scholarly journals Understanding the shared experiences of creating a digital life story with individuals with dementia and their spouse

Dementia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147130122097040
Author(s):  
Laura Sweeney ◽  
Emma Wolverson ◽  
Christopher Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Story Work ◽  
Design And Methods

Introduction Life story books in dementia are used as a part of person-centred care. Whilst the current literature demonstrates associations between completing life story books and increased well-being, little is known about the process and how it is experienced by individuals living with dementia. Life stories are often created with a loved one, such as a partner or spouse; however, further research is required to explore experiences of life story work as a shared endeavour. Furthermore, the use of technology to create life stories is growing, with little known about how digital elements are experienced. This study aimed to understand these gaps by exploring the shared experiences of individuals with dementia and their partner/spouse creating a digital life story book. Design and Methods Four couples participated in the six-week creation of their digital life story book. Following this, qualitative data relating to couples’ experiences were collected via semi-structured interviews. Findings Thematic analysis was used to interpret data and identified four superordinate themes relating to the shared experiences of creating their digital life story book: ‘Creating a life story book is a huge undertaking’, ‘Looking back and looking forward: The emotional journey’, ‘Whose story is it and who does it belong to?’ and ‘Challenges of using technology to build the life story book’. Conclusions Overall, this study demonstrated that creating a digital life story was a positive experience that can support couples’ well-being, but we should not underestimate the time it will take and range of emotions experienced. The experience of using technology varied, emphasising that we must be mindful of individual preferences before considering a digital approach.

scholarly journals Older Adults’ Adaptations to the Call for Social Distancing and Use of Technology: Insights From Socioemotional Selectivity Theory and Lived Experiences

2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482199686
Author(s):  
Shoshana H. Bardach ◽  
Elizabeth K. Rhodus ◽  
Kelly Parsons ◽  
Allison K. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Technology Training ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Socioemotional Selectivity ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Comparison Approach

Social distancing guidelines during COVID can be isolating, especially for older adults, with potential for poor health outcomes. Technology offers opportunities for remote connection, yet, older adults’ use of and perspectives on technology during this time remain largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into older adults’ technology use and preferences to inform the development of a technology training intervention to support older adult well-being. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 older adults. Interviews were analyzed using an iterative, constant comparison approach. Findings were consistent with Socioemotional Selectivity Theory; respondents were primarily interested in technology to support emotionally meaningful goals. Participants indicated limited interest in technology training, referencing diminished future time perspectives to explain disinterest. Findings suggest that efforts to encourage older adults’ expanded technology adoption should highlight how use supports emotionally meaningful goals and provide low-effort, timely training, tied to specific and clear applications.

scholarly journals Exploring good practice in life story work with people with dementia: The findings of a qualitative study looking at the multiple views of stakeholders

Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Gridley ◽  
Yvonne Birks ◽  
Gillian Parker
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Family Carers ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Practice Approach ◽  
Story Work ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Person With Dementia ◽  
Design And Methods

Introduction Despite growing international interest in life story work as a tool for person-centred dementia care, there is little agreement on what constitutes good practice and little evidence from the perspectives of people with dementia or their family carers. Design and methods This paper reports the findings from the qualitative element of a larger study looking at the feasibility of evaluating life story work. Ten focus groups were held with 73 participants: four groups of people with dementia (25 participants); three with family carers (21 participants); and three with staff, professionals and volunteers with experience of life story work (27 participants). Findings: It became apparent through our focus groups that, when people talk about ‘life story work’, different people mean different things. This related to both process and outcomes. In particular, a person with dementia may have very different views from others about what life story work is for and how their life story products should be used. There was general agreement that a good practice approach would be tailored to the individual needs and preferences of the person with dementia. However, in practice many settings used templates and the process was led by staff or completed by family carers. Conclusion We produced nine key features of good practice which could be used to guide the life story work process. Key elements include the recognition that not everyone will want to take part in life story work and that some people may even find it distressing; the importance of being led by the person with dementia themselves; the need for training and support for staff, carers and volunteers; and the potential for life story work to celebrate the person’s life today and look to the future.

scholarly journals Feasibility and acceptability of an oral pathology asynchronous tele-mentoring intervention: A protocol

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Northridge ◽  
Tina Littlejohn ◽  
Nathalie Mohadjeri-Franck ◽  
Steven Gargano ◽  
Andrea B. Troxel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oral Cancer ◽  
Oral Pathology ◽  
Oral Lesions ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Dental Clinics ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Implementation And Dissemination ◽  
Oral Cancer Screening ◽  
Improving Patient Care ◽  
Design And Methods

Introduction: Oral cancer remains prevalent, despite being largely preventable. The widespread use of technology at chairside, combined with advances in electronic health record (EHR) capabilities, present opportunities to improve oral cancer screening by dentists, especially for disadvantaged patients with severe health needs. Design and methods: Using a mixed-methods approach, we will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of integrating a tele-mentoring component into the identification of oral lesions using the following 3 methods: 1) administering provider surveys that consist of a checklist of 10 key components of the intervention based on process, and asking the dental provider subjects if each one was covered; 2) conducting semi-structured interviews informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Implementation Outcomes Framework with dental resident subjects to assess specific barriers to sustaining the intervention and strategies for addressing these barriers to facilitate integration of the intervention into the routine workflow of the dental clinics; and 3) administering brief exit interviews with patient subjects regarding the acceptability of the intervention to assess satisfaction with the use of intra-oral cameras at chairside to screen for and refer patients with oral lesions and identification of these oral lesions via EHR and secure e-mail tele-mentoring with an oral pathology expert.Expected impact of the study for public health: If successful, then later clinical trials will maximize the external validity of the intervention and facilitate the widespread implementation and dissemination of the model for the teaching of dentists and residents, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.

Exploring the Everyday Lives of Children in Winnipeg, Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-561
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Huynh ◽  
Ashley Stewart-Tufescu
Keyword(s):  
Life Story ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
And Control

Over the past decade there has been a call to action for researchers to explore children’s subjectivities in the context of well-being. How children understand and experience well-being in a Canadian context was examined in this study. Twenty-one children between 8 and 12 years of age participated in semi-structured interviews facilitated by the Life Story Board™. Three main themes emerged: (1) freedom and control, (2) child rights and social supports, and (3) children’s participation as social actors. Results from this study highlighted the importance of children needing to feel heard by parents and teachers; children being recognised as rights-holders with opportunities to actualise their rights; and children having meaningful opportunities to participate in matters which concerns them in everyday life as important components of subjective well-being. Results may serve to inform child-serving professionals, policymakers, and parents and guardians about how school-aged children from this Canadian context conceptualize and experience well-being.

Grow Online: feasibility and proof of concept study

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Chesnut ◽  
Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel ◽  
Jennifer M. DiNallo ◽  
Daniel F. Perkins
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
Emotion Coaching ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Care Information

Purpose Digitally delivered, parent-focused interventions (DD-PFIs) are viewed as an important method for supporting child well-being. Few DD-PFIs include health-promotion and general-parenting content, and only some are intended for a universal audience. The purpose of this paper is to focus on a preliminary evaluation of Grow Online, which was designed to address this gap. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods design, including pretests and posttests and semi-structured interviews, was employed to evaluate program feasibility and demonstrate proof of concept. Findings Feasibility findings were favorable, which indicates participants were satisfied with the program, liked the main program features, found the content helpful and had a positive experience using the website. Initial recruitment was strong, and engagement with the sessions was high; however, retention was poor with a 73.5 percent attrition rate. Significant pre- to post-changes were found on measures of over-reactive discipline, parenting efficacy, emotion coaching, coping socialization, child physical activity support, rewarding eating and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Research limitations/implications Study design and high attrition limit the ability to infer causality and generalize beyond the sample. Practical implications Providing support to parents through a universal health-promoting DD-PFI is viable, though issues involving retention need to be given full consideration. Originality/value Parents use of technology to access child care information is increasing, but most information online is not evidence-informed. Grow Online fills an important gap in the research and practice of DD-PFIs, and this study’s findings suggest a more rigorous evaluation is merited.

scholarly journals The hospital designed by hospitalized children and adolescents

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (suppl 4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Karoline Dias da Silva Cassemiro ◽  
Aline Cristiane Cavicchioli Okido ◽  
Maria Cândida de Carvalho Furtado ◽  
Regina Aparecida Garcia de Lima
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Hospitalized Children ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
Environmental Theory ◽  
Inductive Thematic Analysis

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify, through the contributions of hospitalized children and adolescents, the characteristics they consider necessary for a hospital that promotes well-being and development. Method: descriptive and exploratory study, with qualitative data analysis, carried out with a total of 30 hospitalized children and adolescents. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, mediated by drawing, and analyzed by inductive thematic analysis, supported by the theoretical framework of the humanization of health care and the Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory. Results: the designed hospital takes up the principles of Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory, as well as one of the guidelines of the National Humanization Policy, the environment, from two perspectives: elements and material resources from the physical environment; elements of comfort and well-being environment. Final considerations: hospitals such as the projected institution corroborate what is recommended in public policies, as they qualify health care.

Drama therapy in late life: Taking life-story work one step further

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-36
Author(s):  
Dovrat Harel ◽  
Shoshi Keisari
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Group Process ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Drama Therapy ◽  
Psychological Development ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Integrative View ◽  
One Step ◽  
Story Work

Integrating life-story work with drama therapy creates new opportunities for the psychological development of older adults. In this conceptual article we suggest five qualities of dramatic reality by which this integration can promote psychological development in old age: its ability (1) to evoke a story, (2) to bring together the personal and the collective, (3) to help in processing unfinished business, (4) to create an integrative view of the self and (5) to open the way to imagining the future. We illustrate each of the five qualities using vignettes from our previous research in the field and show how exploring the life stories of older adults through dramatic reality provides opportunities for active self-exploration in the ‘here and now’ of the group process in a way that goes beyond verbal life-story work.

Remembering the Positive and Negative: Affective Themes as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being Across Adulthood

2021 ◽  
pp. 009141502110376
Author(s):  
Frederique Corcoran ◽  
Nicole Alea
Keyword(s):  
Personal Growth ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Events ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Middle Aged Adults

The current study explored the link between psychological well-being (PWB; self-acceptance, personal growth, and purpose in life) and affective themes, including redemption (positive endings for negative events), contamination (negative endings for positive events), and positive and negative affect (no change in affect) in the life stories of Caribbean adults ranging in age from 19 to 78 ( N = 105). How often the memory narrative was rehearsed, and whether or not the theme emerged after being cued in content-coded life story low, high, and turning point scenes were also considered. Affective theme alone did not predict PWB; however, when considering age, rehearsal, and cue, redemption and positive affect predicted personal growth. More work should cue meaning-making in specific ways for different age groups in order to understand why there were no associations for middle-aged adults. Efforts should also be made to understand cross-cultural differences in life stories and PWB.

Life story work with persons with dementia in nursing homes: A Grounded Theory study of the perspectives of care staff

Dementia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 282-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Berendonk ◽  
Vera Caine
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Grounded Theory Study ◽  
Story Work

In Germany, the use of life story work as an approach to care in nursing homes has not been implemented successfully. Using Grounded Theory, we explored care staff’s understandings of life story work when caring for persons with dementia. Thirty-six staff from seven nursing homes participated in semi-structured interviews or group discussions. In this paper we discuss new aspects and theoretical connections between understandings and practices of life story work. For some participants, obtaining ‘true facts’ about a resident’s course of life was considered the most important topic. Others highlighted the importance of narratives as well as embodied stories told by persons with dementia, as aspects that generated emotionally meaningful situations. Delivering sound life story work can be challenging for care staff working with persons with dementia. To enhance care in nursing homes, the importance of life story work needs to be further developed.

scholarly journals Co-constructions, co-performances and co-reflections in early years qualitative research

2021 ◽  
pp. 1476718X2110200
Author(s):  
Eva Mikuska ◽  
Sandra Lyndon
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Early Years ◽  
The Self ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Doctoral Studies ◽  
Culture Time ◽  
Constructionist Approach

This study investigates our role as early years researchers in qualitative data analysis. We draw on our doctoral studies to address how the co-construction, co-performance and co-reflection of narratives elicit deeper and new understandings of early years workers in England, and how our life stories are co-produced through narrative inquiry. Employing a constructionist approach and building on Buitelaar theorisation of I-positions and the multi-vocal ‘self’, we explore how narratives are co-constructed and co-performed between the researched and researcher in relation to the ‘self’ and master narratives of culture, time and place. Data were collected using focus groups and semi-structured interviews involving 50 early years workers and 17 nurseries situated in the South East of England. By ‘co-reflecting’ on how the data was analysed, we discussed the ways in which we and our participants are simultaneously positioned within social categories of intersectionality, such as gender, social class, mother and worker. Our reflections offer a broader understanding of how qualitative research can enrich existing knowledge of how early years workers and their practice are constructed in England.

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