Problem: To gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of mental health.
Methods: Qualitative interviews with 16 women between the ages of 71 and 92. The data were collected and analyzed using a phenomenological approach.
Findings: The essence of mental health is the experience of confirmation, trust and confidence in the future, as well as a zest for life, development, and involvement in one's relationship to oneself and to others.
Conclusions: Creating arenas for encounters confirming the individual's human existence and dignity is an important basis for the psychiatric nurse's health-promotion work.