Although persons with severe mental illness face an increased risk of mortality and of developing negative health outcomes, research has shown that lifestyle interventions can sufficiently support their health. In response, this study examined a nurse-led lifestyle intervention developed in cooperation with members of municipal and county councils to gauge its impact on the quality of life, cognitive performance, walking capacity, and body composition of persons with severe mental illness. Lasting 26 weeks and involving 38 persons with severe mental illness, the intervention prioritised two components: the interpersonal relationships of persons with severe mental illness, staff, and group leaders and group education about physical and mental health. Pre-post intervention measurements of quality of life collected with the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life, cognitive performance with the Frontal Systems Behaviour Scale, walking capacity with a 6-min walk test, and body composition in terms of waist circumference and body mass index were analysed using a nonparametric test Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results suggest that the intervention afforded significant improvements in the health-related variables of quality of life, cognitive performance, walking capacity, and waist circumference for persons with severe mental illness. However, long-term studies with control groups and that examine parameters related to cardiovascular risk factors are essential to ensure the sustained impact of the intervention.

Background: Persons with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) represent a high-risk population according to health and lifestyles. In the present study, 48 adults with ADHD were recruited to a forthcoming lifestyle intervention. The ADHD sample was matched to a random sample of 42 persons from a Swedish general population that was selected from LIV (a Lifestyle-Performance-Health project).

Objective: To identify potential differences in health, lifestyle habits, and physical fitness between adults with and without ADHD.

Method: Self-reported questionnaires and physical fitness tests.

Results: The ADHD group show worse health outcomes with higher odds ratios for bad general health (OR;13 CI; (3,4–50)), and poorer lifestyle habits with higher odds ratios for low weekly exercise (OR; 3,8 CI; (1,2–13)). When adjusting for education, employment status, and cash margin, the ADHD sample did not show decreased aerobic fitness (OR; 0,9 CI; (0,8–1,0), but lower odds ratios for doing less sit-ups (OR; 0,6 CI; (0,4–0,9)) compared to the general population group.

Conclusion: It is not possible to prove that the ADHD diagnosis itself cause the worse health and lifestyle. Other lifestyle factors may have negative consequences of adult ADHD, such as lower levels of education, less succeed in working life, and minor financial margins.

Being a young adult with mental illness challenges all aspects of health, including an increased risk for developing lifestyle-related diseases. There is a lack of lifestyle programmes in primary health care that target physical, mental, and social needs for young adults with mental illness. The aim of the present study was to describe the experiences of young adults with mental illness receiving support from a nurse-led lifestyle programme, and how this support was related to their life context, including challenges and coping strategies. Two focus groups and six individual interviews were performed with 13 young adults (16–25 years), and analysed using a qualitative content analysis. The findings showed that the young adults experienced challenges in their daily lives, including psychiatric symptoms, lack of social understanding, and loneliness. The study indicated that the programme could support lifestyle habits with its components of supportive interpersonal relationships, awareness of coping strategies, understanding of health and illness, and cognitive support (e.g. schedules and reminders). However, the programme could not meet everyone's needs for new social relationships or more comprehensive support. Even so, this nurse-led programme provides health information-management strategies that could easily be integrated in a primary health-care setting.

Purpose

The purpose of the present study was to describe the acceptability of the lifestyle program PHYS/CAT and to get information about the tools used for assessment of functional exercise capacity, cognitive performance, and self-health-related quality of life.

Design and Methods

The findings are based on focus groups and the researchers’ experiences of conducting the program as well as using the assessment tools.

Findings

The acceptability of the program and the assessment tools was mainly satisfactory.

Practice Implications

The program with relational, educational, and supportive dimensions may be a promising tool to be integrated into daily nursing care.

Persons with mental disorders have an increased risk of developing health problems. One reason for this is poor lifestyle habit support. The aim of this thesis was to develop and evaluate a nurse-led lifestyle intervention for persons with mental disorders. Two versions of the intervention were conducted in the municipality (versions I, II) and one in a primary healthcare setting (version III). The educational elements of the intervention were led by nurses and practically executed by nursing staff (study II and III). In study IV education was both led and executed in practice by nurses. Data were collected through focus groups, individual interviews, and measurements. Study I, a qualitative development study, showed that, when motivating for lifestyle changes, it was important to structure daily life and provide emotional support. Loneliness, lack of knowledge and support, and general resources were identified as barriers to lifestyle changes. Version I contained health education for nursing staff and individual lifestyle habit support to persons with mental disorders, which included physical exercises and cognitive support. Study II was a qualitative acceptability study of the intervention (version I) and its assessment tools. The intervention with its relational, educational, and supportive dimensions and the assessment tools was promising. In Study III (version II), a quantitative pilot study, persons with mental disorders received health education together with the nursing staff. The intervention provided improvements to various degrees in health-related variables of quality of life, cognitive performance, walking capacity, and waist circumference. Study IV (version III), a qualitative study, included health education and individual lifestyle habit support for young adults with mental illness. The young adults experienced challenges including psychiatric symptoms, loneliness, and a lack of social understanding. The thesis results showed that the core components of the intervention with interpersonal relationships, where nursing staff played an important role, and further components such as health education and health discussions, in addition to cognitive support, worked well together to support lifestyle habit changes. Those components already exist and may therefore be easy to implement into daily nursing practice in different housing conditions and with individuals of different ages and needs for mental health care support. Group education was a way not only to develop new health strategies but also to establish social relationships. The intervention may also be modified to work with other groups of persons who need more explicit lifestyle habit support. However, to better determine the efficacy and sustainability of the intervention, larger studies over a longer time should be conducted.

The aim of this study was to describe the perceptions of everyday suffering among adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid mental disease. Directed content analysis guided by Eriksson’s theory on human suffering was performed on data from 20 individual interviews. Expressions of both suffering and well-being were identified; the former centred on loneliness and related to life, illness, and care, which supported Eriksson’s theory, whereas expressions of well-being related to ADHD diagnosis and supportive social relationships. Nevertheless, results indicate the need to expand those expressions in order to better contribute to developing a supportive rehabilitation regimen that can provide more interpersonal care.

People with severe mental illness (SMIs) are more prone to physicalillnesses, increased mortality and cognitive impairments, all of whichnegatively influence their daily lives. Physical activity (PHYS)programmes have helped alleviate SMI. LIFEHOPE is an ongoing researchproject with the purpose of developing a sustainable lifestyleintervention for physical and mental health. PHYS/cognitive adaptationtraining (CAT) is a newly created lifestyle intervention that providesgroup education and is based on CAT. It provides individualized supportfor PHYS and dietary change in a natural nursing environment. The aim ofthis study was to obtain further knowledge for developing a sustainablelifestyle programme by exploring psychiatric clients' experiences withPHYS and lifestyle habits, which we did by interviewing a localreference group, community mental healthcare users and community mentalhealthcare workers. Then, we developed a lifestyle programme for peoplewith SMI using information obtained from these focus group interviews.Our results suggest that there is a need for support and education, aswell as active interventions, in carrying out PHYS and dietary changesamong people with SMIs, and the PHYS/CAT may be a useful strategy.

Aims and objectives To describe registered nurses' views and experiences providing care for gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and gamma-butyrolactone abuse inpatients in a psychiatric unit.

Background Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and gamma-butyrolactone are illegal drugs with potentially fatal outcomes that are entering wider use in Scandinavia. Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid-dependent persons with withdrawal symptoms often require forceful withdrawal treatment provided in psychiatric units.

Design A qualitative study with a purposive sample including interviews from registered nurses.

Methods Data were collected from interviews with 15 registered nurses working in specialised dependency units in psychiatric wards. The data collected were analysed through a descriptive, qualitative analysis.

Results The registered nurses' narratives revealed four main areas of convergence: feelings of anxiety and despair, preparation for unpredictable and precarious situations, striving for good relationship and striving to optimise and develop nursing care. The interviews revealed that registered nurses reflect on and discuss their feelings about their patients' situations with colleagues; prepare themselves for potential aggressiveness and unpredictable situations; improve their care through conscious attitude adjustment and relationship-forming behaviours; and strive to increase their personal knowledge, maintain a hopeful outlook and exhibit a positive approach. These themes were found in all nine categories and sixteen subcategories.

Discussion The findings based on the registered nurses' narratives indicated that the registered nurses experienced their work situation when caring for these patients to be very complex and demanding.

Conclusion The study revealed that registered nurses worked extensively to craft their approach and attitude towards their patients. It is clear that registered nurses use themselves as tools or instruments for the creation of good relationships, thus providing the best care possible.

Relevance to clinical practice Registered nurses should be given more education, clearer guidelines and better guidance to assist them in facing such challenging and often problematic situations. One-on-one shadowing provides the possibility to create and develop relationship.

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a major public health issue and considered to be undertreated, costly and often lead to suffering for patients. Close relatives involved in caring for sufferers describe UI as a complicated problem. For older patients, close relatives and staff, it is important with high absorption UI pads in order to have an undisturbed nightly rest and to prevent bedsores. The aim was twofold: to understand older persons', close relatives' and nursing staff's views and experiences of UI, and their experience of using a particular UI pad system with an alarm. A qualitative design with individual and focus-group interviews was used to describe 6 patients', 14 close relatives' and 22 staff's experience of UI. These were analysed by using qualitative manifest analysis. The findings were divided into four categories. The patients expressed that they, due to UI, regarded themselves as burdens to others. The patients, the relatives and some staff experienced UI as a natural consequence of ageing. The UI pad system appeared to be a functional incontinence aid during the night, but more research is needed to develop the product and to find new fields of applications. From all perspectives, it appears that nursing cannot be replaced by technology, though the UI pad system can be a very useful complement in UI nursing care. Complementary use of the UI pad system might lead to a more economically effective and safe use of the existing nursing resources.