Urban Areas In Sweden Research Articles

Striving in uncertainty: how disabled refugee women negotiate everyday activities and participation

Disabled refugee women can experience a lack of possibilities for social participation in their new country, which can impact their health and well-being. Intersectional approaches that acknowledge the participatory needs of disabled refugees are missing in policies and regulations. This study highlights the capabilities that disabled refugee women use to construct their everyday lives and to experience social participation. For more than one year, interviews and participant observation were carried out with three disabled refugee women. Various qualitative methods have been used to understand the women’s everyday lives in an urban area of Sweden. Through an intersectional lens, unequal conditions that affect social participation and access to the health and social care systems were identified, as were individual resources that women use to overcome barriers that would keep them from participating in the new society.

Insights from Health and Social Care Professionals Supporting Children and Young Adults with a Parent Diagnosed with Dementia: An Interview Study

Dementia is recognised as one of the major global health and social care challenges of present times. When the onset of dementia occurs in midlife, there is an increased possibility that there are children and young adults involved who are dependent on the parent concerned. The aim of the study was to describe health and social care professionals’ experiences of identifying and supporting children and young adults with a parent with dementia. A qualitative descriptive approach was carried out with individual interviews of health and social care professionals, using a semistructured interview guide. Thirteen participants in rural and urban areas in Sweden were interviewed. The overarching theme, advocating a forgotten group with three categories were identified. They combine and reflect health and social care professionals’ experiences of identifying and supporting children and young adults with a parent with dementia. Health and social care professionals who encountered children and young adults with a parent with dementia described how they were not sufficiently trained in supporting this group and identified a general shortage of available appropriate support services. The children and young adults were also described as a forgotten and overlooked group in need of affirmation and support in a more systematic way.

Swedish-English preschool as a site for the collaborative discovery of bilingual meanings

This paper examines spontaneous conversations about word meaning in a bilingual preschool in Sweden. This qualitative empirical study is grounded in an ethnomethodological theoretical framework and contributes to research on multilingualism by using a sociocultural lens to examine mundane linguistic experiences of very young children who learn to speak in more than one language. The data comprise video-recordings of naturally occurring interactions among teachers and children in a Swedish-English preschool with a one teacher-one language policy. The data were collected during ethnographic fieldwork in an urban area in Sweden. Approached with multimodal interactional analysis, the data draw attention to teachers’ everyday didactics, including their professional strategies for initiating spontaneous vocabulary work and orchestrating multiparty engagement in the collaborative discovery of meaning, and children’s participation. The analysis discusses strategies for providing word definitions and demonstrates mundane institutional contexts outside of the classroom setting where such interactions were possible. Both teachers and children engaged in vocabulary exploration by using words in a situated, locally meaningful way. The study highlights that the teachers followed the preschool’s language policy and embodied monolingual identities, while orienting to children as multilingual learners and supporting their language development.

Becoming a ‘youth at risk’: how professionals conceptualise risk among young people in disadvantaged urban areas in Sweden

In Sweden, the gap between prosperity and poverty has increased over the last three decades. As a result, groups of youth are forced to live a strictly limited life in segregation and poverty. Youth living in these circumstances are often viewed as being at risk. The purpose of this article is to investigate how different professional groups – specifically, police officers, social workers and school health teams – talk about and describe the risks that young people face when growing up in disadvantaged urban areas and the various measures taken to deal with those they define as ‘youth at risk’. The results point towards how being at risk is made intelligible in relation to specific socio-spatial and institutional contexts. However, there is an overall tendency to individualise and situate problems within the youth themselves, thus making young people growing up in disadvantaged urban areas responsible for their own vulnerability.

Legitimacy of source-separating wastewater systems with Swedish water utilities

Nutrient management is one of the critical challenges for developing sustainable circular economies in cities. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from our food end up in our wastewater and pose an environmental threat when they are released in waterways. Yet, these nutrients are essential for crop production and food security. Hince human excreta contains the bulk of nutrients going through the urban ecosystem. Source separation of excreta from the rest of urban wastewater flows can enable safe and efficient nutrient recovery. Yet, source-separating wastewater systems are not yet common in urban areas. The aim of this study is to assess the legitimacy of source-separating wastewater systems from the perspective of wastewater professionals in Sweden. The study uses interviews and a survey to explore the pragmatic, normative, cognitive and regulatory dimensions of legitimacy and how these aspects can vary between different municipalities. Finally, it looks into possible knowledge-based activities to increase legitimacy. The results from this study show variations in legitimacy levels in urban areas in Sweden. Overall opinion appears to be neutral to the concept rather than negative. Although many see multiple barriers to implementation. Normative legitimacy (moral motivation) was relatively high, while cognitive legitimacy (knowledge & experiences) was lowest. Respondents from organizations where source-separation is being implemented, or they believe that it will be implemented within 10 years, generally saw more drivers and fewer barriers. These innovators were also more interested in knowledge-based activities. Overall recommendations to increase cognitive knowledge regarding source-separating systems among multiple stakeholders seems the most promising path forward to increase legitimacy in the Swedish wastewater sector.

To ‘patch up’ or to ‘meet the needs’: navigating the politics and visions of ‘open school’ collaboration and equity work in urban areas in Sweden

ABSTRACT This paper explores how school community collaboration is given meaning by municipally employed coordinators whose task is to organise collaboration between schools and other actors in urban areas in Sweden. Inspired by Carol Bacchi’s theorisation of the constitutive aspect of discerning problems, it examines how coordinators give meaning to the problems and challenges to which the initiative is intended to respond. The focus is on how coordinators rationalised the initiative and how they navigated and created directions within collaboration as practice across different areas of responsibility, such as school, leisure, and safeguarding work. Building on observations of coordinator meetings, interviews, and policy texts, the analysis shows how different rationalities and tensions permeated the collaboration, which, on the one hand, can be understood as something that added value and, on the other, as reinforcing a reduced or broken welfare system, while an overall rationality concerned making efforts for children and young people here and now.

Co-occurrence patterns and habitat selection of the mountain hare, European hare, and European rabbit in urban areas of Sweden

Assessing the underlying mechanisms of species co-occurrence patterns can be challenging as biotic and abiotic factors are hard to disentangle. To date, few studies have investigated co-occurrence patterns of mammals within urban areas. As urban areas are increasingly used as habitat by wildlife, there is a need for a better understanding of urban ecology to facilitate human-wildlife co-existence. Here, we investigated co-occurrence patterns and habitat selection of the European hare (Lepus europaeus), mountain hare (L. timidus), and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) inside urban areas of Sweden, using joint species distribution models and generalized linear mixed models based on citizen science observations. All three species were observed within urban areas, but European hares and rabbits appear to be more successful urban colonizers compared to mountain hares. Overall, our findings suggested that urban occurrence by all three lagomorphs was related to suitable conditions within the distribution of each species (e.g., climate and elevation), rather than by the presence of other lagomorph species or specific land cover types within urban areas. On a finer spatial scale, European hares and rabbits generally selected for green urban areas and mountain hares for residential gardens, which likely constitute suitable foraging sites. Moreover, overlap in activity times between European hares and rabbits was mediated by land cover type and sympatry. Our findings contribute to the understanding of urban ecology and provide insights for management measures of the three lagomorphs in urban areas of Sweden.

'But You Do Not 'Look' Syrian?' Experiences of Syrians In Urban Areas of Sweden

'But You Do Not 'Look' Syrian?' Experiences of Syrians In Urban Areas of Sweden

Recycling behaviour in a multicultural urban area in Sweden

Alabastern, a multicultural rental housing area in the Växjö city of Sweden, was identified as poor at recycling household waste compared to other housing areas in the town. In this paper, a qualitative and quantitative analysis is conducted to understand the underlying causes of waste recycling behaviour of the tenants. Results showed that majority of the studied participants perceived themselves to be environmentally friendly. They reported that they recycled household waste quite often, but it was the other tenants who did not sort their waste properly. The respondents identified the causes of the improper waste recycling as lack of attitude and awareness, limitation of communication, sense of insecurity, lack of means to transport bulky waste, limitation of the recycling room, and inadequate action by the housing company Växjöbostäder.

Questioning mobility ideals – the value of proximity for residents in socially deprived urban areas in Sweden

ABSTRACT Despite discourses of contemporary high-mobility, a life characterised by high mobility is in sharp contrast to many people’s experiences and personal preferences. Previous research has shown that mobility and transport opportunities are unevenly distributed in society. The paper explores how young unemployed people and low-skilled care workers in two Swedish urban municipalities prefer to travel less and stay local rather than undergoing time-consuming and expensive public transport trips. The results show that various temporal and spatial restrictions are significant regarding the extent to which public transport can cater for mobility needs, and that transport opportunities are part of an individual’s opportunity to be socially included. The results indicate that other policy areas, such as the labour market policy and the public health policy, are equally important for social inclusion.

Water Use Behavior in a Multicultural Urban Area in Sweden

The increasing world population and climate change are major concerns for the supply of water needs. Understanding user behavior facilitates the development of effective strategies of domestic water management. This research applied a questionnaire survey and data analysis methods to analyze the water consumption behavior of tenants in a multicultural urban area, dominated by immigrants of different ethnic origins, in the city of Växjö in Sweden. Results showed that the majority of the studied participants perceived themselves to be environmentally friendly. They reported to be engaged in water conservation activities quite often, but analysis showed that they did not have accurate perceptions of their water consumption. Positive attitudes towards water conservation and self-reported water conservation activities significantly but negatively influenced respondents’ actual water consumption, i.e., water consumption was higher. Subjective norms did not have a significant influence. The results also revealed that individual measurement and debit positively influenced, i.e., reduced, actual water consumption. Therefore, water management systems should include an individual measurement and debit system combined with a visualization system to enable tenants to monitor the quantity and cost of their water consumption.

Everyday life in a Swedish nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative interview study with persons 85 to 100 years

ObjectiveTo understand and report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the everyday lives of frail older persons living in nursing homes by exploring their experiences of how the...

Network design for line-based autonomous bus services

The maturing of autonomous driving technology in recent years has led to several pilot projects and the initial integration of autonomous pods and buses into the public transport (PT) system. An emerging field of interest is the design of public transport networks operating autonomous buses and the potential to attract higher levels of travel demand. In this work a multi-objective optimization and multi-agent simulation framework is developed to study potential changes in the network design and frequency settings compared to conventional PT systems when autonomous vehicles (AV) systems are deployed on fixed-route networks. During the optimization process multiple deployment scenarios (network configurations and service frequency) are evaluated and optimized considering the operator cost, user cost and infrastructure preparation costs of the system. User-focused network design and operator-focused network design are studied for a real-world urban area in Sweden. The results provide insights into the network design and level of service implications brought about by the deployment of autonomous bus (AB) when those are integrated in route-based PT systems. We show that the deployment of autonomous buses result with a network design that increases service ridership. In the context of our case study this increase is likely to primarily substitute walking.

The effect of problem-based learning after coronary heart disease \u2013 a randomised study in primary health care (COR-PRIM)

BackgroundCardiac rehabilitation is effective after coronary heart disease (CHD). However, risk factors remain, and patients report fear for recurrence during recovery. Problem-based learning is a pedagogical method, where patients work self-directed in small groups with problem solving of real-life situations to manage CHD risk factors and self-care. We aimed to demonstrate the better effectiveness of problem-based learning over home-sent patient information for evaluating long-term effects of patient empowerment and self-care in patients with CHD. Hypothesis tested: One year of problem-based learning improves patients’ empowerment- and self-efficacy, to change self-care compared to 1 year of standardised home-sent patient information after CHD.MethodsPatients (N = 157) from rural and urban areas in Sweden between 2011 and 2015 (78% male; age.68 ± 8.5 years) with CHD verified by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (70.1%) or coronary artery by-pass surgery (CABG) and CABG+PCI or myocardial infarction (29.9%) were randomly assigned to problem-based learning (experimental group; n = 79) or home-sent patient information (controls; n = 78). The problem-based learning intervention consisted of patient education in primary care by nurses tutoring groups of 6–9 patients on 13 occasions over 1 year. Controls received home-sent patient information on 11 occasions during the study year.ResultsAt one-year follow-up, the primary outcome, patient empowerment, did not significantly differ between the experimental group and controls. We found no significant differences between the groups regarding the secondary outcomes e.g. self-efficacy, although we found significant differences for body mass index (BMI) [− 0.17 (SD 1.5) vs. 0.50 (SD 1.6), P = 0.033], body weight [− 0.83 (SD) 4.45 vs. 1.14 kg (SD 4.85), P = 0.026] and HDL cholesterol [0.1 (SD 0.7) vs. 0.0 mmol/L (SD 0.3), P = 0.038] favouring the experimental group compared to controls.ConclusionsThe problem-based learning- and the home-sent patient information interventions had similar results regarding patient empowerment, self-efficacy, and well-being. However, problem-based learning exhibited significant effects on weight loss, BMI, and HDL cholesterol levels, indicating that this intervention positively affected risk factors compared to the home-sent patient information.Trial registrationNCT01462799 (February 2020).

Counselling to stay or to leave? - Comparing career counselling of young people in rural and urban areas

ABSTRACT Sweden may be wealthy, but uneven distributions of resources still affect students’ access to higher education and career choices. Some variation is linked to rural/urban divides, but myriads of other factors may also influence young people’s options in transitions. Here I explore these issues, using data collected from interviews with study and career counsellors in both rural and urban areas of Sweden, using a framework including Masseyian concepts of place, and horizons of action. The results confirm the general poverty of access in rural areas linked to limitations of locally available educational programmes, an associated tendency for counsellors to promote ‘learning to leave’, and hence ongoing ‘metrocentric’ flows to city centres. However, they also highlight (inter alia) the importance of students’ resources, which enable or constrain their ability to leave and breadth of opportunities (in rural and urban areas), and gendered socialisation factors that may promote or counter the flows.

Mew Gull Larus canus breeding in a residential area of Malmö, Sweden

The Mew Gull Larus canus is both a coastal and inland breeder and can be found on many different substrates, including man-made structures. It is known since long to nest in urban areas of Sweden, but neither the number of urban breeding pairs nor their behaviour have been well documented. We made some observations of breeding Mew Gulls in the city of Malmö in south Sweden and asked the chair of the tenant owners’ association that comprised one of the buildings with Mew Gull nest about the tenants’ experience of the species. Some perceive Mew Gulls as harmful because they dirty the roofs, leave a bad smell, are noisy, and defend their young with aggressive behaviours. Given the often-conflicting interests of gulls and humans, a better documentation of the nesting population in urban areas of Sweden, as well as their behaviour and interaction with people, is called for.

High-resolution mapping of epilepsy prevalence, ambulance use, and socioeconomic deprivation in an urban area of Sweden.

Geographic differences in epilepsy prevalence between areas of different socioeconomic standing have been demonstrated in the United Kingdom, but knowledge from other health care systems is scarce. Our objective was to compare epilepsy prevalence and emergency medical service (EMS) assignments for seizures in areas of different socioeconomic standings in the urban area of Gothenburg. Register-based study in Gothenburg (population 690000), the second largest city in Sweden. Epilepsy cases were identified in the comprehensive national patient register in 2014-2015. EMS assignments were identified in the EMS dispatch system in 2013-2018. Socioeconomic variables were mean income and proportion of welfare recipients. Significant correlations were seen between epilepsy prevalence and the proportion of welfare recipients (r=.49, P=.0014) and annual income per capita (r=-.42, P=.0071). There were 7907 assignments for seizures during the study years. GPS-based analysis showed that most assignments occurred in the city center. In addition, several high-density areas correlated with areas with a high proportion of inhabitants receiving welfare. Correlation analysis showed significant associations between the number of EMS assignments per capita and the proportion of welfare recipients (r=.31, P<.0001) and income (r=-.19, P<.0001). When comparing representative areas, a greater proportion of assignments was given the highest priority in high status areas compared to low status areas, both by the dispatch center and EMS clinicians on scene. Our findings that epilepsy prevalence and seizure frequency differ with socioeconomic status on a microgeographic level considerably strengthen the generalizability of previous observations across different health care systems. Differences in priority may reflect health utilization behavior or access to neurologic care.

As different as night and day: Scaling analysis of Swedish urban areas and regional labor markets

The urban scaling framework views cities as integrated socioeconomic networks of interactions embedded in physical space. A crucial property of cities highlighted by this approach is that cities act to mix populations, a mixing both facilitated and constrained by physical infrastructure. Operationalizing a view of cities as settings for social interactions and population mixing—assembling a set of spatial units of analysis which contain the relevant social aspects of urban settlements—implies choices about the use of existing data, the assignation of data to locations, and the delineation of the boundaries of urban areas, all of which are far from trivial research decisions. Metropolitan areas have become the spatial unit of choice in urban economics and economic geography for investigating urban life as they are seen as encompassing the distinct phenomena of “urbanity” (proximity, density) and social interactions indirectly captured through a unified labor market. However, the population size and areal extent of metropolitan areas, as most often defined, render opaque the distinction between two salient types of urban population: those who work and those who reside within a metropolitan area. These two sets of individuals, among whom of course there is great overlap, putatively engage in different economic and social interactions which are in turn differently embedded in physical space. Availing ourselves of Swedish micro-level data for two distinct spatial units, tätorts (“dense localites”) and local labor markets, we can distinguish which types of populations and which types of spatial agglomerations are responsible for the observed scaling effects on productivity and physical infrastructure. We find that spatially contiguous labor markets are not enough to generate some of the most salient urban scaling phenomena.

Basic Diagnostic Work-Up Is More Complete in Rural than in Urban Areas for Patients with Dementia: Results of a Swedish Dementia Registry Study

Background:Life in rural areas differs from life in urban areas not only in geographical conditions, but also in health care structure.Objective:Our aim is to compare the diagnostic process and the management of dementia in rural and urban areas of Sweden.Methods:We performed a cross-sectional study of patients with dementia living in rural (n = 16,428), intermediate (n = 18,033), and urban (n = 23,680) areas in Sweden including patients registered from 2007 through 2014 in the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem). Descriptive statistics are shown. Odds ratios with 95% CI are presented for basic diagnostic examinations in rural compared to intermediate and urban areas, adjusted for age, sex, type of care (primary versus specialist), and comorbidities. Analyses were also stratified for diagnostic care unit (primary versus specialist).Results:Patients who lived in rural areas were more likely to receive a complete basic examination, MMSE examination, Clock test, blood analysis, and neuro-imaging, compared to patients living in urban areas, and also compared to patients living in intermediate areas. Sex differences were seen in nearly all domains, with men receiving more diagnostic work-up than women. Stratified analyses show that in primary care, the complete basic examination is less frequently performed in urban and intermediate areas compared to rural areas.Conclusion:There are differences in diagnostic work-up for dementia between rural, intermediate, and urban areas in Sweden. These results should be considered in future healthcare decisions to ensure equality of health care across rural and urban areas.

Prerequisites for safe intraoperative nursing care and teamwork-Operating theatre nurses' perspectives: A qualitative interview study.

To describe operating theatre nurses' experience of preconditions for safe intraoperative nursing care and teamwork. Surgical interventions are often needed for patients' well-being and survival from health problems. Adequate information to professionals responsible within the surgical organisation is of importance for patient safety in connection to the surgery. The members in the surgical team need correct information about the patients' health and planned care. The information is mainly transferred by computerised systems that do not necessarily provide all information needed. A qualitative descriptive design was chosen. Narrative interviews were carried out with 16 experienced operating theatre nurses in four different hospitals in rural and urban areas in Sweden. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The study complied with criteria to Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ). Operating theatre nurses strived to get adequate information about the patients' care, the surgical intervention and the equipment to be well prepared for intraoperative nursing care. The information from the computerised systems was described as fragmented and obliged the operating theatre nurses to demand a preoperative dialogue between the members of the surgical team. Professional collegial teamwork and committed leadership were considered to enhance patient safety. From the operating theatre nurses' perspective, prerequisites for intraoperative safe nursing care and teamwork depend upon a preoperative dialogue between the members in the surgical team for collegial teamwork, obtaining a reliable preoperative overall picture based on adequate information transfer, and the support of a committed first-line manager. The operating theatre nurses need a reliable preoperative overall picture in advance, to be able to be well prepared for the patients' surgery. The overall picture should be based on adequate data about the patients' health status and needs, details about the surgical intervention and prescriptions.