Towards a Broader Understanding of the Phenomenon

5 ORIGINAL PAPERS 6 INTRODUCTION 7 BACKGROUND 10 The historical development of hospitals and hospices in Sweden 10 Concepts for studying atmosphere in care settings 12 Place 15 Space 16 Ward atmosphere 17 Enriched environments 18 Supportive environments/design 20 Caring culture 21 Healing environments 22 People’s doing and being in creating an atmosphere 23 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY 24 AIM OF THE STUDY 26 METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK 26 MATERIALS AND METHODS 29 Settings 30 Sampling and participants 32 Methods of data collection 33 Narrative research interviews 33 Focus group interviews 34 Observations 34 Methods of analysis 35 Narrative analysis 35 Grounded theory 37 Phenomenological hermeneutic analysis 38 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 40 FINDINGS 41 Personal expectations 42 The physical environment 43 People’s doing and being in the environment 46 Experiences of identity 50 COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING AND DISCUSSION 51 METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 59 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING 64 SUMMARY IN SWEDISH – SVENSK SAMMANFATTNING 68 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 73 REFERENCES 76 PAPERS I−IV DISSERTATIONS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NURSING, UMEÅ UNIVERSITY