Inquiring into conditions for engaging in narrative relations on a geriatric ward - how interpretation matters in everyday practices.

Drawing on data from ethnographic fieldwork and interprofessional focus group discussions, this study enquires into staff's everyday life on a geriatric ward to explore and understand conditions for engaging in narrative relations in in-patient geriatric care. Avoiding individualistic understandings of narrative practices, we applied a narrative-in-action methodology built on a relational understanding of narrativity, where individual narratives are not separated from social and cultural features. This helped us explore how individual interpretations of the conditions for everyday practices come together with broader social or cultural understandings to gain situated insights about how these are continuously related and reformed by one another in everyday situations of geriatric care. The findings offer insights into the opportunities to engage in narrative relations based on how healthcare staff on a geriatric ward interpret conditions for their practices, and how they act based on such interpretations. While some interpretations were associated with attitudes and activities encouraging narrative relations, others simultaneously thwarted narrative relations by enacting task-orientation, division, or a focus on measurable biomedical or function-related outcomes. Moreover, the findings suggest and discuss consequences of the tensions created as interpretations are enacted in everyday healthcare situations, thus questioning assumptions about conditions as something static and linear.

Approved or disregarded? Exploring arenas for narrative relations in geriatric care.

PURPOSE: The use of narration in healthcare has been accentuated as a response to the requested shift towards person-centred care. The notion of narrative relations refers to a process of involving several people in mutual and ongoing narrative exchange. This study aimed to explore how and where narrative relations may be adopted and enacted in everyday healthcare practice. METHODS: The study has a qualitative, explorative design. Seven interprofessional focus group discussions with healthcare staff were prompted by vignettes. A multidisciplinary team of healthcare staff (n = 31) were recruited on a geriatric ward. Data were analysed using a constant comparative method. RESULTS: A core theme shows how narrative relations are adopted and enacted both as part of an approved practice-the work procedures commonly approved as part of healthcare, and as a disregarded practice where covert but important narrative relations take place to support fundamental qualities of healthcare. Moreover, the findings consider arenas of healthcare practice where approved or disregarded practices are enacted in the clinic frontstage and the clinic backstage. CONCLUSIONS: Narrative relations may take place in different arenas of healthcare practice yet simultaneously become a cohesive force interconnecting those arenas and uphold continuity. Impeded narrative relations in one arena may have unintended consequences in another.

Unraveling the "Greener Pastures" Concept: The Phenomenology of Internationally Educated Occupational Therapists.

The Philippines is one of the major labor exporters for health care workers in the world and occupational therapists are the second most likely professionals behind nurses to work in "greener pastures" overseas. This phenomenological study describes the migration experiences of Philippine-trained occupational therapists working in high-income, Anglophone countries. Researchers conducted online interview for 15 participants who were previously/currently unemployed/underemployed. Following an inductive approach to qualitative data analysis, themes were drawn from the migrant therapists' lived experiences. Four themes describe the migration experiences of Filipino occupational therapists: (a) realities of being an occupational therapist in the Philippines, (b) contradictions faced by Filipino occupational therapists upon migration, (c) when the pastures overseas are not greener, and (d) when the pastures overseas are indeed greener. The study contributes to the labor migration discourse in occupational therapy and the critical examination of the idea of "greener pastures."

The Migration and Deskilling of Filipino Occupational TherapistsThis study provides stories of Filipino occupational therapists who were underemployed as they migrated to developed and English-speaking countries. We interviewed 15 people online to explore their experiences of migration, being underemployed, and working in a foreign country with a different culture of working. Results of the study revealed four ideas: (a) reality of being an occupational therapist in the Philippines, (b) contradictions faced by Filipino occupational therapists upon migration, (c) barriers faced by migrant occupational therapists, and (d) successes experienced by migrant occupational therapists. This study contributes to the ongoing research on occupational therapy, labor migration, and overseas Filipino workers.

"Justice Becomes Our Agency." Occupational Therapists in Germany Reflect on Their Practice Processes in and with Communities.

Community development and population-oriented approaches are emphasized to advance the occupational therapy profession's scope of practice to meet the increasing demands created by socio-cultural-political and economic changes. This study explored the practice processes of occupational therapists in community settings outside existing health care structures in Germany. Data was gathered through five individual qualitative interviews and one focus group and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified: navigating parallel processes within the larger context or system; building community connections through occupation; growing professional identity. The utilization of occupational science concepts was essential to work successfully on a community level.

Engaging in narrative relations in everyday work on a geriatric ward: A qualitative study with healthcare professionals.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore healthcare professionals' experiences and reflections about narration in their everyday work. BACKGROUND: The need for integrated and people-centred healthcare for older adults has highlighted the relevance of narration in healthcare practice. Although theoretical foundations vary, different frameworks building on narration have been proposed for translating person-centredness philosophies into practice. However, to understand how theoretical knowledge on narration can be adopted into clinical work, we need to learn how healthcare staff understand narration from their experiential knowledge and practice. DESIGN: The research process followed guidelines from Constructivist Grounded Theory as described by Charmaz. The study adheres to the COREQ guidelines. METHODS: Data collection entailed interprofessional focus groups discussions with healthcare staff (n = 31). Vignettes depicting realistic scenarios were used to encourage participants to reflect on clinical practice. Data were analysed via a constant comparative method. RESULTS: One core theme arose from the analysis. The core theme showed how narration was a relational process that people engaged in to pursue and uphold several foundational qualities in healthcare practice presented in the following subthemes: preventing simplistic understandings of people and situations; supporting trustful relations; supporting continuity and coherence; and learning from coworkers. However, a minor theme raised awareness of narrative relations as a double-edged sword. CONCLUSIONS: By acknowledging the mutual and multifacetted nature of narration in everyday practice, this study shows how healthcare professionals' engagement in narrative relations may contribute to upholding several foundational qualities which resonate with philosophies of person-centredness in everyday healthcare practice. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Recognition of both the advantages and possible risks embedded in narrative relations in healthcare practice emphasises the obligation to collectively reflect on the repercussions of narrative relations in any local context. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Healthcare professionals contributed by sharing their experiential knowledge and reflections on narration in practice.

Cocreation from Emerging Opportunities: Occupational Therapists' Perspectives on Supporting Older Persons, in Japan.

Introduction: Practices of occupational therapists, particularly those supporting older persons with physical impairments, remain overly focused on remediating impairments, and implementation of occupation-centered practices remains fraught with difficulties. In Japan, this issue exists across the continuum from acute care to rehabilitation settings and into the community. This is despite the existence of international models and frameworks that place occupation at the core of the profession. Accordingly, there is a need to better understand how occupational therapists respond to the call for occupation-centered practices across the said continuum of care with this population. The aim of this study was at exploring and understanding occupational therapists' experiences of supporting the resumption of occupations among older persons with physical impairments, in Japan. Methods: Embedded in a constructivist world view, this was a qualitative focus group study. Four focus groups (two in urban areas and one each in rural and semirural areas), consisting of seven or eight occupational therapists with at least three years of relevant practice experience, convened twice to narrate and explore their support of older persons. All were participating voluntarily with confidentiality of their participation being guaranteed by the researchers. They met for a third time to verify emerging analytic results. Data were analysed using a reflective thematic analysis. Results: Identified were three themes, namely, calling forth powers of occupations, imagining client's future, and cocreating plots, which we synthesized into recurring cocreations from emerging opportunities. Discussion. Supporting the resumption of occupations among older persons with physical impairments hinges on repeated processes of identifying possibilities for occupation, followed by actions to bring these (e.g., images of clients' future) into reality. Occupations' healing properties (i.e., occupations' powers) can be used to assist clients in experiencing health and well-being. The results suggest a reframing of occupational therapy practices as recurring processes of recognizing opportunities for occupation, followed by actions whereby these possibilities are turned into reality. Occupational therapy effectiveness might be enhanced when goals and methods are repeatedly and creatively aligned with the evolving plots cocreated between the client, therapist, and stakeholders.

Using Ricoeur's notions on narrative interpretation as a resource in supporting person-centredness in health and social care.

This article suggests a shift in focus from stories as verbal accounts to narrative interpretation of the every day as a resource for achieving person-centred health and social care. The aim is to explore Ricoeur's notion of narrative and action, as expressed in his arguments on a threefold mimesis process, using this as a grounding for the use of narration to achieve person-centredness in health and social care practice. This focus emerged from discussions on this matter at the IPONS conference in Gothenburg, 2021. Based on philosophical resources from Ricoeur's notions of narrative and action developed in his arguments on a threefold mimesis process, we propose a wider use of stories in health and social care practices. We suggest expanding from only focusing on verbal accounts to focusing on narrative as a human way to interpret and make sense of everyday life and circumstances and to communicate possible meanings. We discuss how such complementary focus can be a resource in getting patients involved and collaborating in their health and social care and thereby help develop person-centred practices.

Safeguarding fairness in assessments-How teachers develop joint practices.

INTRODUCTION: In light of reforms demanding increased transparency of student performance assessments, this study offers an in-depth perspective of how teachers develop their assessment practice. Much is known about factors that influence assessments, and different solutions claim to improve the validity and reliability of assessments of students' clinical competency. However, little is known about how teachers go about improving their assessment practices. This study aims to contribute empirical findings about how teachers' assessment practice may change when shared criteria for assessing students' clinical competency are developed and implemented. METHODS: Using a narrative-in-action research approach grounded in narrative theory about human sense-making, one group including nine health professions teachers was studied over a period of 1 year. Drawing upon data from observations, interviews, formal documents and written reflections from these teachers, we performed a narrative analysis to reveal how these teachers made sense of experiences associated with the development and implementation of joint grading criteria for assessing students' clinical performances. RESULTS: The findings present a narrative showing how a shared assessment practice took years to develop and was based on the teachers changed approach to scrutiny. The teachers became highly motivated to use grading criteria to ensure fairness in assessments, but more importantly, to fulfil their moral obligation towards patients. The narrative also demonstrates how these teachers reasoned about dilemmas that arose when they applied standardised assessment criteria. DISCUSSION: The narrative analysis shows clearly how teachers' development and application of assessment standards are embedded in local practices. Our findings highlight the importance of teachers' joint discussions on how to interpret criteria applied in formative and summative assessments of students' performances. In particular, teachers' different approaches to assessing 'pieces of skills' versus making holistic judgements on students' performances, regardless of whether the grading criteria are clear and well-articulated on paper, should be acknowledged. Understanding the journey that these teachers made gives new perspectives as to how faculty can be supported when assessments of professionalism and clinical competency are developed.

Stories under construction: Exploring meaning-making on a geriatric ward.

Experiences calling for meaning-making, such as encountering moral dilemmas or existential issues, are ineluctable in the everyday circumstances of persons on a geriatric ward, both patients and professionals. Narratives are a key form for constructing meaning and a powerful tool for expressing and understanding subjective experiences related to living and ageing. Furthermore, narratives can contribute to shifting healthcare towards a more person-centred and humane practice. However, there seems to be tension between individualistic and relational understandings of narratives in healthcare, which raises questions about how to access the experiences and stories of older persons in clinical practice. Using ethnographic data, narrative theory and an interpretative methodology, this study explores how narrative meaning-making processes take place and unfold in everyday practice on a geriatric ward, framed in terms of contextual conditions and person-centred care. Our findings are portrayed in narrative vignettes built around everyday situations on the ward and contribute to a processual understanding of how narrative meaning-making and person-centredness may interrelate and come about in everyday practice. Narrative meaning-making can be understood as an essentially intersubjective and ongoing practice that takes place in seemingly mundane activities, and it engages multiple persons whose meaning-making processes are interconnected and mutually affected by one another. An awareness of the opportunities for narrative meaning-making that exist within the interstices of more traditional healthcare procedures reveals neglected spaces for meaning-making, storytelling and partnership.

Presenting an analytic framework facilitating a situationally oriented analysis of the use of digital technology for engagement in occupation.

BACKGROUND: Digital technology is closely intertwined with and influences people's everyday lives. Within occupational science and occupational therapy, research is therefore warranted into situationally oriented analysis of the use of digital technology for engagement in occupation. OBJECTIVE: To contribute with an analytic framework facilitating a situationally oriented analysis of the use of digital technology for engagement in occupation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An operationalisation of Dewey's theory of transaction and inquiry in conjunction with an occupational science approach served as the analytical framework for exploring how underprivileged adults use digital technology for engaging in health-related occupation. FINDINGS: The analytical framework proved useful for a situationally oriented analysis of digital technology use for engagement in occupation: by fostering identification and registration of digital technology artefacts used for engagement in occupation, by making transparent the complexity that the situation creates for the participant, by identifying problems with and needs for inquiries in relation to engagement in occupation and, finally, by facilitating a situation-oriented analytical language. CONCLUSION: The analytical framework presented is useful for conducting a situationally oriented analysis of digital technology use for engagement in occupation. Future research and validation of the analytical framework are needed.

A narrative study of mental health recovery: exploring unique, open-ended and collective processes.

Purpose: Guided by narrative theory and by use of a narrative-in-action approach, the aim of this study was to explore how mental health recovery unfolds through individuals' engagement in everyday activities.Method: Data were created through participant observations with four individuals while doing everyday activities, and analysed through a narrative, interpretive approach.Findings: The findings show how mental health recovery involves unique and open-ended processes of narrative meaning-making, which unfold through an interplay between everyday activities, places and persons.Discussion: Based on these findings, we discuss how we may understand and support mental health recovery as collective processes.

In search for the "humane": staffs' perspectives on everyday activities in a nursing home.

Objectives: To better understand how a dialogue about the influence of nursing home residents on their everyday activities evolve among diverse practitioners and to identify the consequences of such an understanding in practice.Methods: Inspired by a collaborative approach, five workshops, one focus group and follow up interviews were conducted. The participants were 19 diverse practitioners. Analysis followed a dialogical approach.Findings: Tensions, opportunities and challenges were articulated and discussed during the workshops and are developed in: a) Bypassing the "humane"? The dilemma between using shields preventing engagement or acting in a clandestine manner b)"What is our stance?" Seeking common ground on which to stand regarding everyday activities and c) Recognising expertise and seeking connections.Discussion: For the staff, acting in a clandestine manner seems to create ways of enabling "humane" practices towards nursing home residents. The "clandestine manners" seem to be grounded in an effort on the part of the staff to make sense of the everyday activities for the nursing home residents. These "clandestine manners" could be seen as responses to institutional routines and a lack of common ground on the understanding of everyday activities in the context of nursing homes.

"Together on the Way": Occupational Therapy in Mainstream Education-A Narrative Study of Emerging Practice in Switzerland.

In Switzerland, recent changes in legislation have reformed special needs education; more children with special needs are now integrated into mainstream schools. Health professionals such as occupational therapists are not embedded in the Swiss education system, but pediatric occupational therapists are starting to work at schools, with the aim of enabling children's full participation as school students. This is bringing a change to the practice of pediatric occupational therapists. Cultural, political, and social factors differ in many ways from those of other countries where most of the current research on pediatric occupational therapists in mainstream education has been conducted. The need for school-based research that is situated within the political, structural, and cultural context of a country has been stressed in different studies. This qualitative study employed narrative analysis to explore the practice experiences and clinical reasoning of Swiss pediatric occupational therapists when working with children with special needs in the school context. Three main themes were identified in the narratives: "bringing in an occupational therapy perspective," "focusing on school-related occupations," and "collaborating with different inclusion players." These represent three different aspects of the therapists' emerging practice. The participants highlight different approaches for children with special needs to enable their participation in everyday life at school through learning, playing, and being with their peers. The findings are discussed in relation to current international research and with respect to European countries with a similar political and structural context, thus complementing approaches to school-based occupational therapy.

(Re-)Establishing familiarity: Resumption of occupations by older adults with physical disabilities.

BACKGROUND: There is a need for in-depth understanding of how elderly persons resume their occupations while recovering from physical disabilities in their home and community. The aim of this study was to explore and understand how engaging in occupations unfolded over time for some older persons with physical disabilities in Japan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this narrative-in-action study four elderly participants were recruited following a mixed purposive and convenience sampling method. Data was gathered at two to three weeks' intervals over six months, with a follow-up visit at nine months. Qualitative interviews and participant-observations were analyzed using narrative analysis. RESULTS: This study identified the central meaning of resuming occupations as reestablishing former and establishing new familiarity. Familiarity was expressed in three features, namely as repertoires of occupations fulfilling needs and meanings, as performing occupations according to expectation, and as a resource for dealing with problems of engaging in occupation. What was experienced as familiar could be adjusted to accommodate ones changing needs or situation. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: (Re-)establishing familiarity is a new concept representing transitions from an occupational perspective. Facilitating familiarity can assist older persons to experience health and well-being, even while transitioning after an illness or injury.

Altering the boundaries of everyday life in a nursing home context.

BACKGROUND: Despite global and local policy frameworks that explicitly aim to privilege participation and active engagement of older adults living in nursing homes, this group often has limited possibilities to engage in occupations and to have influence in their everyday lives. AIM: To explore how older adults' engagement and influence in an occupation can emerge in everyday life in a nursing home setting. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A participatory qualitative approach was applied. Older adults living in a nursing home participated in a Book Club that was created collaboratively between researchers, residents, and the nursing home community. FINDINGS: The analysis identified qualities of altering the boundaries of everyday life and addressing the uncertain conditions for influence and engagement as processes actualized by the residents when engaging in the Book Club. Further analysis identified how these processes involved ordinariness, familiarity, fellowship, and connectedness. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: Engagement and influence in occupation in a nursing home is possible when enabling partnerships and resourcefulness among the residents. However, such enablement is not guaranteed and needs to be actively upheld by the nursing home community in order to build practices aligned with policy frameworks of participation.

Influencing everyday activities in a nursing home setting: A call for ethical and responsive engagement.

This study focuses on influence that older adults, living in nursing homes, have over everyday activities. Everyday activities are key to sustain a sense of stability, predictability, and enjoyment in the local world of people's everyday and therefore a critical dimension of the person-centeredness framework applied within gerontology. This narrative ethnographic study aimed to shed light on how influence can be situated contextually, and how it can emerge through activities as well as how it is negotiated in everyday by frail older adults living in a nursing home. Residents, staff members, and significant others from one nursing home in an urban area of Sweden participated in this study. Data were gathered through fieldwork, including participant observation and formal and informal conversations during a period of 6 months. Data were analyzed through a narrative interpretative approach. The findings are presented in narrative form as exemplars. The exemplars-Craquelures as justification, Seeking a place for other life worlds and An almost perfect trip-reveal a gap between the client-centeredness framework and lived experiences regarding older adults' influence in everyday activities. The role of everyday activities in the context of frailty is discussed in terms of ethical and responsive engagement, and implications for health-care practices are considered.

Community mental health work: Negotiating support of users' recovery.

Mental health services have changed over the past decades through an increased emphasis on deinstitutionalization and normalization, and with recovery processes situated in everyday life as a new locus of support. These changes have led to a need for new knowledge and methods concerning the provision of community mental health services. The aim of the present study was to explore how community mental health workers provide support to users, by investigating professionals' own narratives of how they work. Seven community mental health workers participated in narrative interviews, which were subject to a qualitative, interpretive analysis. A primary finding was that community mental health workers provide flexible and individually-adjusted support through engaging in negotiations with users, management, and others. Our findings show both opportunities and challenges of negotiating support, raising the following question for discussion: How and when are negotiations a valuable way for professionals and users to collaborate?

Measuring participation as defined by the World Health Organization in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Psychometric properties of the Ghent Participation Scale.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, discriminant validity and responsiveness of the Ghent Participation Scale. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with a test-retest sample. SETTING: Six outpatient rehabilitation centres in Belgium. SUBJECTS: A total of 365 outpatients from eight diagnostic groups. MEASURES: The Ghent Participation Scale, the Impact on Participation and Autonomy, the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation and the Medical outcome study Short Form SF-36. RESULTS: The Ghent Participation Scale was found to have good internal consistency (Cronbach's α between 0.75 and 0.83). At item level, the test-retest reliability was good; weighted kappas ranged between 0.57 and 0.88. On the dimension level intraclass correlation coefficients ranged between 0.80 and 0.90. Evidence for construct validity came from high correlations between the subscales of the Ghent Participation Scale and four subscales of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy (range, r = -0.71 to -0.87) and two subscales of the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (range, r = 0.54 to 0.72). Standardized response mean ranged between 0.23 and 0.68 and the area under the curve ranged between 68% and 88%. CONCLUSION: The Ghent Participation Scale appears to be a valid and reliable method of assessing participation irrespective of the respondent's health condition. The Ghent Participation Scale is responsive and is able to detect changes over time.

Self-management develops through doing of everyday activities-a longitudinal qualitative study of stroke survivors during two years post-stroke.

BACKGROUND: A description of the complexity of the process of self-management and the way stroke survivors give meaning to their process of self-management post-stroke is lacking. This study explores how stroke survivors managed their lives, gave meaning to their self-management post-stroke and how this evolved over time. METHODS: Data was generated through participant observations and interviews of 10 stroke survivors at their homes at 3, 6, 9, 15 and 21 months post-discharge. A constant comparative method was chosen to analyse the data. RESULTS: 'Situated doing' was central in stroke survivors' simultaneous development of self-management and their sense of being in charge of everyday life post-stroke. Doing everyday activities provided the stroke survivors with an arena to explore, experience, evaluate, develop and adapt self-management and being in charge of everyday activities and daily life. The influence of stroke survivors' partners on this development was sometimes experienced as empowering and at other times as constraining. Over time, the meaning of self-management and being in charge changed from the opinion that self-management was doing everything yourself towards self-managing and being in charge, if necessary, with the help of others. Moreover, the sense of self-management and being in charge differed among participants: it ranged from managing only at the level of everyday activities to full role management and experiencing a meaningful and valuable life post-stroke. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate the doing of activities as an important arena in which to develop self-management and being in charge post-stroke. Stroke self-management programs could best be delivered in stroke survivors' own environment and focus on not only stroke survivors but also their relatives. Furthermore, the focus of such interventions should be on not only the level of activities but also the existential level of self-management post-stroke.

Negotiating role management through everyday activities: narratives in action of two stroke survivors and their spouses.

PURPOSE: To manage social roles is a challenging part of self-management post-stroke. This study explored how stroke survivors act as role managers with their spouses in the context of everyday activities. METHOD: Two stroke survivors with a first time stroke living at home with a spouse were included. Data were generated through participant observations at their own environment at 3, 6, 9, 15 and 21 months post-discharge. The narrative analysis focused on the actions of participants. RESULTS: Daily activities can be understood as an arena where role management and a meaningful live is negotiated and co-constructed with others. Everyday activities gave stroke survivors and their spouses insight into stroke survivors' capacities in daily situations. This was sometimes empowering, and other times conflicting when a spouse had negative perceptions of the abilities of the stroke survivors. CONCLUSION: The findings add to the current understanding of self-management and role management with regard to how these are situated in everyday activities. Daily activities can help both spouses to reflect and understand about self-management, role management and comanagement in daily life. Moreover, observing stroke survivors in everyday situations provides professionals with concrete pictures of stroke survivors' performance and self-management in interaction with their spouses. Implications for Rehabilitation Self-management is a dynamic process in which individuals actively manage a chronic condition and finally live a meaningful life with a long-term chronic condition; self-management can be divided into medical, role, and emotional management; comanagement is when individuals activate resources and use the capacities of other persons to manage a situation together. Self-management is situated in everyday activities. Everyday activities give stroke survivors ánd their partners impressions about stroke survivors' self-management abilities post-stroke in an everyday context. Everyday activities give stroke survivors ánd their partners an arena where role management and a meaningful life are negotiated and coconstructed through doing. Observing stroke survivors in everyday situations provides professionals a concreter picture of stroke survivors' self-management and comanagement with their partners than can be obtained from an informal interview.