Caregivers' experience of caring for family members with complex health needs in Latvia.

The article examines the experiences of family caregivers engaged in the provision of long-term care for their relatives with complex health needs within the Latvian context. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven caregivers who provide care in cases of dementia, depression, schizophrenia, opioid use, Down syndrome and mild cognitive impairment. A thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed common themes, such as the initial experiences when encountering a family member's disorder and the subsequent reactions, as well as the quest for support and resources. Variations mainly centered around differences in formal aspects and childhood experiences of care. Caregivers reported risk factors such as guilt, lack of support from family and friends, financial difficulties, deficiency of professional care and ignoring the caregiver's own needs. Awareness of personal resources, values and limits, coping with personal stigma and improved overall quality of life were identified as protective factors. The findings underscore several preventive measures that social and mental health services could implement to mitigate the adverse effects of caregiving on caregivers' lives.

Maintaining resilience over time: A qualitative exploration of the experiences of living with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

BACKGROUND: Living with chronic pain can have several negative consequences. However, some individuals are more resilient despite pain. Although a large body of research exploring resilience-enhancing factors exists, there is a lack of research focused on the changes of individual's resilience over time. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore how people with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) describe their experience regarding the maintenance of resilience in the long term. METHODS: Within the framework of the qualitative research strategy, semi-structured interviews and two focus groups with 17 purposefully selected research participants (ages 29-64) were conducted. The data were analysed by integrating thematic analysis and narrative analysis. RESULTS: To maintain resilience in the long term, it is important to take responsibility for one's physical and mental well-being by practicing regular ability-adjusted physical activity, giving up unrealistic expectations, focussing on finding opportunities, not obstacles, maintaining a positive future perspective, and finding significance in life despite experiencing chronic pain. Financial support from the government and access to rehabilitation can facilitate better self-care for those with limited finances. CONCLUSION: This study may be useful for healthcare professionals, psychologists, social workers, and other specialists who daily encounter patients with CMP and aspire to understand the main challenges and needs of this particular group of patients.

Finding a path in a methodological jungle: a qualitative research of resilience.

Qualitative research provides an in-depth understanding of lived experiences. However, these experiences can be hard to apprehend by using just one method of data analysis. A good example is the experience of resilience. In this paper, the authors describe the chain of the decision-making process in the research of the construct of "resilience". s The authors justify the implications of a multi-method, pluralistic approach, and show how the triangulation of two or more qualitative methods and integration of several qualitative data analysis methods can improve a deeper understanding of the resilience among people with chronic pain. By combining the thematic analysis, narrative analysis, and critical incident technique, lived experiences can be seen from different perspectives.Therefore, the thematic analysis describes the content and answers to "what" regarding resilience, the narrative analysis describes the dynamics of resilience, and answers to "how", while the critical incident technique clarifies the most significant experience and the answers to "why" changes happen. This integrative approach could be used in the analysis of other psychological constructs and can serve as an example of how the rigour of qualitative research could be provided.

Sailing Across the Atlantic: An Exploration of the Psychological Experience Using Arts-Based Research.

The reported study pursues the bidimensional objective, namely, (1) to grasp the essence of the psychological experience of a transatlantic journey and (2) to observe the potential of arts-based research for the enhancement of the well-being of sailors. The sample consisted of three males and one female - Latvian citizens, aged 36-68 years, with higher education and different sailing experience. In the context of a case study grounded on arts-based research methods, the freehand drawings of self-portraits or something important during the day were obtained using individual diaries containing daily reports on the sailing experience. After the journey, individual drawings prompted interviews organized for each participant. The results were triangulated with data from the logbook. In their drawings, participants focused more on the environment rather than on self-representation, that is, telling the story about "here and now" in terms of specific time (journey), place (boat), and their relationship with nature, as well as dealing with problems during the trip. The psychological experience of transoceanic sailing matched the three general dimensions (dynamics, context, and content of experience) of the conceptual framework constructed for this study. The three dimensions of experience were equivalently represented in research data; however, only dynamics and context were fully delineated in all theoretical subcategories. As to the potential of arts-based research for the enhancement of sailors' well-being, the findings show both direct and indirect evidence concerning their psychological and existential well-being. Further research is still needed to confirm the findings on a broader scale and in other contexts.