The meaning of mental health from elderly women's perspectives: a basis for health promotion.
OBJECTIVE
To gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of mental health.


METHODS
Qualitative interviews with 16 women between the ages of 71 and 92. The data were collected and analyzed using a phenomenological approach.


RESULTS
The essence of mental health is the experience of confirmation, trust and confidence in the future, as well as a zest for life, development, and involvement in one's relationship to oneself and to others.


CONCLUSIONS
Creating arenas for encounters confirming the individual's human existence and dignity is an important basis for the psychiatric nurse's health-promotion work.
Hedelin
B
B
Karlstad University, Division for Health and Care, Karlstad, Sweden. birgitta.hedelin@kau.se
Strandmark
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D016387:Women's Health