Study Circles as a Possible Arena to Support Self-Care—A Swedish Pilot Study

Birgitta Kerstis, Jorgen Herlofson and Lena Wiklund Gustin ()
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Birgitta Kerstis: School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 722 20 Västerås, Sweden
Jorgen Herlofson: Empatica AB, 752 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Lena Wiklund Gustin: School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 722 20 Västerås, Sweden

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 4, 1-11

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 its 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 the 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’ well-being, but are 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 are 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 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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