The Fountain Houses : Practicing Empowerment

Sammanfattning: In the autumn of 2020, I was an intern at Fontänhuset Sköndal and there my curiosity was aroused to know more about the organization and the people in it. The purpose of my thesis was to investigate whether Fountain houses members' mental health has improved since they started participating in the activities, I wanted to investigate whether empowerment was the reason for the members possibly improved mental health. In this study, I interviewed four members and three employees / supervisors. My assumption that the well-being of the members of Fountain houses was positively affected was to some extent correct. All stated that they felt better since they started at Fontain Houses, but still they continued to medicate and have contact with the traditional psychiatric care. That empowerment in the form of joint work, participation, co-determination and autonomy was crucial in their perception of their mental health. Due to the current corona pandemic, the Fountain houses cannot be open as usual and members cannot participate in all the daily tasks.Hopefully the restrictions will soon end so that members can return to a structured existence with routines, join tasks and social company.Structure and routines are important for people with mental illness. The importance of Fountain houses is becoming more significant as mental illness spreads in the country. It is gratifying that several members are actively involved in establishing more Fountain houses in Sweden.