Background
Methods
Design
Interviews and interview guide
Healthy Life Centres
Recruitment and participants
Characteristics | Number of informants |
---|---|
Gender | |
Females | 16 |
Males | 7 |
Age | |
18–29 | 4 |
30–39 | 4 |
40–49 | 5 |
50–59 | 5 |
>60 | 5 |
Ethnicity and language spoken | |
Norwegian | 23 |
Civil status | |
Single/Separated | 9 |
Partner/Married | 14 |
Education level | |
Some college | 4 |
No high school diploma | 4 |
High school graduate | 11 |
Bachelor’s degree or higher | 4 |
Work status | |
Not workinga | 13 |
Working < 50 %b | 4 |
Studying or working > 50 % | 6 |
Previous attempts to change lifestyle | |
Specialist health care interventions | 7 |
Primary Health care interventionsc | 8 (+7) |
On their ownd | 8 (+8 + 7) |
Started at the Healthy Life Centre | |
Less than three months ago | 15 |
Three months ago | 7 |
Six months ago or more | 1 |
Ethics
Data analysis
Results
Main theme 1: stuck in old habits
“Why do we have these kinds of habits? I have to try to find the key to change the bad habits I have gotten into. I should lose some weight. I should quit smoking. I should work out more. Everything I do is wrong. I have to start somewhere…” Woman 40–49 years
Knowing, but not doing
“I know a lot about good habits and things like that. I’m not clueless as to why I am so big. I know that I do not exercise, I eat unhealthy food, I know it and I know that it is not good for me. But I struggle with why I cannot do the right things when I know all this.” Woman 18–29 years
Previous experiences in changing lifestyle
“I have started cures and programmes for exercising and dieting numerous times, but I expected everything to happen quickly. Now I am more aware that I need to start at the beginning and take one step at time. I want this to be a permanent change….” Woman 40–49 years.
Main theme 2: Baggage from previous life experiences as a barrier to change
“I have so much emotional baggage from my life that explains this bad pattern I have gotten into. I have been used as a doormat all my life. I don’t want this anymore. I had problems at my work where my colleagues harassed me, and I had problems in my private life and with bad childhood experiences. Then I lost my job. I struggled with migraines, and after all of these experiences, I was very tense. My general practitioner said that he assumed that I was depressed, and I was given medications, which caused me to gain weight, and I was somewhat overweight before. Now I have to lose weight and I can’t do this by myself, I need help…”Woman 40–49 years
Childhood experiences
“When I hear his name I get tears in my eyes. All I have wanted my whole life is for him to be happy with me. He has always criticized me, everything I’ve ever done has been wrong…” Woman 30–39 years
Family, work and social life
Participant | Quotes on family, work and social issues |
---|---|
Female 40–49 years | “I was bullied at my work place by almost all colleagues. I was also bullied in younger years. I think it makes me more vulnerable, all those memories from earlier bullying came alive with this new bulling at my work place. I have been crying a lot…” |
Female 40–49 years | “I don’t have any contact with my parents. I ended up with an abusive man. When I found myself a new man it was also a violent relationship....” In addition, one of my children have ADHD and I have been struggling a lot with all these things…” |
Female 40–49 years | “My daughter is struggling in the same way as me with psychological problems and suicidal thoughts. I have several suicide attempts behind me. My daughter and I like to be at home by ourselves and I think that because of our problems we do not socialize much…” |
Male 50–59 years | “When I first got married it turned out my wife was an alcoholic and her doctor said that she had little left time to live if she continued drinking like that. So with all the uncertainty with my wife being an alcoholic it all got messy. But I have to help her and be there for here, I cannot just run away…” |
Male 50–59 years | “My daughter is a drug addict and I have tried to help her many times, knowing she would take all my money and run away again as she always does. Now I have not seen her in a while…” |
Female > 60 years | “My daughter was abused as a child and she had many problems growing up, but it was as an adult she came forward and told me what had happened. She is mentally ill because of what happened and I have to be there for her and help her as she is often hospitalized. I have been feeling a lot of guilt and I do not understand that the abuse could have happened without me not knowing…” |
Female >60 years | “I moved from my first husband because he was violent. I felt that it was better for the children to grow up with only their mother. Then I got a new husband and he had mental problems, which was demanding. I have now lost my husband and I also lost my boy, he became a drug addict …” |