COPD management in long-term care. Online education could be used as a strategy to make COPD education more accessible.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate a digital COPD education program for healthcare professionals in long-term care regarding feasibility, knowledge and working procedures.

Methods: A randomized controlled feasibility trial with a convergent mixed methods design was conducted. Two municipalities in Sweden were randomized to intervention (n=20) or control (n=17). The intervention was a digital COPD education program accessible for three months. Data was collected through questionnaires on COPD-specific knowledge, conceptual knowledge, feasibility and usage of the COPD Web platform. Repeated individual interviews using a semi-structured interview guide was also performed. Quantitative and qualitative findings were merged using a mixed methods design.

Results: The digital COPD education program appears feasible based on the expressed satisfaction of the healthcare workers and their reports that it supported them in their work. Across questionnaires, objective COPD-specific knowledge increased by 14 to 16 percentage points in the intervention group compared to 0 to 6 percentage points in the control group (p=0.001). The objective increase in COPD-specific knowledge was also captured in the interviews, where a perceived increase in knowledge led to increased security and focus on COPD management. Few changes in working procedures were expressed, but participants felt that attention was raised regarding COPD and the importance of preventive healthcare services. In addition, increased knowledge of healthcare services provided by other involved professions was emphasized, leading to discussions with other professions in relation to COPD management. 

Conclusion: A digital COPD education program is feasible and can increase the COPD-specific knowledge of healthcare professionals in long-term care, leading to increased focus on COPD-related issues. More comprehensive measures, including organizational changes, might be needed to change working procedures.

Purpose: To select and scale items for the seven domains of the Patient-Reported Inventory of Self-Management of Chronic Conditions (PRISM-CC) and assess its construct validity.

Methods: Using an online survey, data on 100 potential items, and other variables for assessing construct validity, were collected from 1055 adults with one or more chronic health conditions. Based on a validated conceptual model, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response models (IRT) were used to select and scale potential items and assess the internal consistency and structural validity of the PRISM-CC. To further assess construct validity, hypothesis testing of known relationships was conducted using structural equation models.

Results: Of 100 potential items, 36 (4–8 per domain) were selected, providing excellent fit to our hypothesized correlated factors model and demonstrating internal consistency and structural validity of the PRISM-CC. Hypothesized associations between PRISM-CC domains and other measures and variables were confirmed, providing further evidence of construct validity.

Conclusion: The PRISM-CC overcomes limitations of assessment tools currently available to measure patient self-management of chronic health conditions. This study provides strong evidence for the internal consistency and construct validity of the PRISM-CC as an instrument to assess patient-reported difficulty in self-managing different aspects of daily life with one or more chronic conditions. Further research is needed to assess its measurement equivalence across patient attributes, ability to measure clinically important change, and utility to inform self-management support.

Background: Qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) comprises qualitative studies, with repeated data collection, that focus on the temporality (e.g., time and change) of a phenomenon. The use of QLR is increasing in health research since many topics within health involve change (e.g., progressive illness, rehabilitation). A method study can provide an insightful understanding of the use, trends and variations within this approach. The aim of this study was to map how QLR articles within the existing health research literature are designed to capture aspects of time and/or change.

Methods: This method study used an adapted scoping review design. Articles were eligible if they were written in English, published between 2017 and 2019, and reported results from qualitative data collected at different time points/time waves with the same sample or in the same setting. Articles were identified using EBSCOhost. Two independent reviewers performed the screening, selection and charting.

Results: A total of 299 articles were included. There was great variation among the articles in the use of methodological traditions, type of data, length of data collection, and components of longitudinal data collection. However, the majority of articles represented large studies and were based on individual interview data. Approximately half of the articles self-identified as QLR studies or as following a QLR design, although slightly less than 20% of them included QLR method literature in their method sections.

Conclusions: QLR is often used in large complex studies. Some articles were thoroughly designed to capture time/change throughout the methodology, aim and data collection, while other articles included few elements of QLR. Longitudinal data collection includes several components, such as what entities are followed across time, the tempo of data collection, and to what extent the data collection is preplanned or adapted across time. Therefore, there are several practices and possibilities researchers should consider before starting a QLR project.

Objective: This paper uses the Taxonomy of Everyday Self-management Strategies (TEDSS) to provideinsight and understanding into the complex and interdependent self-management strategies peoplewith neurological conditions use to manage everyday life.

Methods: As part of a national Canadian study, structured telephone interviews were conducted monthlyfor eleven months, with 117 people living with one or more neurological conditions. Answers to fiveopen-ended questions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A total of 7236 statements wereanalyzed.

Results: Findings are presented in two overarching patterns: 1) self-management pervades all aspects oflife, and 2) self-management is a chain of decisions and behaviours. Participants emphasizedmanagement of daily activities and social relationships as important to maintaining meaning in theirlives.

Conclusion: Managing everyday life with a neurological condition includes a wide range of diversestrategies that often interact and complement each other. Some people need to intentionally manageevery aspect of everyday life.

Practice implications: For people living with neurological conditions, there is a need for health providersand systems to go beyond standard advice for self-management. Self-management support is besttailored to each individual, their life context and the realities of their illness trajectory.