ABSTRACT
AIM: The aim was to explore the process of involving mental healthcare service users in a mental health promotion research project as research advisors and to articulate features of the collaboration which encouraged and empowered the advisors to make significant contributions to the research process and outcome. BACKGROUND: There is an increasing interest in evaluating aspects of service user involvement in nursing research. Few descriptions exist of features that enable meaningful service user involvement. We draw on experiences from conducting research which used the methodology interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore how persons with mental disorders perceived mental health. Apart from the participants in the project, five research advisors with service user experience were involved in the entire research process. DESIGN: We applied a case study design to explore the ongoing processes of service user involvement. METHODS: Documents and texts produced while conducting the project (2012-2016), as well as transcripts from multistage focus group discussions with the research advisors, were analysed. RESULTS: The level of involvement was dynamic and varied throughout the different stages of the research process. Six features: leadership, meeting structure, role clarification, being members of a team, a focus on possibilities and being seen and treated as holistic individuals, were guiding principles for a salutogenic service user involvement. These features strengthened the advisors' perception of themselves as valuable and competent contributors. CONCLUSION: Significant contributions from research advisors were promoted by facilitating the process of involvement. A supporting structure and atmosphere were consistent with a salutogenic service user involvement.
ABSTRACT
AIM: The aim of this study was to examine how service user involvement can contribute to the development of interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology and enhance research quality. BACKGROUND: Interpretative phenomenological analysis is a qualitative methodology used in nursing research internationally to understand human experiences that are essential to the participants. Service user involvement is requested in nursing research. DESIGN: We share experiences from 4 years of collaboration (2012-2015) on a mental health promotion project, which involved an advisory team. METHODS: Five research advisors either with a diagnosis or related to a person with severe mental illness constituted the team. They collaborated with the research fellow throughout the entire research process and have co-authored this article. We examined the joint process of analysing the empirical data from interviews. Our analytical discussions were audiotaped, transcribed and subsequently interpreted following the guidelines for good qualitative analysis in interpretative phenomenological analysis studies. RESULTS: The advisory team became 'the researcher's helping hand'. Multiple perspectives influenced the qualitative analysis, which gave more insightful interpretations of nuances, complexity, richness or ambiguity in the interviewed participants' accounts. The outcome of the service user involvement was increased breadth and depth in findings. CONCLUSION: Service user involvement improved the research quality in a nursing research project on mental health promotion. The interpretative element of interpretative phenomenological analysis was enhanced by the emergence of multiple perspectives in the qualitative analysis of the empirical data. We argue that service user involvement and interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology can mutually reinforce each other and strengthen qualitative methodology.
