Swedish public health policy: Impact on regional and local public health practice and priorities

Health promotion initiative: A dementia-friendly local community in Sweden

Dementia is a great public health concern worldwide. Despite this, little is known from a health-promoting perspective about dementia in general as a public health issue, in dialog with people living with dementia, applicable at individual, group, and societal levels with regard to policies and practice. This study therefore aims to explore the experiences related to living with dementia in the local community by advancing a health-promoting perspective. Semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with participants (n = 22) with lived, professional, and personal experiences of dementia living in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. Transcripts were analyzed by thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: health promotion through knowledge and public awareness, health promotion through opportunities to be active, health promotion through meaningful meeting places, and health promotion through improvements in the welfare system. We found that more knowledge and public awareness about dementia are needed to advance a health-promoting perspective and increase the prominence of dementia as a public health issue. Further research and policy need to focus more on how professionals in dementia care practice could be involved in promoting health and well-being for people with dementia.

Pride, shame and health among adolescents - a cross-sectional survey

Background Pride and shame are important emotions known to influence identity development and psychological well-being in adolescence. Research evidence indicates that self-rated health (SRH) is a strong predictor of future health. This cross-sectional study, conducted during 2008-2009, aimed to investigate the associations between pride, shame and SRH among adolescent boys and girls. Methods The study sample comprised 705 adolescents in Sweden aged 17-18 years (318 boys and 387 girls) who completed a questionnaire that included items on SRH, shame and pride (participation rate 67%). Logistic regression analyses (univariable and multivariable) were used to investigate the associations between pride and shame as separate and combined constructs on SRH, adjusting for potential confounders (country of birth, parental educational level, school experience, having enough friends, mood in family and being active in associations). Results Pride and shame separately were significantly associated with SRH in both genders. Logistic regression analysis of the pride-shame model showed that the odds of having lower SRH were highest in boys and girls with lower pride-higher shame. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis of the pride-shame model the odds of having lower SRH remained significant in boys and girls with lower pride-higher shame [boys: odds ratio (OR) 3.51, confidence interval (CI) 1.40-8.81; girls: OR 2.70, CI 1.22-5.96] and in girls with lower pride-lower shame (OR 2.16, CI 1.02-4.56). Conclusion The emotions of shame and pride are associated with SRH in adolescence. Experiencing pride seems to serve as a protective mechanism in SRH in adolescents exposed to shame. We believe that this knowledge should be useful in adolescent health promotion.