"Jag tror vi behöver bli mer tränade i att prata om livet och döden och universum"

: En kvalitativ studie om betydelsen av den existentiella hälsan inom kommunalt och regionalt folkhälsoarbete bland barn och unga

Abstract

Introduction: The development of mental illness among children and adolescents is a serious public health problem today. Evidence shows that spiritual health is important for mental health and well-being. Snacka om livet (SOL) is a project designed to promote the existential health of children and adolescents. Continued work on the project depends on creating the conditions for the area’s implementation and on policymakers prioritizing the area.

Purpose: To investigate the experience of existential health within Skåne's municipal and regional cross-sectoral public health work in the promotion of children and young people's mental health.

Methods: The study had a qualitative approach with ten participants with senior positions within the municipality and region. The informants were selected based on a strategic selection. The interviews were conducted with a semi-structured method and with thorough ethical considerations. The empirics were analyzed based on qualitative content analysis.

Results: The results showed that the area is new, important and of current interest in relation to mental illness among children and adolescents. The concept was to some extent perceived as complex and taboo but was also described as having great benefits for individuals and society. Spiritual health was perceived to strengthen and equip children and adolescents. A prerequisite for the area’s implementation was meant, among other things, to include the concept in public health work.

Conclusion: The study has been able to contribute additional evidence and knowledge to this relatively new and unexplored area. Spiritual health is a resource in both prevention and promotion of public health work. The study has identified that health literacy can be an important tool for the area's integration into public health. The concept needs to be clarified, made aware and given space in the public health perspective.