Table I.

Aim, context, sample, field method and data analysis: characteristics of the studies included in the review.

Author	Study aim	Context	Sample	Field method	Data analysis
Benzein (1999); Benzein, Norberg, & Saveman (2001)	To explore the meaning of the lived experience of hope in dying patients	Palliative home care	4 women and 7 men aged 54–83	Narrative interviews	Phenomenological hermeneutic
Ekman (1999)	To highlight aspects of the life situation of elderly people living with moderate to severe chronic heart failure (CHF)	Elderly with chronic heart failure CHF in Sweden	16 women and men aged 75–94	Narrative interviews	Phenomenological hermeneutic
Ekman, Skott, & Norberg (2001)	To achieve a deeper understanding of the meaning of the lived experience of being an elderly woman with CHF	Elderly with chronic heart failure CHF in Sweden	1 woman aged 76	2 interviews 1 year apart	Phenomenological hermeneutic
Elofsson & Öhlén (2004)	To gain deeper understanding of the meaning of the lived experiences of severely ill elderly people who have obstructive pulmonary disease and are in need of everyday care	Elderly with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	2 women and 4 men aged 78–88	Dialogue interviews	Phenomenological hermeneutic
Erikson, Park, & Tham (2011)	To examine the shifting relationship between meaning, place, and activities during the year-long rehabilitation process	Rehabilitation for people with stroke	4 men and 3 women aged 42–61	Longitudinal interviews; four times	Constant comparative method
Heikkila & Ekman (2003)	Where do the elderly Finnish immigrants in Sweden want and expect to be cared for?	Elderly Finnish immigrants in Sweden	4 men and 35 women aged 75–89	Theme guided interviews	Latent qualitative content analysis
	What aspects affect wishes and expectations of care?
Graneheim (2004); Graneheim & Jansson (2006)	To illuminate the meaning of living with dementia and disturbing behaviour, as narrated by three persons admitted to a residential home.	A residential home for people with dementia and complications that mainly take the form of disturbing behaviour	1 women and 2 men aged 73–79	Repeated informal conversational interviews	Phenomenological hermeneutic
Lindahl, Sandman, & Rasmussen (2003)	To highlight the meanings of being dependent on a ventilator and living at home	Swedish home care	6 women and 3 men	Interviews	Phenomenological hermeneutic
Öhlén (2000); Öhlén, Bengtsson, Skott, & Segesten (2002)	To explore meanings of alleviated suffering in people living with life-threatening cancer	Inpatient hospice and palliative home care	16 women and men aged 53–88	Repeated conversations	Lifeworld phenomenological
Rasmussen, Jansson & Norberg (2000)	To show the effects of nursing care as experienced by hospice patients	Hospice care	2 men and 10 women aged 32–95	Conversationalresearch interviews	Phenomenological hermeneutic
Zingmark, Norberg & Sandman (1993)	To gain deeper understanding of demented patients’ everyday life and explore demented patients’ behaviour related to home	A group dwelling for dementia patients	6 women aged 65–79	Participant and non-participant observations	Constant comparative method
Zingmark (2000)	To highlight the meaning of home-related experiences in people with advanced Alzheimer disease living in a homelike care setting, and moments of homecoming disclosed in a woman with Alzheimer disease in an advanced stage who mostly talked about going home and being lost*	A group dwelling for demented patients	6 women	Participant observations of care episodes over 20 months	Phenomenological hermeneutic and case study

^*We refer to studies II and III of this thesis.