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Purpose: Return to work often requires collaboration between different stakeholders. Rehabilitation coordination is a resource in coordinating efforts during sick leave to facilitate return to work. The purpose of the present study was to describe how people at risk for sick leave or on sick leave with mental health problems experienced rehabilitation coordination., Materials and Method: The study had a qualitative approach using qualitative content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with persons at risk for sick leave or on sick leave due to mental health problems and with experience of rehabilitation coordination., Results: The participants experience of rehabilitation coordination were described by the overarching theme Building a bridge with many bricks between the person and society . The theme was formed by four categories and eleven subcategories reflecting the complex context of rehabilitation coordination. The categories were Collaboration in a new setting, Unburdened within certain limits, The way back to work is a joint project and Recognising challenges beyond the person., Conclusions: People with mental health problems experienced rehabilitation coordination as a meaningful link between healthcare and work. However, rehabilitation coordination needs to be more recognised within healthcare to increase accessibility. It seems important that interventions are directed not only towards the person, but also include the workplace for a sustainable return to work.

Purpose: Most people with common mental disorders are working despite symptoms. This study explores individuals' experiences of a work-directed rehabilitation, provided by occupational therapists and physiotherapists, aiming to promote work capacity in persons with common mental disorders., Methods: A qualitative content analysis was used, and 11 women and 8 men with depression or anxiety disorder were interviewed. They were 25-66 years old, had different occupations and were working full or part-time., Results: The participants experienced a process interpreted as Increasing belief in one's capacity through supported reflection and practice . This theme reflects the shifting between "reflecting" and "doing" through rehabilitation and the growing hope for change. The increasing belief in one's capacity was developed through three stages, comprised of the categories To be supported by a professional, To realise things about oneself and To try new strategies for change., Conclusions: Strategies suggested by occupational therapists and physiotherapists have the potential to promote work capacity in people who are working while depressed and anxious. The results may deepen the understanding among rehabilitation professionals about the importance of a person-centred approach to people with common mental disorders, and to combine reflection and practical exercises to support the development of work-related strategies.Implications for rehabilitationWork-directed rehabilitation provided by occupational therapists and/or physiotherapists is beneficial to people with common mental disorders.Rehabilitation professionals should focus on facilitating self-efficacy among people with common mental disorders.An individualised person-centred approach seems important in order to initiate change.

Purpose : Infibulation is the most pervasive form of female genital cutting. Infibulated women face difficulties such as obstruction of urine and menstrual blood flow, sexual problems, and birth complications, and may therefore need medical defibulation. This study explores the lived experiences of young migrant women from Somalia and their views on undergoing medical defibulation in Sweden. Methods : A qualitative study was conducted using phenomenological lifeworld research. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with nine young women originating from Somalia, now resident in Sweden. The interviews were analysed to reveal the meaning of the phenomenon of infibulation. Results : The essential meaning of the phenomenon is characterized by a limbo regarding both infibulation and defibulation. There is a strong desire both to handle the Swedish perspective on infibulation and to stay with the Somalian cultural values. These women are being exposed to a tacit tradition that makes it hard to relate to the possibility of medical defibulation. As a result, the women perceive the possibility to undergo medical defibulation as limited or non-existent. Conclusions : Healthcare professionals can be a support to encourage women in need of medical defibulation to reflect on traditional ideals concerning infibulation and defibulation.

Purpose: Most people with common mental disorders (CMDs) are employed and working, but few studies have looked into how they manage their jobs while ill. This study explores workers' experiences of strategies to keep working while suffering from CMDs., Methods: In this grounded theory study, we interviewed 19 women and eight men with depression or anxiety disorders. They were 19-65 years old and had different occupations. Constant comparison method was used in the analysis., Results: We identified a core pattern in the depressed and anxious workers' attempts to sustain their capacities, defined as Managing work space. The core pattern comprised four categories describing different cognitive, behavioral, and social strategies. The categories relate to a process of sustainability. Two categories reflected more reactive and temporary strategies, occurring mainly in the onset phase of illness: Forcing the work role and Warding off work strain. The third category, Recuperating from work, reflected strategies during both onset and recovery phases. The fourth category, Reflexive adaptation, was present mainly in the recovery phase and involved reflective strategies interpreted as more sustainable over time., Conclusions: The results can deepen understanding among rehabilitation professionals about different work-related strategies in depressed and anxious workers. Increased awareness of the meaning and characteristics of strategies can inform a person-oriented approach in rehabilitation. The knowledge can be used in clinical encounters to reflect together with the patient, exploring present options and introducing modifications to their particular work and life context. Implications for rehabilitation Self-managed work functioning in common mental disorders involves diverse strategies. Strategies interpreted as sustainable over time, seem to be reflective in the sense that the worker consciously applies and adapts the strategies. However, at the onset of illness, such reflection is difficult to develop as the worker might not want to realize their reduced functioning. Rehabilitation professionals' awareness of different strategies can facilitate a person-centered approach and understanding of the vocational rehabilitation process.

Although depression is associated to physical discomfort, meanings of the body in depression are rarely addressed in clinical research. Drawing on the concept of the lived body, this study explores depression as an embodied phenomenon. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the analysis of narrative-based interviews with 11 depressed adults discloses a thematic structure of an embodied process of an ambiguous striving against fading. Five subthemes elicit different dimensions of this process, interpreted as disabling or enabling: feeling estranged, feeling confined, feeling burdensome, sensing life and seeking belongingness. In relation to clinical practice, we suggest that the interdisciplinary team can focus on enhancing the enabling dimensions, for example through guided physical activities to support the patient to feel more alive, capable and connected. Moreover, we suggest that the treatment process benefits from an increased awareness of the ambiguity in the patient's struggle, acknowledging both destructive and recharging elements of the withdrawing, and the perceived conflict in-between., (© 2014 Nordic College of Caring Science.)

Although there is a vast amount of research on different strategies to alleviate depression, knowledge of movement-based treatments focusing on body awareness is sparse. This study explores the experiences of basic body awareness therapy (BBAT) in 15 persons diagnosed with major depression who participated in the treatment in a randomized clinical trial. Hermeneutic phenomenological methodology inspired the approach to interviews and data analysis. The participants' experiences were essentially grasped as a process of enhanced existential openness, opening toward life, exceeding the tangible corporeal dimension to also involve emotional, temporal, and relational aspects of life. Five constituents of this meaning were described: vitality springing forth, grounding oneself, recognizing patterns in one's body, being acknowledged and allowed to be oneself, and grasping the vagueness. The process of enhanced perceptual openness challenges the numbness experienced in depression, which can provide hope for change, but it is connected to hard work and can be emotionally difficult to bear. Inspired by a phenomenological framework, the results of this study illuminate novel clinical and theoretical insight into the meaning of BBAT as an adjunctive approach in the treatment of depression.