Using data from in-depth interviews with 20 children, this study finds that children with parents suffering from mental health distress struggle hard to present themselves as ‘normal’ and equal among their peer group. The study shows how they avoid stigma in their presentation of self in everyday life. All the children in this study, regardless of age or parents’ suffering, are active participants and impression managers in and of their own lives. The authors question whether their active responsibility for their own and their family’s well-being becomes too heavy a burden and should be moved from children’s private sphere into public arenas such as schools or social and healthcare services.

<p>Helpful relations. A quality study about the alliance between users with serious mental health problems and health care professionals in two outreach teams.</p><p>In recent years Norway has established various types of assertive outreach teams in community based mental health care. The article examines the importance of the quality of the alliance between health care professionals and users in two assertive outreach teams. More specifically, we describe the common characteristics of a good relation, pointed out by both users and professionals, and the methods that are thought to support these relationships. The study has a qualitative design and data was gathered through semi structured in-depth interviews of 19 professionals and 9 users. The study concludes that helpful relationships are characterized by contact and equality, and that interaction through everyday activities helped strengthen the working alliance. Our results confirm recent research that highlights the importance of the quality of the relationship as a prerequisite for good care, and the importance of the tacit knowledge used and informal work done by professionals interacting with users.</p>

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Singing in a choir is shown to have a good impact and effect on both physical, mental, emotional, cognitive and social areas and in relation to meaning and context in life. On the other hand, we have little knowledge of what the participants in the choir experience of learning, skills training and joy, as well as why and how. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to knowledge about musical leadership in a choir where mastery and well-being for the participants is the goal. The chapter is based on empirical data from the research and development project Sing yourself well1. Data is collected through focus group interviews of participants in a project-based choir for people with mental health challenges. The main theme of the interviews was the facilitation and implementation of musical practice with emphasis on the musical aspects of singing in the choir Sing yourself well. The data are analyzed on the basis of Malterud’s phenomenological analysis and systematic text condensation. Central findings are that breathing, vocal exercises and musical imitation are perceived as important for the participants’ feeling of proficiency. The way the communication between conductor and choir participants takes place is crucial for creating trust and security. What contributes to the participants’ experience of mastery is discussed with emphasis on methodology, communication and learning processes.

Denne artikkelen bygger på studien «Helhet og sammenheng» og belyser den daglige hjelpen som ansatte og brukere i to ambulerende team erfarer som god. Helsemyndighetene ønsker å utvikle helhetlige og sammenhengende tjenester til personer med rusproblemer og alvorlige psykiske lidelser. Det er få studier som beskriver det daglige samarbeidet mellom fagfolk og brukere. Dataene er samlet inn gjennom deltakende observasjon og halvstrukturerte dybdeintervjuer. Materialet viser at den daglige hjelpen er variert og omfattende og samarbeidet foregår på brukernes hverdagsarenaer. Når hjelpen foregår på IKEA eller i bilen på vei til og fra fastlegen, åpner det for et samarbeid om hverdagslige og praktiske forhold som brukerne selv defi nerer som viktig. Det betyr mye at fagfolkene er tilgjengelige blant annet gjennom telefon og tekstmeldinger. Oppsummert kan vi si at arbeidsformer som bidrar til god helhetlig og sammenhengende hjelp er relasjons-, person-og hverdagsorientert og foregår på brukernes hverdagsarenaer.