Background:

Alcohol abuse in Sweden has increased the past 20 years. Many patients who are seeking care experiences that they are being treated with closed-minded attitudes. Lack of knowledge in nursing care lead to patients feeling stigmatized. Alcohol abuse and mental illness is often occurred together and that's why more knowledge in this area is required.

Aim:

The purpose of this study is to describe which aspects that influences how people with alcohol abuse are treated in health care.

Method:

A literature review were used to analyze nine articles, four qualitative and five quantitative articles.

Results:

Three themes were created during the analyze. The first theme is educated and experienced staff promotes the patient's experience of care. The second theme is the importance of the relationship. The third theme is prejudices that lead to deficiencies in the treatment. The themes are presented as headlines in the result.

Conclusion:

The study reveals that persons with alcohol abuse and mental illness wanted to be treated with a professional attitude towards their problem. They also wanted a good relationship with the staff in health care