Kerstis, B.; Herlofson, J.; Wiklund Gustin, L. Study Circles as a Possible Arena to Support Self-Care—A Swedish Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 483.
Kerstis, B.; Herlofson, J.; Wiklund Gustin, L. Study Circles as a Possible Arena to Support Self-Care—A Swedish Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 483.
Kerstis, B.; Herlofson, J.; Wiklund Gustin, L. Study Circles as a Possible Arena to Support Self-Care—A Swedish Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 483.
Kerstis, B.; Herlofson, J.; Wiklund Gustin, L. Study Circles as a Possible Arena to Support Self-Care—A Swedish Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 483.
Abstract
Today, issues related to people’s mental health and well-being have been described as a challenge for society, globally as well as in Sweden. This calls for new approaches to mental health promotion. The aim was to evaluate the adequacy of the content and structure, describing experiences of study circles as a means of supporting participants' self-care and self-compassion. The overall design is a descriptive, QUAL+quan design, where quantitative and qualitative results are integrated. Five participants participated in a focus group interview, of whom four completed questionnaires. One individual interview was conducted with the study circle leader. Study circles can be an arena for mental health promotion as learning and sharing of experience contributes to a sense of coherence, as well as self-compassion and a genuine concern for one’s own and others' wellbeing, but not considered an alternative to psychiatric care, for those in need of professional services. Study circles can be a possible means to support self-care and thereby promote mental health in the general population, and a valuable contribution to public health. However, in addition to modifications of the content, further research is needed on the qualifications for study circle leaders as well as the dissemination of study circles.
Keywords
mental health; mixed methods; self-care; self-compassion; study circles
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Nursing
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
