...och då ser vi livet på ett nytt sätt
(2026) PSPR14 20251Department of Psychology
- Abstract
- As society is faced with troubled times, existential health has become a growing public health concern in Sweden. Existential health has been established as a field of health science since the early 1990s. The research has demonstrated a positive relationship with other health dimensions such as mental and somatic health, as well as to resilience and to general quality of life. The aim of this study is to provide a deepened understanding of what existential health can mean in Sweden today. This has been done through semistructured interviews with a group of people with special experience of dealing with existential matters – the clergy. Through thematic analysis, three themes about the meaning of existential health were developed:... (More)
- As society is faced with troubled times, existential health has become a growing public health concern in Sweden. Existential health has been established as a field of health science since the early 1990s. The research has demonstrated a positive relationship with other health dimensions such as mental and somatic health, as well as to resilience and to general quality of life. The aim of this study is to provide a deepened understanding of what existential health can mean in Sweden today. This has been done through semistructured interviews with a group of people with special experience of dealing with existential matters – the clergy. Through thematic analysis, three themes about the meaning of existential health were developed: Perceiving a Spiritual Context of Life, Openness to Life and Loving thy Neighbour. The findings indicate that our way of making sense of the world influences our ability to perceive meaning, which in turn impacts our ability to engage with the world in a community promoting way. The results point to the importance of resisting certain habits of contemporary culture and society to diminish the spiritual and communal dimensions of life. The findings support the existential health literature which underlines the importance of experiencing oneself as a part of something bigger, having a sense of contact with life, and of meaningful life engagement. What this study brings more light on is the particular significance of relationships marked by love, benevolence, and solidarity. Based on the results, this study recommends a holistic approach to public existential health work, which takes social and meaning making dimensions of being human into account, and facilitates alternatives to instrumental rationality as guiding principle for thinking and organising. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- I samband med oroliga tider har existentiell hälsa har blivit en växande folkhälsofråga i Sverige. Sedan början av 90-talet har existentiell hälsa beforskats vid sidan om exempelvis psykisk och somatisk hälsa. Forskningen har påvisat ett positivt samband med andra hälsodimensioner, samt med resiliens och allmän livskvalitet. Syftet med denna studie är att ge en fördjupad förståelse för vad existentiell hälsa kan innebära i Sverige idag. Detta har gjorts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med en yrkesgrupp som har särskild erfarenhet av existentiella frågor – präster och diakoner. Genom tematisk analys har tre teman om innebörden av existentiell hälsa utvecklats: Att vara medveten om livets andliga sammanhang, Öppenhet för livet och Att... (More)
- I samband med oroliga tider har existentiell hälsa har blivit en växande folkhälsofråga i Sverige. Sedan början av 90-talet har existentiell hälsa beforskats vid sidan om exempelvis psykisk och somatisk hälsa. Forskningen har påvisat ett positivt samband med andra hälsodimensioner, samt med resiliens och allmän livskvalitet. Syftet med denna studie är att ge en fördjupad förståelse för vad existentiell hälsa kan innebära i Sverige idag. Detta har gjorts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med en yrkesgrupp som har särskild erfarenhet av existentiella frågor – präster och diakoner. Genom tematisk analys har tre teman om innebörden av existentiell hälsa utvecklats: Att vara medveten om livets andliga sammanhang, Öppenhet för livet och Att älska sin nästa. Resultatet tyder på att vårt sätt att tänka på världen och livet har betydelse för vår möjlighet att uppfatta livet som meningsfullt, och att detta påverkar vår förmåga att leva på ett gemenskapsbyggande sätt. Resultatet pekar på vikten att motstå vissa tendenser hos den moderna kulturen till att förminska upplevelsen av livet och dess sammanhang, i synnerhet livets andliga och gemenskapsbyggande dimensioner. Resultaten stöder befintlig litteratur inom existentiell hälsa som pekat på vikten av att uppleva sig själv som en del av något större, att uppleva en känsla av kontakt med livet och att finna mening i det man gör. Något som denna studie tillför är att lyfta fram betydelsen hos relationer präglade av kärlek, välvilja eller solidaritet. Utifrån resultatet rekommenderar denna studie att ett existentiellt folkhälsoarbete tar en holistisk utgångspunkt som tar hänsyn till sociala, politiska och meningsskapande dimensioner av att vara människa, och som möjliggör alternativ till den instrumentella rationalitetens tankesätt och organisatoriska system. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9221196
- author
- Persson, Tor LU
- supervisor
-
- Per Johnsson LU
- organization
- course
- PSPR14 20251
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- existentiell hälsa, känsla av sammanhang, mening, det goda livet, kyrkan, präster och diakoner, existential health, spiritual health, sense of coherence, meaning, the good life, church, clergy
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9221196
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-28 10:18:32
- date last changed
- 2026-01-28 10:18:32
@misc{9221196,
abstract = {{As society is faced with troubled times, existential health has become a growing public health concern in Sweden. Existential health has been established as a field of health science since the early 1990s. The research has demonstrated a positive relationship with other health dimensions such as mental and somatic health, as well as to resilience and to general quality of life. The aim of this study is to provide a deepened understanding of what existential health can mean in Sweden today. This has been done through semistructured interviews with a group of people with special experience of dealing with existential matters – the clergy. Through thematic analysis, three themes about the meaning of existential health were developed: Perceiving a Spiritual Context of Life, Openness to Life and Loving thy Neighbour. The findings indicate that our way of making sense of the world influences our ability to perceive meaning, which in turn impacts our ability to engage with the world in a community promoting way. The results point to the importance of resisting certain habits of contemporary culture and society to diminish the spiritual and communal dimensions of life. The findings support the existential health literature which underlines the importance of experiencing oneself as a part of something bigger, having a sense of contact with life, and of meaningful life engagement. What this study brings more light on is the particular significance of relationships marked by love, benevolence, and solidarity. Based on the results, this study recommends a holistic approach to public existential health work, which takes social and meaning making dimensions of being human into account, and facilitates alternatives to instrumental rationality as guiding principle for thinking and organising.}},
author = {{Persson, Tor}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{...och då ser vi livet på ett nytt sätt}},
year = {{2026}},
}