Background of the study: The goal of healthcare system is to achieve a well-organized, safe and holistic patient care. However, the existing healthcare system of today remains fragmented and complex (St. Meld. Nr.47, 2008. Hence, it is still unable to meet the patients´ complete integrated health care needs; and at the same time patients often experience extraneous disappointments due to unnecessary delays, disputes and complications (St. Meld. Nr.47, 2008. Aim: The aim of this literature study is to show how critical theoretical perspectives influence the healthcare system through professional practitioners, institutional strategies and research methodology and/or policy; in order to meet the complete needs of the patients and guarantee health care services of quality and safety. Result: Health care is a set of complex phenomena that involves a vast of objective theoretical and scientific knowledge; professional's subjective ability to properly apply such knowledge; and a system of interaction that can ensure a well-coordinated, sufficient, efficient and safe health care service. There are three emerging levels of developing culture in health care that are addressing the health care needs of human beings today: 1 Professional level (provision of critical health care through professional´s subjective synthesis of knowledge; 2 Institutional level (provision of critical institutional multidisciplinary health care through facilitated socially construed team coordination); 3 Academic level (provision of critical academic health care through interdisciplinary research generating objective knowledge with ideological policies and approach). Conclusion: Critical theory embraces the scientific traditions that advocate proper objectivity and subjectivity in a manner that social construction of health care becomes more appropriate, effective, and complete. Critical perspectives in health care transform the system into an integrative multidisciplinary model that provide a more thorough patient care, which brings about emancipating social changes at the three levels of health care system. Critical competencies facilitate holistic-oriented, trustworthy and safeguarding individual professional independent practice, regulatory institutions and ideological academy.

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Background: Physical restraints are known to violate human rights, yet their use persists in long-term care facilities. This study aimed to explore the prevalence, methods, and interventions related to physical restraint use among the elderly in nursing homes. Methods: The method described by Joanna Briggs was followed to conduct a scoping review without a quality assessment of the selected studies. An electronic search was conducted to find eligible empirical articles using MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, CINAHL, and grey literature. The database search was performed using EndNote software (version X9, Clarivate Analytics), and the data were imported into Excel for analysis. Results: The prevalence of physical restraint use was found to be highest in Spain (84.9%) and lowest in the USA (1.9%). The most common device reported was bed rails, with the highest prevalence in Singapore (98%) and the lowest (4.7%) in Germany, followed by chair restraint (57%). The largest number of studies reported the prevention and/or risk of falls to be the main reason for using physical restraints, followed by behavioral problems such as wandering, verbal or physical agitation, and cognitive impairment. Most studies reported guideline- and/or theory-based multicomponent interventions consisting of the training and education of nursing home staff. Conclusions: This review provides valuable insights into the use of physical restraints among elderly residents in nursing homes. Despite efforts to minimize their use, physical restraints continue to be employed, particularly with elderly individuals who have cognitive impairments. Patient-related factors such as wandering, agitation, and cognitive impairment were identified as the second most common reasons for using physical restraints in this population. To address this issue, it is crucial to enhance the skills of nursing home staff, especially nurses, in providing safe and ethical care for elderly residents with cognitive and functional impairments, aggressive behaviors, and fall risks.

The mental health of young labor immigrants (YLI’s) is a public health issue that has become notably more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is well established in the literature that most YLI’s are young and healthy when they arrive in the host country. However, due to the poor living and working conditions, as well as linguistic and socioeconomic barriers to health care in the host country, their physical and mental health often deteriorates. Between 1 March 2021 and 5 March 2021, a virtual meeting was organized by Oslo Metropolitan University in collaboration with the Nordic Council of Ministers mobility and network program for education in the Nordic and Baltic countries (Nordplus). It consisted of a multidisciplinary team of 26 participants from Nordic and Baltic countries. Topics included working and living conditions of YLI’s, prejudices towards immigrants, and mental health-related interventions for YLI’s in the participating countries. This paper draws attention to some of the mental health challenges and needs of YLI’s and to the suggestions gathered from the Nordplus meeting to combat these challenges from a healthcare professional’s perspective.