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Introduction Research suggests that participating in after-school leisure activities has been related to promoting health, well-being and safety among children living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The United Nations Child Rights Convention emphasises the inclusion of children in decisions that concern them. However, children seldom are involved in designing implementing and evaluating health promotional environments. The aim of this programme is through a participatory process with children, parents/guardians, and peer-activity leaders explore, measure and evaluate the impact on children’s overall well-being related to the social context in an already established health promotion environments in Southern Sweden.Methods and analysis The project is based on a previously implemented unique community-based participatory research (CBPR) model for equal health in three socially disadvantaged areas in Malmö. All activity house (AAH) is a meeting place for children established in schools but after school time by the culture department of the Malmö municipality. In AAH migrant children participate in need-driven after school activities that they themselves create and develop. To increase participation of the children and ensure that these environments are based on their needs, 30 children (10–12 years), parents/guardians (30), peer-activity leaders (15), and researchers create CBPR teams in the areas and engage in a participatory process. The children reflect, analyse and write about their well-being; identify and discuss key factors in an iterative process, which also includes a strategic group of stakeholders. The children then develop and validate (with 100 other children from AAH) the Socioculturally Aligned Survey Instrument for Children survey inspired by the KIDSSCREEN V.27. The survey tool so developed will further be used to evaluate AAH and will be distributed to all children participating in their activities.Ethics and dissemination This programme has been approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. The results from this programme will be published as reports and scientific publication.

Abstract Background Due to the nature of fatigue, a brief reliable measure of fatigue severity is needed. Thus, the aim of our study was to evaluate a short version of the Lee Fatigue Scale (LFS) in the Norwegian general population. Methods This cross-sectional survey consists of a representative sample from the Norwegian population drawn by The National Population Register in Norway. The study is part of a larger study (NORPOP) aimed at collecting normative data from several questionnaires focused on health in adults living in Norway. Registered citizens between 18 and 94 years of age were randomly selected stratified by age, sex and geographic region. Of the 4971 respondents eligible for the study, 1792 (36%) responded to the survey. In addition to age and sex, we collected responses on a 5-item version of the LFS measuring current fatige severity. The psychometric properties focusing on internal structure and precision of the LFS items were analyzed by a Rasch rating scale model. Results Complete LFS scores for analyses were available for 1767 adults. Women had higher LFS-scores than men, and adults

Abstract The lack of culturally and contextually oriented interventions promoting physical activity (PA) has led to increased physical inactivity among women living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Sweden. In this study one such intervention informed by community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been evaluated among 34 women from a disadvantaged neighbourhood before and during COVID-19. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL), behavioural and biomedical outcomes were assessed directly prior and post-intervention, followed by evaluations at 6-months and 18-months follow-up during COVID-19. The results revealed that HRQOL, particularly psychological, social, and environmental health significantly increased post-intervention compared to prior to intervention but reversed back at 6-months follow-up. Perceived health satisfaction and environmental health increased at 18-months follow-up during COVID-19. Participation in PA improved post-intervention and at 6-months follow-up. Everyday activities and fruit and vegetable intake continued to increase through all timepoints. Systolic blood pressure significantly decreased post-intervention and 6-months follow-up; blood flow rate increased significantly at all timepoints. Overall, the findings underscores the potential effectiveness of CBPR approaches in promoting and sustaining healthy lifestyles, even during acute situations such as the COVID-19. It may even serve as a future model for promoting health and addressing health disparities in similar groups.

Abstract Background WHO recommends repeated measurement of patient safety climate in health care and to support monitoring an 11 item questionnaire on sustainable safety engagement (HSE) has been developed by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. This study aimed to validate the psychometric properties of the HSE. Methods Survey responses (n = 761) from a specialist care provider organization in Sweden was used to evaluate psychometric properties of the HSE 11-item questionnaire. A Rasch model analysis was applied in a stepwise process to evaluate evidence of validity and precision/reliability in relation to rating scale functioning, internal structure, response processes, and precision in estimates. Results Rating scales met the criteria for monotonical advancement and fit. Local independence was demonstrated for all HSE items. The first latent variable explained 52.2% of the variance. The first ten items demonstrated good fit to the Rasch model and were included in the further analysis and calculation of an index measure based on the raw scores. Less than 5% of the respondents demonstrated low person goodness-of-fit. Person separation index > 2. The flooring effect was negligible and the ceiling effect 5.7%. No differential item functioning was shown regarding gender, time of employment, role within organization or employee net promotor scores. The correlation coefficient between the HSE mean value index and the Rasch-generated unidimensional measures of the HSE 10-item scale was r = .95 (p

Abstract Background Citizens with low levels of social capital and social status, and relative poverty, seem to have been disproportionally exposed to COVID-19 and are at greater risk of experiencing poor health. Notably, the incidence of COVID-19 was nearly three times higher among citizens living in socially vulnerable areas. Experiences from the African Ebola epidemic show that in an environment based on trust, community partners can help to improve understanding of disease control without compromising safety. Such an approach is often driven by the civil society and local lay health promoters. However, little is known about the role of lay health promoters during a pandemic with communicable diseases in the European Union. This study had its point of departure in an already established Community Based Participatory Research health promotion programme in a socially disadvantaged area in southern Sweden. The aim of this study was to explore how citizens and local lay health promoters living in vulnerable neighbourhoods responded to the COVID-19 pandemic a year from the start of the pandemic. Method In-depth interviews with the 5 lay health promoters and focus group discussions with 34 citizens from the neighbourhood who were involved in the activities within the programme were conducted in autumn 2020. The interviews and focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis following an inductive approach. Results Four themes emerged including, ‘balancing between different kinds of information’, ‘balancing between place-based activities and activities on social media’, ‘bridging between local authorities and the communities and community members’, and ‘balancing ambivalence through participatory dialogues’. Conclusion The study highlights that a Community Based Participatory Research programme with lay health promoters as community trust builders had a potential to work with communicable diseases during the pandemic. The lay health promoters played a key role in promoting health during the pandemic by deepening the knowledge and understanding of the role that marginalised citizens have in building resilience and sustainability in their community in preparation for future crises. Public health authorities need to take the local context into consideration within their pandemic strategies to reach out to vulnerable groups.

Abstract Background Unmet community mobility needs of older adults, published since the announcement of the UN sustainable development goals was synthesised to describe the health equity characteristics of research identifying unmet community mobility needs of older adults. Methods Searches were conducted in March and April 2020, 2275 articles were screened and 100 identified for data extraction. Results Findings showed underrepresentation of articles considering rural settings [9%] and originating in the global South [14%]. Gender, disability, education, and transport / driving were identified as key health equity characteristics and only 10 articles provided detail on all four of these. External factors inhibiting community mobility included built environments, service availability, and societal attitudes. Internal factors included finances, fear and apprehension, and functional limitations. Conclusions The need for standardised reporting of participant characteristics in the community mobility of older adults was highlighted. These characteristics are required by research consumers to judge equity dimensions, and the extent to which findings represent minority or marginalised groups. 15 after the UN pledge to reduce inequalities, peer reviewed primary research does not reflect a global drive to end discrimination, exclusion and reduce the inequalities and vulnerabilities that leave people behind.

Abstract Introduction This study pertains to the design of a decision aid (DA) to shed light on information and support needs in colorectal cancer screening, with the aim to explore the calling patterns to the Screening of Swedish Colons (SCREESCO) study's helpline. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted with data from documented telephone calls to the SCREESCO study, including individuals, 59–60 years, randomized to colonoscopy or high sensitive faecal immunochemical test (FIT). Results More than 2000 calls (women 58.5%; colonoscopy 59%) were analysed. Calling patterns: unsubscribing from screening, confirmation of participation, logistical concerns about the screening procedure, counselling, and FIT screening difficulties or in need of a new FIT test. Comorbidity was the most frequent reason for unsubscribing and most of the counselling calls included questions about the FIT test or the colonoscopy. Conclusion Most of the calls to the helpline seemed to be related to individuals' lack of understanding about the organization of the screening programme and the screening procedure. Therefore, we find it important to further stress the tailoring part in our DA developing process, that is, provide limited information initially, with the possibility of access to more, if desired by the individual, still with respect to the individual's needs, health and digital literacy. Patient and Public Contribution Individuals representing the public and invited to SCREESCO participated since we analysed their calls to the helpline. The findings will contribute to our continued work with the DA where the public will contribute and participate.

IntroductionSocial determinants of health impact health, and migrants are exposed to an inequitable distribution of resources that may impact their health negatively, leading to health inequality and social injustice. Migrant women are difficult to engage in health-promotional activities because of language barriers, socioeconomic circumstances, and other social determinants. Based on the framework of Paulo Freire, a community health promotion program was established in a community-academic partnership with a community-based participatory research approach.AimThe aim of this study was to describe how a collaborative women’s health initiative contributed to migrant women’s engagement in health promotion activities.Materials and methodsThis study was part of a larger program, carried out in a disadvantaged city area in Sweden. It had a qualitative design with a participatory approach, following up on actions taken to promote health. Health-promotional activities were developed in collaboration with a women’s health group, facilitated by a lay health promoter. The study population was formed by 17 mainly Middle Eastern migrant women. Data was collected using the story-dialog method and the material was analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultThree important contributors to engagement in health promotion were identified at an early stage of the analysis process, namely, the group forming a social network, the local facilitator from the community, and the use of social places close to home. Later in the analysis process, a connection was made between these contributors and the rationale behind their importance, that is, how they motivated and supported the women and how the dialog was conducted. This therefore became the designated themes and were connected to all contributors, forming three main themes and nine sub-themes.ConclusionThe key implication was that the women made use of their health knowledge and put it into practice. Thus, a progression from functional health literacy to a level of critical health literacy may be said to have occurred.

BackgroundCitizens living in disadvantaged neighborhoods experience poorer health than the majority, and this inequality is a public health problem even in a welfare state such as Sweden. Numerous initiatives aimed at improving health and quality of life in these populations are being implemented and evaluated. Given that these populations are predominantly multicultural and multilingual, an instrument such as the WHOQOL-BREF, which is cross-culturally validated and available in multiple languages, may be appropriate. However, this cannot be ascertained since the psychometric properties of WHOQOL-BREF have never been assessed in the Swedish context. Thus, the current study aimed at assessing the psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire in citizens from a disadvantaged neighborhood in Southern Sweden.MethodsThe respondents in this study were 103 citizens who participated in the health promotional activities of a Health promotional program and also responded to the 26-item, WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire as a part of an evaluation to assess the impact of the activities on the health-related quality of life of citizens. A Rasch model using WINSTEP 4.5.1 was used to assess the psychometric properties in this study.ResultsFive of the 26 items, including pain and discomfort, dependence on medical substances, physical environment, social support, and negative feelings did not display acceptable goodness-of-fit to the Rasch model. On removing these items, the 21-item WHOQOL-BREF scale had an improved internal scale validity and person-separation reliability than the original 26-item version for this group of citizens from the neighborhood. When assessing the individual domains, three of the five items that were misfits on analyzing the full model also showed misfits in relation to two respective domains. When these items were removed, the internal scale validity of the domains also improved.ConclusionWHOQOL-BREF seemed to be psychometrically inadequate when used in the original form due to internal scale validity problems, while the modified 21-item scale seemed better at measuring the health-related quality of life of citizens living in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods in Sweden. Omission of items shall be done but with caution. Alternatively, future studies may also consider rephrasing the items with misfits and further testing the instrument with larger samples exploring the associations between subsamples and specific item misfit responses.

Abstract When compared to the general population, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities frequently experience compromised health. Monitoring the divide is challenging since standardized biomedical tests are linguistically and culturally inappropriate. The aim of this study was to develop and test a unique mobile biomedical testbed based on non-invasive analysis, as well as to explore the relationships between the objective health measures and subjective health outcomes, as evaluated with the World Health Organization Quality of Life survey. The testbed was evaluated in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood in Malmö, which has been listed as one of the twelve most vulnerable districts in Sweden. The study revealed that compared to conventional protocols the less intrusive biomedical approach was highly appreciated by the participants. Surprisingly, the collected biomedical data illustrated that the apparent health of the participants from the ethnically diverse low-income neighborhood was comparable to the general Swedish population. Statistically significant correlations between perceived health and biomedical data were disclosed, even though the dependences found were complex, and recognition of the manifest complexity needs to be included in further research. Our results validate the potential of non-invasive technologies in combination with advanced statistical analysis, especially when combined with linguistically and culturally appropriate healthcare methodologies, allowing participants to appreciate the significance of the different parameters to evaluate and monitor aspects of health.

BackgroundPublic health practitioners have been striving to reduce the social gradient and promote physical activity among citizens living in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected these citizens extensively, has posed a significant challenge to efforts to maintain a physically active lifestyle. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the impact of a CBPR-informed physical activity intervention before and during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of women from a socially disadvantaged neighborhood.MethodsA total of 34 women participated in a CBPR-informed physical activity intervention previously developed in collaboration with lay health promoters and other citizens from the same neighborhood. Focus group discussions were conducted at four time points, namely, at baseline prior to the intervention, post-intervention, 6 months after the intervention ended, and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis following an inductive approach.ResultsIn total, four themes emerged from the discussions: “Wavering between frustration and action,” “Shifting from prioritizing family needs to taking control of self,” “Between isolation and social support,” and “Restricted access to health-related knowledge vs. utilizing internalized knowledge”.ConclusionThe results of this study reveal that building on CBPR-informed health promotion initiatives has the potential to foster individual empowerment and assist during acute situations like the COVID-19 pandemic through mobilizing communities and their resources, which leads to increased community resilience and health. This study is regarded as unique in that it involves evaluation of a CBPR intervention that was initiated ahead of the pandemic and followed even during the pandemic.

BackgroundSwedish policy states that older adults should be able to age safely with continued independence and lead active lives. However, this plays out differently in different Swedish municipalities depending upon degree of demographic change, globalization, and urbanization. Internationally, older adults living in disadvantaged areas have worse physical and mental health, activity restrictions, and reduced life expectancy. In Sweden, research on how disadvantaged areas impact older adults’ quality of life is virtually nonexistent. We argue that disadvantaged areas exist in both urban and rural contexts. ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate how older adults’ homes and neighborhoods influence their community participation, quality of life, identity, and belonging in urban and rural disadvantaged areas in Sweden, and how these person–context dynamics are experienced by older adults in transitioning neighborhoods. MethodsThe study has a mixed methods design and includes 3 phases. Adults 65 years and older living in certain urban and rural disadvantaged areas in the south of Sweden will be included. Phase 1 is an interview study in which qualitative data are collected on neighborhood attachment, identity, and belonging through semistructured interviews and photo-elicitation interviews with 40 subjects. A variety of qualitative data analysis procedures are used. In phase 2, a survey study will be conducted to explore associations between observable and self-rated aspects of housing and neighborhood (physical, social, and emotional), participation, and quality of life; 400 subjects will be recruited and added to the 40 phase-1 subjects for a total of 440. The survey will include standardized measures and study-specific questions. Survey data will be analyzed with mainstream statistical analyses and structural equation modeling to understand the interactions between quality of life, home and neighborhood factors, and sociodemographic factors. In phase 3, the integration study, survey data from the 40 participants who participated in both data collections will be analyzed together with qualitative data with a mixed methods analysis approach. ResultsAs of the submission of this protocol (August 2022), recruitment for the interview study is complete (N=39), and 267 participants have been recruited and have completed data collection in the survey study. We expect recruitment and data collection to be finalized by December 2022. ConclusionsWith an increasing proportion of older adults, an increasing number of disadvantaged areas, and an increasing dependency ratio in more than 50% of Swedish municipalities, these municipalities are transforming and becoming increasingly segregated. This study will add unique knowledge on what it is like to be older in a disadvantaged area and deepen knowledge on housing and health dynamics in later life. Further, the design of the current study will allow future follow-up studies to facilitate longitudinal analysis (if funding is granted) on aging in a transforming societal context. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/41255

Measuring and assessing the different aspects of gambling behavior and its consequences is crucial for planning prevention, treatment, and understanding the development of at-risk and problem gambling. Studies indicate that instruments measuring problem gambling produce different results based on the characteristics of the population assessed. To accurately measure at-risk and problem gambling behavior, especially in a low-risk population, measures must cover a wider set of dimensions than the negative consequences already manifest. The Jonsson-Abbott Scale (JAS) includes items that cover overconsumption, actions that reinforce gambling behavior, and belief in gambling fallacies, based on a three-factor structure and has previously demonstrated good psychometric properties. However, there is a need to investigate how the instrument also functions in low-risk populations. This study aims to do so using both confirmatory factor and Rasch analysis; this research included 1,413 Swedish participants who endorsed at least one JAS item. The results replicated the previous three-factor solution and indicated that the instrument had good reliability. In addition, the results demonstrated that the three factors are independent, and the overall score per factor needs to be analyzed. In summary, the JAS appears suitable for use in low-risk populations to measure various aspects of gambling behavior.

The value of health care delivered via effective interprofessional teams has created an imperative for interprofessional education (IPE) and interprofessional collaborative practice (ICP). To inform IPE strategies, we investigated differences in perceived self-efficacy (SE) for competence in ICP among health professions students. The study data were collected between 2015 and 2019 from students from 13 different health professions programmes (N = 3,497) before an annual institutional interprofessional programme. Students completed the IPECC-SET-27, a validated instrument evaluating perceived SE for competence in ICP, and rated their 1) amount of previous contact with, and 2) perceived understanding of, the role of different health professions. Students in different health professions education programmes were compared using parametric statistics. Regression analyses explored factors influencing SE for competence in ICP. Findings revealed significant differences in perceived SE for competence in ICP between programmes (p <.05). Specifically, health information management/health informatics, dentistry, medicine, and nursing students expressed relatively higher SE, whereas physical therapy and occupational therapy students expressed relatively lower SE. Perceived understanding of the role of health professions (p <.01) and gender (p <.01) contributed significantly to predicting perceived SE for competence in ICP, while the amount of previous contact with other health professions did not (p =.42). The findings highlight the value of designing IPE with consideration of specific learner needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]