What Aspects Promote Health and Well‐Being Among Autistic Adults and How Can They Be Incorporated Into Nursing Care? A Theoretical Podcast‐Based Study

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Hedlund, Å. (2025). What Aspects Promote Health and Well‐Being Among Autistic Adults and How Can They Be Incorporated Into Nursing Care? A Theoretical Podcast‐Based Study. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 39(4), e70139-e70139. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.70139

Publication date: 16 Oct 2025 Added to AutiHub: 22 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Åsa Hedlund *

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Nursing care aims to promote health and well‐being among patients, but if nurses are to meet this requirement, they need to know the needs of the individual. Among autistic patients, health and well‐being may be promoted using factors other than those used among other groups, indicating that their care needs may also differ. Aim The aim of the study was to investigate what autistic adults need if they are to experience health and well‐being. The aim was also to evaluate how nurses can use this information in nursing care based on the Fundamentals of Care framework. Methods This was a qualitative‐theoretical descriptive study incorporating elements of netnography. Podcasts in which autistic individuals discuss their health and well‐being were listened to and qualitatively analyzed to address the first part of the aim. The Fundamentals of Care framework was then used to demonstrate how results from the first part of the aim could be applied in nursing care to meet the care needs of autistic patients. Results The study reveals that when autistic adults speak freely about their life, they mention interests, pride, being a support to others, satisfying the body's needs, health‐promoting places, being alone, experiencing straightforward communication, receiving support from others and having routines as important to their health and well‐being. All of these aspects are relevant to consider when trying to meet autistic patients' nursing care needs. For example, minimizing sensory impressions and being able to have routines are important to physical well‐being. Conclusions The study reveals that adult autistic individuals may have partly different nursing care needs compared to most patients. Nurses can meet autistic patients' needs using the Fundamentals of Care framework, adapted to autistic individuals, as a guide. Patient or Public Contribution This study only involves public data and has not recruited any participants. However, the researcher has autism herself and is well‐versed in the research field and the knowledge development desired by the international autistic community.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 18:15.

Cited references
31
With a DOI
23
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
8
1 / 31 (3.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 31 (9.7%)
References with detected author names
28 / 31 (90.3%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
3
Without a stable identifier
8
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
103
From DOI or external metadata
103
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
19 / 103 (18.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 84 / 103 (81.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
1 / 103 (1.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 1 / 19 (5.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 103 (1.0%).
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