Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Healthcare professionals’ lived experiences of conversationswith young adults expressing existential concerns
University of Borås, Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life and Social Welfare.
University of Borås, Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life and Social Welfare. (Livsvärldsgruppen)
Linnéuniversitetet.
University of Borås, Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life and Social Welfare.
Show others and affiliations
2018 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, p. 1-7Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
According to the author(s), the content of this publication falls within the area of sustainable development.
Abstract [en]

Introduction:

This paper describes first-line department healthcare professionals’ experiences of conversations with young adults (16–25 years) who express existential concerns. Existential concerns encompass questions about the meaning of life and the choices people must make, and they are sometimes expressed during the period in which a child is becoming an adult. Sometimes the transition to adulthood can be difficult, and many young adults seek support from people in first-line departments, such as primary care providers, youth guidance centre personnel and student health service employees in high schools and universities. Conversations in which existential concerns are recognised may be important for preventing mental illness in the future.

Aim:

The study aimed to describe healthcare professionals’ lived experiences of conversations with young adults who express existential concerns.

Approach and methods:

This qualitative study utilises thematic meaning analysis. Interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals working in first-line departments, and data were analysed based on the principles of reflective lifeworld research. The study followed ethical codes of conduct and conformed to the ethical guidelines adopted by the Swedish Research Council.

Findings:

The results are presented in three themes of meaning: searching for innermost thoughts requires being present, uncertainty about the unpredictable and awakening of one’s own existential concerns.

Conclusions and implications:

Healthcare professionals are affected when young adults express their existential concerns, and they need more support to strengthen their ability to stay present and create inviting atmospheres

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018. p. 1-7
National Category
Nursing
Research subject
Människan i vården
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-15074DOI: 10.1111/scs.12612ISI: 000462154100014PubMedID: 30152541Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85053204338OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-15074DiVA, id: diva2:1245988
Available from: 2018-09-06 Created: 2018-09-06 Last updated: 2022-11-01Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Sårbarhet, mod och inbjudan: Unga vuxnas strävan efter välbefinnande i en tillvaro präglad av existentiell oro
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Sårbarhet, mod och inbjudan: Unga vuxnas strävan efter välbefinnande i en tillvaro präglad av existentiell oro
2020 (Swedish)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Aim: The overall aim of the thesis is to examine how young adults experiences life living with existential concerns and how well-being is enabled when living with existential concerns. 

Approach and method: A reflective lifeworld research (RLR) approach guided this dissertation’s methodological approach. Lifeworld interviews were performed in all four studies and analyses were conducted according to RLR principles: bridled attitude, openness, and compliance to the studies’ different phenomena. Study I describes healthcare professionals’ experiences of conversations with young adults experiencing existential concerns. Eleven lifeworld interviews (seven individual-, two pair- and two group interviews) were conducted with seventeen healthcare professionals from various fields. Data was analysed via phenomenological-based thematic meaning analysis. Studies II and III describes young adults’ experiences of existential concerns from the perspective of young women and young men; nine women (study II) and eight men (study III) participated. All interviews were individual lifeworld interviews. Study IV describes young adults’ experiences of enabling wellbeing in a life with existential concerns. Seventeen adults (same participants as study II and III) participated and all interviews were individual lifeworld interviews. Studies II, III, and IV were analysed by phenomenological analysis. 

Main results: The results show that the lives of young adults with existential concerns are significantly affected by these concerns. Existential concerns awaken vulnerability, characterized by feeling lost in life and living near a bottomless darkness in which life may seem unbearable. In such a vulnerable existence, there is a desire to find a place to rest, thereby enabling wellbeing. For young adults, vulnerability means having the courage to expose their life situation and innermost thoughts. In encounters with others, there is a risk of being condemned, neglected, identified as weak, or rejected. In a caring relationship between young adults and healthcare professionals, both young adults and healthcare professionals’ vulnerability to life’s fragility evokes. Courage means daring to expose one’s vulnerability and sharing one’s life story. Courage also means that healthcare professionals dare to remain in the caring relationship and listen to the young adult’s life story, no matter how dire or dark it seems. In order for the life story to stand out, a mutual invitation between young adults and healthcare professionals is required. The results show that the prerequisites for a caring relationship involve mutual vulnerability, courage, and invitation to reflect on life’s challenges. In a genuinely caring relationship, through existential confirmation, entails finding a place to rest that enables wellbeing when experiencing existential concerns as a young adult. 

Conclusion: The thesis contributes knowledge relating to how young adults experience life with existential concerns and, in turn, how wellbeing is enabled through the experiences of young adults and healthcare professionals. Existential concern is a complex phenomenon, involving vulnerability, courage, and the invitation to enable wellbeing. From a lifeworld theoretical perspective, we see an openness to existential dimensions in young adults’ life stories, providing guidance to caregivers in enabling young adults to find a place where they can be vulnerable and have an opportunity to recover.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Borås: Högskolan i Borås, 2020
Series
Skrifter från Högskolan i Borås, ISSN 0280-381X ; 115
Keywords
Young adults, healthcare professionals, existential concerns, reflective lifeworld research, caring sciences, caring relationship, phenomenology
National Category
Nursing
Research subject
The Human Perspective in Care
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-24028 (URN)978-91-89271-07-4 (ISBN)978-91-89271-08-1 (ISBN)
Public defence
2021-01-15, M404, Sandgärdet, Borås, 09:30
Opponent
Supervisors
Note

Disputationen sänds via videolänk, förinformation se kalendariet på hb.se/forskning.

Available from: 2020-12-18 Created: 2020-11-12 Last updated: 2022-08-15Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textPubMedScopus

Authority records

Lundvall, MariaLindberg, ElisabethPalmér, LinaCarlsson, Gunilla

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Lundvall, MariaLindberg, ElisabethPalmér, LinaCarlsson, Gunilla
By organisation
Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life and Social Welfare
Nursing

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn
Total: 281 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • harvard-cite-them-right
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf