Fokus i den här avhandlingen är barns hälsa och välbefinnande. Det är ett angeläget ämne för människor på en personlig nivå, för föräldrar och målsmän, och även på samhälleliga och professionella nivåer. Barns hälsa är också av globalt intresse och frågor kring barns psykosociala hälsa och välbefinnande är allt vanligare i Sverige och många andra länder. Även om det finns ett flertal forskningsrapporter som uppmärksammar en nedgång i barns psykosociala hälsa och välbefinnande, är barnens perspektiv sällsynt på området. Jag har därför valt att beskriva och utveckla en förståelse för barns levda erfarenhet av hälsa och välbefinnande, stress och stresshantering och hälsopromotions aktiviteter från barnens perspektiv. Den ontologiska utgångspunkten för det forskningsarbete som jag bedrivit är en fenomenologisk livsvärlds ansats baserat på arbeten av bland andra Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Alfred Schutz, Max van Manen och Paul Ricouer. Ett grundläggande krav för fenomenologisk livsvärlds forskning är en öppenhet för livsvärldens komplexitet och genom detta bekräfta dess mångfald. Den värld människor lever sina liv i är subjektiv-relativ, det vill säga en värld som alltid upplevs i relation till något subjekt. I den här avhandlingen vänder jag mig som forskare – ett subjekt – till barnen – olika subjekt – för att beskriva och försöka förstå deras levda erfarenheter.
Det generella kontexten för forskningen i den här avhandlingen är Arctic Children projektet som finansierats av EU. Efter ett ändamålsenligt urval inbjöds 130 barn i åldrarna 10-12 från den arktiska regionen i Sverige att delta, varav 128 deltog i en eller flera av studierna. Tio barn deltog i pilotstudien, 99 barn i följande tre studier (I,II,III) och alla 19 barn i en fjärdeklass i en förorts skola i den fjärde studien (IV). Narratives användes som datainsamlingsmetod för att fånga barnens berättelser av sina levda erfarenheter, genom öppna brev (I,II,III), teckningar (IV), personliga intervjuer (II,III) och grupp diskussioner (I,IV). Data analyserades med hermeneutisk fenomenologisk data analys (I,III,IV) och fenomenologisk-hermeneutisk data analys (II).
Resultaten av studierna i den här avhandlingen kan summeras under rubrikerna; ’Mötas som ett ”vi” – relationer till andra och sig själv’, ’Vara fast i livets utmaningar’, ’Vara avslappnad och stark’, och ’Vänskap är som en extra fallskärm’. Barnens erfarenheter pekar på vikten av att bli litade på, respekterade, inkluderade, involverade och att mötas som ett ”vi”. Detta kan förstås som att öppenhet och ödmjukhet är viktiga i mötet med barn när vi involverar dem i hälsopromotions aktiviteter. Genom att anta ett “empowered child” perspektiv ses barnen som trovärdiga, kapabla och kompetenta. Med andra ord, ge röst åt och utrymme för barn i hälsopromotion.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Last but not least… there are so many who touched my life during these past years… I would like to start with the ones this thesis is all about, the 128 children I had the great pleasure to meet within the context of this research. In meeting all of you I have gathered data and gained knowledge on a professional level. At the same time I have learned so much about myself when having to reflect on my part of the “we” that we created together. So, to all the children – thank you! Also thank you to the parents, the principals and teachers in the school district who made it possible for me to meet and work with the children. I’m especially thankful for all the valuable talks with Lena Nyström, often over a nice cup of tea, which made the cooperation with the school not only fruitful, but friendly and fun.
I would like to thank the people who have guided me through the process of becoming a researcher:
Docent Kerstin Öhrling, my main supervisor, I will be forever grateful for your never-ending support in just the right amount at just the right time. You have the ability to truly meet another person and lovingly and caringly guide them towards their goal. In your eyes I have been capable and able – a place where I have enjoyed growing to become a researcher. You have taught me by being who you are that just like in life, research is equally about head and heart. Professor Eva Alerby, my assistant supervisor and colleague in the Arctic Children project. I admire you for your knowledge in the field of phenomenology and your great networking abilities. You are great to talk to. One of the many valuable things you have taught me is how to become a successful researcher, prospering in the world of academia.
The Arctic Children project has not only provided needed funding but given me the opportunity to meet and work with some wonderful people. First the Swedish team which included other than myself, Kerstin Öhrling and Eva Alerby already mentioned above, as well as Arne Forsman. Thank you Arne for your sincere engagement in the work we did together and for adding a great sense of humor. In the recent phase of the project I have had the great pleasure to work with Ulrika Bergmark and Krister Hertting – thank you both for being supportive and a whole lot of fun work with. Thank you very much – Kiitos paljon – to all the Finnish partners with special acknowledgement to the director of the project, Eiri Sohlman. You became a friend from the first moment we met and have been a great pleasure to work with. Heartfelt thank you – Hjertelig takk – to all the Norwegian partners and thank you – – to all the Russian partners for countless learning opportunities across the boarders.
A thank you goes to The Swedish Children’s Ombudsman Lena Nyberg for being so kind to meet with me and recording a powerful welcoming speech for the international Arctic Children conference held in Luleå, Sweden. I will always remember your speech, which started “Children, Ladies and Gentlemen!”
Thank you to Luleå University of Technology for the opportunity and financial support making it possible for me to pursue my doctoral studies.
My colleagues at the Department for Health Science at Luleå University of Technology have been a supportive force. I have been blessed with having colleagues and friends who have been there for me, be it with an encouraging word on the way or sharing literature or knowledge – Thank you all!
A special thank you to my colleagues and friends at the Division of Health and Rehabilitation – a great group of people!
Professor Lars Nyberg, the head of the Division of Health and Rehabilitation, thank you for being supportive of my research visions.
Anna-Karin Lindqvist, I would like to thank you for all the work we have done together, especially writing our first book Hälsovägledning (Health Guidance), which has enriched my work with this thesis greatly. But most of all thank you for being my friend. You have helped me focus on the possibilities in hard times and you have celebrated the good times with me. I appreciate your ability to make me laugh, lifting my spirits!
Lotta Berglund, thank you for being a co-worker and a friend all rolled into one. I enjoy our friendship immensely, especially our honest and caring talks and discussions. I appreciate you being there for me on good days and on bad days.
Katarina Leijon-Sundqvist, thank you for being a great friend. I appreciate us sharing lives ups and downs.
The little PhD student group, which consisted of Inger Lindberg, Kerstin Nyström and Birgitta Lindberg, headed by my supervisor Kerstin Öhrling. Thank you for, especially in the beginning of my PhD studies, offering support and a sense of belonging.
To all the staff at the library at Luleå University of Technology who helped me find literature. I especially want to mention librarian Lotta Frank who has helped me a great deal – thank you very much.
Billy Gray and Tim Foster – thank you for linguistic help and advice, proof reading articles and the thesis.
Professor Tony Ghaye, thank you for being my critical friend in an appreciative way, being a source of inspiration. Also, thank you for being a great role model for making a positive difference in the world.
Marianne Pedersen who gave me my first hours of teaching at Doctum – thank you for encouraging me to combine my experiences in health and fitness with pedagogy, an important step on my way towards doctoral studies.
I would like to say thank you to all Health Guides – Tack alla Hälsovägledare! Over the years I have had the great pleasure of working together with you inside and outside the classroom. You have made it so clear that teaching is learning all over again.
Two great Health Guides and wonderful friends, Kickan Blomqvist and Pia Johansson, thank you for all the inspiring talks about some of the most important things in life – our children, faith, hope and love.
Friends outside of work life have been a blessing.
Eva Blomqvist – we have been friends for almost 30 years and with you I find a space to rest from the demands of work and life in general, which have been especially needed during the research process – thank you!
Lotta Lindgren – just like the children in this thesis pointed out, friends are important for our health and well-being. You have been my friend in times of happiness and sorrow and for that I am forever thankful.
To the wonderful people in the two choirs I meet every week to sing with, I would like to say – Thank you Old Town Gospel Choir and Mariakören. You have been a big positive influence on my own health and well-being during the research process.
Family has always been important to me although for me, especially during the past few years, some things have changed and some things have stayed the same.
First of all my children Lukas and Natalie – I have been blessed with the two of you and I love you from the bottom of my heart! You enrich my life, and you have challenged me to grow as a human being. You also gave me the opportunity to connect my work with becoming a researcher working with children, with being your mamma – Thank you!
Mamma & Gunnar – Mamma, for the love you have given and continue to give I’ll be forever thankful. Gunnar, you came into our lives over a decade ago and have not only filled a great void after my pappa Eric but become a friend and father figure – Thank you Mamma and Gunnar for being there for me! My sister Nettan – I feel blessed having a loving sister and a best friend in you. Thank you for always being there for me ready to listen, to talk, and to help me understand enabling me to grow. You are the best sister in the whole wide world!
Emma – you and Janne are new additions to my extended family and for that I am thankful. You are a very special friend Emma who means a lot to me, bringing me much joy – thank you!
Lennart – I am thankful for your faith in me, the way you support my hopes and dreams and for loving me not only for what I do but also for who I am. You make the words from the bible come alive by just being who you are “…love is gentle, love is kind…” – Thank you for sharing my life…I love you!
Finally, my pappa Eric told me a story when I was a child. He was a young man traveling in the northern part of Sweden. It was in the end of the summer season when the evenings started to be dark and cold and humid. He needed to stay for the night and stopped in a small village. A caring family took him in and offered him to stay in a little house further away from the main building. There was only one possible problem, the women in the family told him, the house was haunted and nobody in the past decade had been able to stay the night. He was told that the ghosts started rattling their chains after midnight. As he really needed a rest he thanked for their hospitality, took his bag and moved in to the little house for the night. He had to admit that he was a little uneasy so he stayed up late reading and sure enough after midnight when the sounds of the fire had died down he could hear a sound, boink. It sounded as a metal chain rattling, boink. He got scared but said to himself “there must be an explanation”. He gathered up courage and tried to investigate where the sound came from…boink, boink. After contemplating running away he calmed himself down and tried to listen to the sound of the rattling chains, boink. He traced it outside in the dark summer night where the family’s horse was chained to a metal pole. He discovered that every time the horse moved a little further from the metal pole, the chain was dragged over a big rock, thus the sound, boink. I remember being so impressed by my father’s curiosity and for his great courage to go outside in the dark. Even though I didn’t know it then, within me a researcher was born. And yes, it has taken courage to learn to research and sometimes it has felt as fumbling in the dark, but most of all it has been an enjoyable journey driven by great curiosity. My final thank you goes to my heavenly father and my father, pappa Eric, who also is in heaven – I know you are watching over me from up above.
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