Papers by Torill Lindstrøm
Human-animal interaction bulletin
There is a need for evidence-based interventions that can contribute to more positive treatment o... more There is a need for evidence-based interventions that can contribute to more positive treatment outcomes for substance use disorders. Animal-assisted therapy is a supplementary intervention in which certified animals are used in a structured and goal directed manner in the treatment of various health problems. This review aims to systematically investigate and evaluate the available literature and thus hopefully contribute to future research. The electronic searches were performed in the databases PsycInfo, Medline, and Web of Science. Searches of reference lists were also performed. As the research on this particular field is scarce, the inclusion criteria had to allow for a relatively great variation in methods, interventions, and populations. Still, only ten studies were included, of which three were quantitative, six were qualitative, and one was a mixed methods study. All of the included articles examined the effect of AAT in the treatment of substance use disorders. The popula...
Human-animal interaction bulletin, Dec 1, 2017
There is a need for evidence-based interventions that can contribute to more positive treatment o... more There is a need for evidence-based interventions that can contribute to more positive treatment outcomes for substance use disorders. Animal-assisted therapy is a supplementary intervention in which certified animals are used in a structured and goal directed manner in the treatment of various health problems. This review aims to systematically investigate and evaluate the available literature and thus hopefully contribute to future research. The electronic searches were performed in the databases PsycInfo, Medline, and Web of Science. Searches of reference lists were also performed. As the research on this particular field is scarce, the inclusion criteria had to allow for a relatively great variation in methods, interventions, and populations. Still, only ten studies were included, of which three were quantitative, six were qualitative, and one was a mixed methods study. All of the included articles examined the effect of AAT in the treatment of substance use disorders. The populations investigated included both women and men aged 13 to 55 years undergoing treatment for substance use disorder. A segregated design was applied, where the quantitative results were pooled using narrative synthesis and the qualitative using metasummary, all of which were combined in a final configuration. Three of the quantitative studies found significant correlations, and the metasummary indicated several reoccurring themes across the qualitative studies. However, a general lack of systematic investigation and an excess of explorative research were identified, and the majority of the articles neglected to report information important for replication. More thorough and systematic investigations are needed. A tentative explanatory model, with a hypothesis generating aim, is presented, in which the qualitative findings function as moderators or mediators of the relationships indicated by the quantitative studies.
International Journal of Nursing Studies, Mar 1, 2005
Many models of pain give coping an important role in understanding adaptation to chronic pain. Am... more Many models of pain give coping an important role in understanding adaptation to chronic pain. Among these, Lazarus and Folkman's cognitive-phenomenological model of stress and coping provides a theoretical framework to conceptualise stress phenomena and coping strategies related to chronic pain. Chronic pain often necessitates new coping skills. An understanding of the concept of coping and how the patients cope is therefore crucial for the success of rehabilitation. The current study examined how coping, as measured by the Ways of Coping Checklist, was related to medical variables, depression measured by the Short Zung depression rating scale, and Rosenberg's self-esteem scale. The study sample consisted of 88 people who were recruited for a multidisciplinary pain management programme. Data were collected as part of a routine pre-treatment evaluation. Results indicated that the most predominant stressors were related to familylife and social activities. We also recognised on the one hand, appraising pain as a challenge was predictive of problem-focused coping, while on the other hand, appraising pain as a threat, experiencing depression, and reduced self-esteem were predictive of emotion-focused coping. Clinical implications of these results in nursing are discussed.
Background: Social support is associated with a better adjustment to breast cancer, whereas inade... more Background: Social support is associated with a better adjustment to breast cancer, whereas inadequate social support increases psychological distress. However, the period between diagnosis and surgery is particularly stressful, and few studies have addressed the significance of social support in this period. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe women's individual experiences of social support after having received a breast cancer diagnosis and awaiting surgery. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used. Individual semistructured interviews were conducted the day before surgery with 21 women aged 41 to 73 years with newly diagnosed breast cancer at a Norwegian university hospital. Results: Methods of qualitative meaning condensation analysis revealed 5 themes: available support, information and advice, care, having confidants, and balancing distance and closeness. Knowing that both family and healthcare professionals were available and caring gave a sense of security. Social support gave strength, although too much could be experienced as difficult and frightening. The women needed a balance between distance from and closeness to their social network. Both professional information and someone professional with whom to talk personally were essential. Conclusions: Social support is an important resource for women with breast cancer but can be a double-edged sword as the network's offered support can sometimes be a burden. Implications for Practice: Healthcare professionals could call each patient, encourage the patients to call if they want, and, if preferred, offer face-to-face consultations for women with breast cancer awaiting surgery. This contact should be a supportive, informative, and confidential available resource.
Art in the Archaeological Imagination
Archaeologies of the Heart
Emotions are ephemeral phenomena and hard to identify in archaeological materials and contexts. Y... more Emotions are ephemeral phenomena and hard to identify in archaeological materials and contexts. Yet, graves, battlefields, and objects may offer compelling evidence of emotions; and, through millennia, people have depicted human faces in paintings, pottery, sculptures, embroideries, metal works, and more. Some faces display emotional expressions. But how can we systematically record and identify them? The Facial Action Coding System (FACS), an instrument for registering facial expressions (Ekman and Friesen, The facial action coding system. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, 1978), was developed within psychology, but is used within numerous fields. “The Dionysiac Fresco” in “Villa of the Mysteries” in Pompeii, Italy, painted in the first century BCE, is one of the most famous paintings from European antiquity. It shows 29 persons (human and supernatural) engaged in various activities. The interpretations are numerous and varied. Several interpretations claim that strong emotions are expressed. I used FACS when investigating the faces. Results showed few and weak emotional expressions. Emotional expressions are influenced by both human nature and culture. Pictorial conventions and Roman attitudes to emotionality may have influenced the emotions in the Fresco but, possibly, also intentions and experiences related to religion and cultic practices. These results may contribute to the interpretation of “the Dionysiac Fresco” in “Villa of the Mysteries,” Pompeii.
Faces depicted in art are major sources of information about people from pre-photographic times. ... more Faces depicted in art are major sources of information about people from pre-photographic times. They tell us something about how people looked and looked upon themselves and others. Depicted faces give us information about how people wanted to be seen, their self-representation; but also give information about their views of “the other” (people from different genders, classes, occupations, ethnic groups, etc.) shown in the ways in which they were depicted. Depicted faces in archaeological material are sometimes portraits, or, as in more “primitive” art, at least attempts towards representing facial likeness. Depiction of faces also often followed traditional conventions and could be ideologically influenced.
TephroArchaeology in the North Pacific
Psychology and Psychotherapy Research Study
Nordisk sygeplejeforskning
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women worldwide. Despite considerable resea... more Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women worldwide. Despite considerable research, there is still need for improved patient-centred care. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were any typical experiences that characterized the lives of the women that we interviewed. Information was collected 1 year after and 9 years after primary breast cancer surgery. Interview data were analysed using Kvale's method of qualitative meaning condensation. The findings were discussed in light of Martinsen's philosophy of caring. Three main themes were prominent both 1 and 9 years after surgery: being changed, being unprepared, and living in suspense. However, these typical experiences were often expressed differently. A profound understanding of both similarities and uniqueness in women's experiences when being treated for breast cancer is vital for health care professionals when supporting women to live with a cancer diagnosis. More information about side effects is needed to prepare these women for a changed life.
Cancer Nursing
BACKGROUND Increased breast cancer survival means that many women live with long-term consequence... more BACKGROUND Increased breast cancer survival means that many women live with long-term consequences of their cancer and treatment. Knowledge about their coping is important. OBJECTIVE This qualitative follow-up study describes survivors' coping experiences 9 years after primary breast cancer surgery. METHODS Seventeen of the 21 women interviewed 9 years earlier were invited to participate. Fifteen agreed and were interviewed individually between January and June 2015. Qualitative meaning condensation analysis was used. RESULTS Three themes emerged: (1) Changed life: some felt healthy and beyond cancer; others suffered from reduced energy, joy of life, and self-esteem. Being affected by a life-threatening illness made their fundamental values clearer. Using cancer experiences to help others was emphasized. (2) Positive thinking, distancing the negative: striving to maintain positive thinking and distancing themselves from insecurity and fear of recurrence. A step-by-step strategy was important to cope with their new life situation. (3) Need for understanding and recognition: support was experienced as necessary and challenging. Recognition of posttreatment ailments was emphasized. Being more socially selective and preferring positive people were essential. CONCLUSIONS Cancer experiences changed the women's lives. Their coping varied. Fewer but selected supporters were preferred. Understanding and recognition from others for the women's changed life situation was essential. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Healthcare professionals should prepare women for a changed life situation because of illness experiences and the adverse effects of treatments. The support and information offered must be adjusted to each woman's individual needs, coping capacity, and life situation. Further clinical intervention studies are needed.
Archaeological Dialogues
While agreeing to openness to other world views, the underlying premise of ‘otherness’ in ‘the ot... more While agreeing to openness to other world views, the underlying premise of ‘otherness’ in ‘the other’ is questioned. It is argued that individual, intercultural and intra-cultural differences run criss-cross throughout the anthroposphere. The often convoluted language in symmetrical, Latourian and New Materialist directions in archaeology is criticized. One questions what their significant new contributions to archaeological research are. The importance of refined differentiations regarding agency and effects, and the living and the non-living, is maintained. Latour's claim of a universal dichotomization in Western thinking (both academic and common) is interrogated, and empirical proofs demanded. The concepts of ‘dichotomy’ and ‘binary thinking’ are discussed. The assumed political and ethical sequelae and implications of adherence to one or another theoretical position and research methodology are questioned. Ecological awareness can be acquired from various positions. In gene...
Archaeological Dialogues, 2015
Agency', the concept, its connections to ontology and its uses within archaeological theory, are ... more Agency', the concept, its connections to ontology and its uses within archaeological theory, are discussed and criticized. In recent archaeological theory, the term 'agency' has been attributed to things, plants, animals and humans. In this paper it is argued that the term 'agency' is logically meaningless if applied to everything that moves or has effects on its surroundings, and that we need a new, more precise terminology that discriminates between 'agency', 'effect', 'actant' and 'effectant'. That people, of all cultures, perceive and experience things/objects as having agency is explained as being due to projections of human characteristics, human psycho-neurological functioning, and the fact that all individuals and cultures are deeply involved with and dependent on things/objects. Connected to this, questions regarding different ontologies, animism, ethics and sciences are discussed. The paper presents a critique of symmetrical archaeology and materiality studies. Broader paradigmatic perspectives, more theoretical and methodological inclusiveness, and more interand trans-disciplinary endeavours are suggested to increase archaeology's 'agency'.
European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2015
Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative follow-up study was to describe women's individual copin... more Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative follow-up study was to describe women's individual coping experiences and reflections following their first year after primary breast cancer surgery. Methods: Using a qualitative descriptive design, we collected data through individual interviews with ten women at a Norwegian university hospital between August 2007 and April 2008. We employed Kvale's method of qualitative meaning condensation analysis. Results: Themes identified were: existential concerns and finding meaning, ways of thinking and feeling about the disease, taking action, and returning to normal life. Most women experienced an increased appreciation of life and greater confidence in themselves, were more caring and compassionate towards others, and focused more on their life priorities. Their family and close relationships became more important. They accepted their situation and made the best of it. Positive thinking, physical activity, selfcare, nature, hobbies and work helped. Generally, they were optimistic despite a fear of cancer recurrence and uncertainty about their future. The women wanted to return to a "normal" and healthy life by distancing themselves from both the cancer environment and information about cancer. Uncertainty and anxiety about a potential future cancer relapse was a major undercurrent one year following surgery. Our findings emphasize the richness in these women's coping strategies, their different coping profiles and different needs, as well as some general adaptive strategies, which all fluctuated over time. Not all managed to cope equally well. Through awareness of these women's individual experiences and coping strategies, healthcare professionals can enhance these women's coping endeavours.
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Papers by Torill Lindstrøm