Introduction: Wellbeing, encompassing hedonic and/or eudaimonic components, provides a two-dimensional framework for evaluating the effects of psychosocial interventions for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). This study investigates how this conceptualization of wellbeing is reflected in existing research on psychosocial interventions for people with SMI. This is the first systematic review to assess the effects of psychosocial interventions on wellbeing as a purely positive phenomenon in this population. The study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024598954).

Method: A systematic review was conducted on intervention studies involving adults with SMI receiving psychosocial interventions in an out-patient setting, with a control condition and a wellbeing outcome aligned with a wellbeing framework. Five databases were searched, supplemented by manual searches, yielding 2,842 potential studies. Due to considerable heterogeneity (I2 = 94%), interventions were analyzed independently, with results summarized based on the proportion of studies reporting significant effects. The study followed PRISMA guidelines.

Results: Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. Only one study (6%) provided a full rationale for using a wellbeing measure as the primary outcome. Over 70% reported a significant positive effect on wellbeing. In 13 studies effect size could be calculated, 29% in reference to all 17 studies demonstrated a positive effect (ranging from small to large). Clinical implications of the wellbeing construct were discussed in 47% of the studies, including an increased emphasis on positive functioning. Fewer than 50% received a high-quality rating, and only three studies reporting significant effects used Intention-To-Treat (ITT) data.

Conclusion: Research on two-dimensional wellbeing is a promising yet underprioritized field, providing a renewed focus on abilities and generating significant clinical implications. Wellbeing ought to be a prioritized outcome in out-patient treatment policies, but today no recommendation as to which interventions are most effective are possible due to insufficient data. The implications of detecting changes in wellbeing in individuals with SMI, along with recommendations for future research, are discussed.

In Sweden, older persons living with severe mental illnesses (SMI) increasingly live independently in the community with support from informal and formal carers and welfare services. A proportion of this group is older people with SMI who, due to age or disability, receive municipal eldercare services such as home care in their ordinary housing, or in residential care. The situation and needs of this group demand that eldercare staff have an understanding for the older person's situation and the tools to provide appropriate care. The aim of this present study is to explore the experiences of eldercare staff working with older people with SMI. Focus group interviews were conducted with staff from three residential care facilities and two home care teams in one mid-sized Swedish municipality. To analyse the interviews, qualitative content analysis was used. The overarching theme from the analysis was "Doing the best they can," which was unpacked in two categories: "Working with fragmentary knowledge" and "Finding the right approach." We could also see differences between the experiences of staff in residential care and in home care. The eldercare staff in our interviews faced lack of formal training, insufficient information and skills concerning mental illness and its treatment. Nevertheless, they tried to make the situation of the older people with SMI as good as possible using experiential and tacit knowledge. Our results also point to system level barriers that hinder effective care for older people with SMI.

Welcome to the first issue of Nordic Social Work Research for 2025! Historically, children’s services have been a cornerstone of social work practice. Social work itself originated in part due to the unmet needs of vulnerable children. As such, we begin the year with a publication that highlights various aspects of child welfare services, a field that is becoming increasingly dynamic and complex, involving a wide range of actors and settings. The issue brings forward the voices of children, parents, and social workers, whose experiences and reflections are telling of new socio-economic and historical realities that are challenging both child welfare organizations and everyday practices.

PURPOSE: Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a widespread condition that affects sleep leading to daytime sleepiness, depression, and reduced quality of life. This study aims to determine and describe how patients with RLS experience their everyday life, with a focus on facilitators and barriers related to Maslow's hierarchical theory of human needs.

METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis resulting in facilitators and barriers affecting the fulfilment of the five human needs.

RESULTS: Addressing RLS symptoms through medications and a quiet sleep environment fulfils psychological needs. Control over RLS symptoms, engagement in activities, trust in treatments, and social support meet safety and security needs. Social inclusion, close relationships, and meaningful interactions fulfil a sense of belongingness and love needs despite RLS. Competence in managing RLS, effective self-care strategies, confident communication, and trust-building support esteem needs. Finally, comprehensive understanding through person-centred interventions and coping fulfils the self-actualization needs in managing RLS.

CONCLUSION: Holistic and person-centred interventions, including facilitators for the fulfilment of physiological, psychological, and social needs could help healthcare professionals to provide holistic care.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a highly prevalent sensory-motor disorder, impacting approximately 3% of the global population, with a circadian rhythm profile, characterised by an96 of 633 ABSTRACTSurge to move the arms and legs, usually associated with discom-fort, pain, and motor restlessness. The diagnosis is commonly made in primary care, but the variation and fluctuation in symptoms, signs, and symptom burden, also when treatment is initiated, make RLS a difficult condition to diagnose and treat. When describing clinical symptoms, existing literature has mostly focused on a bio-medical perspective even if RLS impacts several human needs. Only a few qualitative studies have tried to gain an in-depth perspective of how symptoms are featured and expressed. Understanding factors affecting the fulfilment of human needs among patients with RLS could be beneficial in a clinical context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore and describe how patients with RLS experience their life situation.

Studier visar att fattigdom påverkar människors livskvalitet och möjligheter till full delaktighet i samhället, och kan ge upphov till ohälsa och skamkänslor. Fattigdom är ett komplext fenomen som kan definieras på olika sätt beroende på tid och plats. Resultat i denna studie baseras på data och definitioner av fattigdom från Statistiska Centralbyrån (SCB). Två definitioner används som utgår ifrån att fattigdom är brist på resurser som leder till att man inte når en allmänt accepterad levnadsstandard. Relativ fattigdom som innebär att hushåll har inkomster lägre än 60 % av medianinkomsten och absolut fattigdom som innebär att inkomsten inte täcker nödvändiga levnadskostnader. I fokus för rapporten är att undersöka barnfattigdom, fattigdom bland ensamstående med och utan barn, fattigdom bland unga vuxna, samt fattigdom bland äldre.

Sammantager visar rapporten att fattigdom utifrån de valda definitionerna i Jönköpings län varierar mellan olika grupper och kommuner. Bland barn i länet lever i genomsnitt 19,5% i relativ fattigdom, vilket är något högre än riksgenomsnittet på 18,3%. När det gäller låg inkomststandard, är den lägsta andelen 1,8%, och den högsta nivån 10,6%. Rapporten visar också att barn med utländsk bakgrund löper en betydligt högre risk för fattigdom.

För ensamstående föräldrar finns också stora variationer mellan kommuner, där kvinnor med barn löper högre risk för fattigdom än ensamstående män. Yngre ensamstående kvinnor utan barn har högre risk att leva i fattigdom i några kommuner. Rapporten visar vidare att unga vuxna (20–29 år) med utländsk bakgrund har en betydligt högre risk för låg inkomststandard än de med svensk bakgrund i alla kommuner.

När det gäller äldre (65–79 år) visar resultatet att ensamstående kvinnor har högre nivåer av fattigdom jämfört med män, men risken är betydligt lägre för sammanboende äldre.

Rapporten visar också att generellt sett har sammanboende äldre lägre risk för fattigdom, och skillnaderna mellan könen är tydliga men mindre framträdande jämfört med ensamstående med hemmaboende barn i åldersgrupperna 20–29 år och 30–49 år.

Slutsatsen av rapporten är att fattigdom i Jönköpings län varierar avsevärt mellan olika kommuner, utrikesfödda och ensamstående mödrar med hemmaboende barn utgör grupper med ökad risk för ekonomisk utsatthet. Fattigdom är ett komplext fenomen som påverkar flera aspekter av livet, från utbildning och hälsa till socialt välbefinnande. För att effektivt bekämpa fattigdom behövs omfattande strategier som fokuserar på olika faktorer, såsom utbildning, bostad, och vård. Fortsatt forskning är nödvändig för att undersöka långvarig fattigdom och de faktorer som bidrar till socioekonomiska skillnader i regionen.

Introduction: The Esther Network (EN) person-centred care (PCC) advocacy training aims to promote person-centred attitudes among health practitioners in Singapore. This study aimed to assess the relationship between the training and practitioners’ PCC attributes over a 3-month period, and to explore power sharing by examining the PCC dimensions of “caring about the service user as a whole person” and the “sharing of power, control and information”. Methods: A repeated-measure study design utilising the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS), was administered to 437 training participants at three time points – before training (T1), immediately after (T2) and three months after training (T3). A five-statement questionnaire captured knowledge of person-centred care at T1 and T2. An Overall score, Caring and Sharing sub-scores were derived from the PPOS. Scores were ranked and divided into three groups (high, medium and low). Ordinal Generalised Estimating Equation (GEE) model analysed changes in PPOS scores over time. Results: A single, short-term training appeared to result in measurable improvements in person-centredness of health practitioners, with slight attenuation at T3. There was greater tendency to “care” than to “share power” with service users across all three time points, but the degree of improvement was larger for sharing after training. The change in overall person-centred scores varied by sex and profession (females score higher than males, allied health showed a smaller attenuation at T3). Conclusion: Training as a specific intervention, appeared to have potential to increase health practitioners’ person-centredness but the aspect of equalising power was harder to achieve within a hierarchical structure and clinician-centric culture. An ongoing network to build relationships, and a supportive system to facilitate individual and organisational reflexivity can reinforce learning.

Secure care in Sweden is the most intrusive child welfare intervention, and children and their family members have restricted contact. For each child in secure care, there are at least twice as many affected family members and parents who must manage the consequences of this institutionalization. Clearly, it is just as important to understand how secure care affects parents as it is to understand how secure care affects children. To address this issue, we conducted in-depth interviews with 11 parents to eight children who had been placed in secure care during their childhood, focusing on the institutional and societal structures that affected these parents and their parenting. With a narrative approach, stories alluding to a metaphor of war are identified. These stories reveal how all parents (but especially single mothers) are affected by their diverse socio-economic positions and the rigid frames of family life presumed by child welfare interventions. In these narratives, parenting emerges as a social practice rather than a skill. Above all, the stories demonstrate a great deal of vulnerability and sensitivity of parenting. The findings raise critical questions about the meaning and overarching consequences of institutional interventions in a family life.