Salutogenic Approach Research Articles

Lifestyle Behaviours and Bone Mineral Density Changes Among Healthy Young Women: A Tentative Salutary Model

The aim was to investigate, by means of a salutogenic approach, bone mineral density (BMD) and changes in BMD over a two-year period in a group of women in relation to lifestyle behaviours and to e ...

Introduction to the Special Section

Introduction to the Special Section

Preventive home care of frail older people: a review of recent case management studies

Preventive actions targeting community-dwelling frail older people will be increasingly important with the growing number of very old and thereby also frail older people. This study aimed to explore and summarize the empirical literature on recent studies of case/care management interventions for community-dwelling frail older people and especially with regard to the content of the interventions and the nurse's role and outcome of it. Very few of the interventions took either a preventive or a rehabilitative approach using psycho-educative interventions focusing, for instance, on self-care activities, risk prevention, health complaints management or how to preserve or strengthen social activities, community involvement and functional ability. Moreover, it was striking that very few included a family-oriented approach also including support and education for informal caregivers. Thus it seems that the content of case/care management needs to be expanded and more influenced by a salutogenic health care perspective. Targeting frail older people seemed to benefit from a standardized two-stage strategy for inclusion and for planning the interventions. A comprehensive geriatric assessment seemed useful as a base. Nurses, preferably trained in gerontological practice, have a key role in case/care management for frail older people. This approach calls for developing the content of case/care management so that it involves a more salutogenic, rehabilitative and family-oriented approach. To this end it may be useful for nurses to strengthen their psychosocial skills or develop close collaboration with social workers. The outcome measures examined in this study represented one of three perspectives: the consumer's perspective, the perspective of health care consumption or the recipient's health and functional ability. Perhaps effects would be expected in all three areas and thus these should be included in evaluative studies in addition to measures for family and/or informal caregiver's strain and satisfaction.

Sense of coherence amongst Hong Kong Chinese adults with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes

Sense of coherence (SOC) is proposed as a salutogenic approach explaining good health and positive adjustment. This paper reports a study that replicated two previous Swedish studies in 72 Hong Kong Chinese adults with diabetes. This study extended the Swedish studies by using multiple linear regression and partial correlations to examine the relationship between SOC, fear of hypoglycaemia and metabolic control to identify whether other variables including age, hypoglycaemic experience and adherence to self-care practice, confounded the Swedish findings. Results agree with that of the Swedish studies that SOC contributes to lower fear of hypoglycaemia. Implications for nursing practice are discussed.

Women's Conceptions of Coping with Major Depression in Daily Life: A Qualitative, Salutogenic Approach

The experience of having a severe disease such as major depression affects all aspects of the individual's life, including family, work, and social functioning. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe, from a salutogenic approach, women's conceptions of coping with major depression in daily life with the help of professional and lay support. Thirteen women, previously hospitalized for major depression, were included in the study. The women were selected by strategic sampling, and data were analyzed by application of a phenomenographic approach. Four descriptive categories emerged: Self-Healing, Managing, Receiving Social Support, and Finding Meaning. While working their way out of the depression, the women needed to undergo a process of transition, involving both a cognitive and an emotional understanding, which they subsequently translated into health-related actions. The task of psychiatric mental health nurses is to provide care that empowers patients. Future nursing research should explore the circumstances that empower these women to start the transition process, as this process appears to be vital for recovery from major depression.

Coping resources of maltreated children in the family: a salutogenic approach

Objective: Most research in child maltreatment within family focuses mainly on the pathological damage caused to the battered child. This study, based on a salutogenic approach, focuses on the resources that may help maltreated children to cope with their state and stay well. Method: Resilience was measured by two variables: perceived competence and psychological distress. The moderating or buffering variables that may contribute to better coping were: sense of family coherence, psychological sense of school membership, and social support. Two hundred and twenty-six 8th graders answered an anonymous self-report inventory. Based on the students’ answers, they were divided into two groups: those who reported that they had been maltreated (MC) ( n = 81) and those who did not (NMC) ( n = 145). Results: The study revealed a significantly high percentage of adolescents (35.6%) who reported having been maltreated within their families. A significant difference was found between the MC and the NMC in levels of perceived competence (higher for the NMC) and psychological distress (higher for the MC group). The moderating variables were found to have a differential effect on the dependent variables within the two groups. Sense of family coherence was found to be the main contributor to variance explanation of perceived competence among the MC, while sense of school membership had the main effect among NMC. Conclusions: The findings support a salutogenic approach in studying maltreated children. Implications on the possible detection of maltreated children in the community and on their coping resources that may contribute to resilience are discussed.

Men's self-assessed personal health resources: approaching patients' strong points in general practice.

To explore resource-oriented, gender-sensitive approaches in general practice by identifying what men perceive to be their personal health resources. A key question was developed to invite men to tell their GPs about personal health resources during ordinary visits. The answers of 39 consecutive male patients (aged 19-84 years) visiting two female GPs were audio taped and analysed, qualitatively inspired by Giorgi's phenomenological approach, supported by theories on salutogenesis, patient-centredness and gender perspectives. The main outcome measures were personal qualities and strategies considered by men to be their health resources. Men considered that the following were personal health resources: optimism, good self-esteem, job satisfaction, ability to cope with stress at work, leisure activities and relaxation with friends producing energy, and fitness and lifestyle activities. A key question can give a doctor access to men's thoughts about their strong points. Self-assessed personal health resources can be identified and mobilized by the GP and support a salutogenic approach, which contrasts with the tendency of contemporary medical practice to focus on risk. Asking people about their own ideas may reveal that coping patterns are more complex than reflected in prevailing research.

Physical activity in the life of the patient with rheumatoid arthritis.

Physical activity is an important tool used by patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in order to reduce inflammation and pain as well as preserve and improve function. The aim of this study was to investigate how patients with RA perceive and relate to physical activity in everyday life. Ten patients diagnosed with RA were interviewed. The data collected were transcribed and analysed for categories of meaning and main themes. Inter-judge reliability was tested and showed an 81.5% agreement. Three themes were identified. The first represented a 'driving force' and included two positively loaded categories 'satisfaction' and 'support', and two negatively loaded categories 'keep at bay' and 'intimidation'. The second theme was 'hindrance' and included the categories 'internal barrier' and 'external barrier' and, finally, the third theme 'physical activity' included the categories 'organized activity' and 'everyday activity'. Physical exercise was an important strategy for patients with RA and was promoted primarily by patients' own experiences, positive as well as negative. A salutogenic (explaining health) approach to patient education, as well as an increased use of everyday activities as additional exercise, is advocated.

A wellness approach to the management of traumatic loss in schools: an examination of teachers' stress responses and coping strategies, and school response mechanisms.

This study was a qualitative examination of the stress responses and coping strategies of 21 teachers (12 women & 9 men), and school response mechanisms following a critical incident involving the death of a student or colleague. In order to explore the possibility that deaths of a relatively common nature can evoke high stress and grief responses, exceptional or large scale events, or those generating widespread public or media attention, were excluded. Findings showed that the impact on participants was high, and included cognitive, emotional, functional and physiological responses. Six discrete wellness factors, considered to contribute to effective coping, were identified: emotional and practical support, active involvement, responding according to individual need, access to information, readiness, and leadership. A salutogenic (wellness) approach to critical incident management was considered to provide a comprehensive and effective model for supporting individual teachers and the school in mobilising coping and restorative strategies and mechanisms. Implications for critical incident management in schools, and directions for further study, are discussed.

The salutogenic model as a theory to guide health promotion

This paper provides a critical look at the challenges facing the field of health promotion. Pointing to the persistence of the disease orientation and the limits of risk factor approaches for conceptualizing and conducting research on health, the salutogenic orientation is presented as a more viable paradigm for health promotion research and practice. The Sense of Coherence framework is offered as a useful theory for taking a salutogenic approach to health research.

080-PA12 Utilising a salutogenic approach to identify resistant behaviours in non-smoking adolescents

080-PA12 Utilising a salutogenic approach to identify resistant behaviours in non-smoking adolescents

Coping with cancer stressors: a salutogenic approach

Coping with cancer stressors: a salutogenic approach

On the relation between meaning in life and psychological well-being.

Meaning in life is an important construct in psychology, but one which has been the focus of limited research. Most research has concentrated on the relation between meaning and psychopathology, and has been conducted with the Purpose in Life Test. This paper examines the relation between meaning in life and psychological well-being using several meaning measures and both positive and negative well-being dimensions. A strong association is found between meaning in life and well-being, which is replicated in two different samples. Meaning in life is found to have a stronger association with positive than with negative well-being dimensions, suggesting the value of taking a salutogenic approach to mental health research. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Trait anxiety and the sense of coherence.

Two different theoretical approaches to the explanation of individual differences in appraisal of environmental demands are expressed by the trait-anxiety (A-trait) scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (4) and by Antonovsky's (2) measure of the sense of coherence. Spielberger, whose orientation is a pathogenic one, is concerned primarily with people who feel threatened by environmental demands. Antonovsky, with a salutogenic approach, is interested in those individuals whose world view leads them to perceive demands as challenging. The hypothesis tested in this study and derived from these two orientations, as distinguished by Antonovsky (I), is that people who score high on sense of coherence will score low on A-trait. Hebrew versions of both measures: along with questions on basic demographic data, were self-administered by students in the first year class (N = 46) at the medical school of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, during the Summer Preparatory Course. Their ages ranged from 17 to 28 yr., with an average of 21.6 yr. There were 29 men and 17 women. The correlation found between sense of coherence and A-trait (Pearson T = -.77, p = ,001) provides suong support for the hypothesis. No significant differences in scores were found by age (Pearson T = -.02 on A-trait and .12 on sense of coherence). No significant differences by sex were noted (t test). The mean score for men on A-trait was 32.96 (SD = 7.32) and for women 34.76 (SD = 8.14); on sense of coherence, rhe mean score for men was 152.52 (SD = 15.24) and for women 149.94 (SD = 17.74). In an earlier study of A-trait among 131 students in four classes of this medical school, age and sex differences were significant, with women and younger students reporting higher anxietg than men and older students (3). The strong negative relationship found between sense of coherence and A-trait scores raises a basic theoretical question: are these two measures, derived from different conceptual approaches, actually measuring the same hen omen on?