What is the Quality of Life at Work?: An Approximation From the Grounded Theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-67
Author(s):  
Juana Patlán Pérez
Author(s):  
Ilaria Durosini ◽  
Lucrezia Savioni ◽  
Stefano Triberti ◽  
Paolo Guiddi ◽  
Gabriella Pravettoni

Psychological interventions are proposed to cancer survivors to support their quality of life against the emotional trauma of cancer and the side effects of treatment. Psychological interventions often require patient engagement and commitment to activities that could be more or less demanding in terms of lifestyle change (e.g., psychotherapy, sports). Analyzing participant motivations (personal aims, expectations, needs) prior to participation is useful to predict their adherence to the intervention as well as final outcomes. Yet, participant motivations may evolve during the intervention because the intervention experience turns out to be meaningful and positively challenging. The present study aimed to obtain a preliminary understanding of the process of motivation change in female cancer survivors who participated in a sport-based intervention to promote quality of life by employing a grounded theory approach. Data analysis took place alongside data collection and according to the procedure of grounded theory (“open coding”, “axial coding”, and “selective coding”) in order to describe the process of motivation change during women’s participation in psychological intervention for quality of life. On 14 women interviewed, 13 reported changing their motivation to participate during the first months of involvement, mostly changing from individualistic to group-related motivations (i.e., from self-care to friendship with other participants and enriching group membership), and from physical to psychological growth (i.e., pursuing not only physical health but also self-fulfillment). The discussion explains the preliminary aspects of the motivation change process and highlights the importance to monitor motivation dynamics within psychological interventions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-162
Author(s):  
Steffany M. Chleboun ◽  
Kathryn Brady ◽  
Jennie Zelenak

Much of what we know about stroke is limited to the first 5 years postinjury; however, the effects of having a stroke remain several years, even decades, postinjury, and the impact this has on an individual's quality of life over a long period of time is not completely understood. Purpose The purpose of this study was to understand one woman's experience living with the effects of stroke over multiple decades postinjury and to explore factors that affected her quality of life during this time. Method Using Grounded Theory methodology, data were drawn from 28 years of journals kept by the participant and from semistructured family interviews. Results Four major interacting themes emerged from the data: family support, faith, personality, and journaling. Findings are discussed in the context of resilience theory.


Author(s):  
Kholoud Abdulrahman Aljedaani ◽  
Reem Abdulaziz Alnanih

<span lang="EN-US">Technology plays a major role in our daily lives. In healthcare, technology assists in treating and detecting diseases and can improve patients’ quality of life. Alzheimer’s disease patients are generally elderly people who suffer from disabilities in vision, hearing, speech, and movement. The disease is one of the most common types of dementia. This paper proposes a design for a mobile application with an adaptive user interface for Alzheimer’s patients based on an elderly model developed using grounded theory. The application aims to improve the patients’ quality of life and allow them to remain engaged in society. The design of the application is based on spaced retrieval therapy (SRT), a method that helps Alzheimer’s patients to recall specific pieces of important information. User-centered design method was used to design and build this application. In the requirements phase, a user model for elderly people was elicited based on a classification developed through grounded theory. The prototype for the proposed model was designed and developed considering the default user interfaces and the adaptive user interfaces. A test was conducted with 15 elderly Arab users. The participants were 50–74 years old with varying levels of education and experience with technology. The authors proposed a user model for elderly people containing all the design implications in terms of physical and cognitive changes. The results of testing with elderly Arab users supported the proposed user model in terms of colors, fonts, pictures, and symbols. However, there were problems with the menu design and color preferences.</span>


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Fatmaelzahraa Hussein ◽  
John Stephens ◽  
Reena Tiwari

Although grounded theory (GT) has emerged as a popular research approach across multiple areas of social science, it has been less widely taken up by researchers working in the fields of urban planning and design. The application of GT enables uniquely innovative insights to be gained from qualitative data, but it has attracted criticism and brings its own challenges. This paper proposes a methodology that could be applied by other researchers in the field of urban research. Utilising constructivist GT as a qualitative approach, this research investigates how cultural memory impacts the psychosocial well-being and quality of life (QoL) of users of, and visitors to, historic urban landscapes (HULs). Based on the findings, it can be posited that the application of GT yields a rich and nuanced understanding of how users of HULs experience the settings in which they live, and the impact and significance on human psychosocial well-being of the cultural memories incarnated within such settings. The current paper also contends that GT enables researchers studying the built environment to construct inductively based theories. Lastly, the practical implications of developing GT for application to HUL management are discussed, both in regard to how users experience the contexts in which they live and the impact of such contexts on well-being and quality of life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1781-1793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Gardenhire ◽  
Natira Mullet ◽  
Stephen Fife

Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often experience poor mental and emotional well-being, which negatively affect their quality of life. Optimism is a protective factor which has been shown to promote resiliency, reduce distress in health crises, and protect against the effects of negative mental health outcomes. The current article utilized grounded theory methodology to examine personal accounts ( N = 85) detailing how individuals were able to cultivate optimism despite challenges presented by PD. The grounded theory indicated that a process occurs in which individuals with PD move through the following five phases on their journey toward optimism: (a) diagnosis, (b) initial reactions, (c) adjustment, (d) acceptance, and (e) living with optimism. These findings indicate that individuals with PD often struggle to experience optimism. Nevertheless, by reframing optimism as a choice rather than a feeling, participants were able to make decisions that allowed them to progress on their journey toward optimism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-244
Author(s):  
Sonya S Lowe ◽  
Christine Milligan ◽  
Sarah G Brearley

Background: Cancer-related fatigue and loss of physical functioning are distressing symptoms which negatively impact the quality of life of people with advanced cancer. Physical activity has been shown to have positive effects on these symptoms in early-stage cancer, but previous research demonstrated an incongruence between people with advanced cancer’s expressed interest and actual participation in a physical activity intervention. Aim: To gain an in-depth understanding of the experience of activity and quality of life in people with advanced cancer, using a classic grounded theory approach. Design: Through the post-positivist lens of subtle realism, and informed by classic grounded theory methods, a two-phase, cross-sectional, qualitative study was conducted. For 7 days duration, participants wore an activPAL™ activity monitor and completed a daily record sheet, which were then used as qualitative probes for face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. Setting/participants: A total of 15 people with advanced cancer, aged 18 years or older, and with a median survival of 100 days from time of study consent, were recruited from an outpatient department of a tertiary cancer centre in Alberta, Canada. Findings: Maintaining their responsibilities, no matter how small, was the prime motive for participants’ behaviour. For people with advanced cancer, the minimum level of responsibility was dynamic and unique. It was achieved through a multifaceted interaction between the perceived benefits, prevailing conditions and mechanisms. Conclusion: This grounded theory enables understanding of activity as a mechanism through which responsibility is managed and may inform future behavioural interventions in people with advanced cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Patrick McKenna ◽  
Alice Heaney

The Needs-based model of quality of life has been employed in the development of a wide range of disease-specific quality of life measures over the last 20 years. The model argues that disease prevents need fulfilment and that effective interventions enable individuals to satisfy more of their fundamental human needs. Rather than adopting an existing theoretical framework, the needs-based model developed through grounded theory techniques. Several theories of needs have been advanced during the last 70 years, many of which are well known. This article relates the needs-based model of quality of life to the major published theories of human needs. Several of the theories focus on the development of societies rather than individuals – dependent on the disciplines and interests of the authors; who include sociologists, economists and psychologists. Most theorists also believe that there is a hierarchy of needs. The needs theories suggest that there are varying numbers of fundamental needs, but these tend to overlap across the theories. Statistical analyses of data collected with the needs-based quality of life measures support the view that there is a single, fundamental need.


Psychology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1794-1812
Author(s):  
Marios Adamou ◽  
Sarah L. Jones

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Mônica da Consolação Machado ◽  
Ronan Loschi Rodrigues Ferreira ◽  
Lucila Ishitani

As people get older, their physical and cognitive functions decline. Meeting these needs is an important goal to be reached, to propose activities that may contribute to a better quality of life, including leisure and learning. As such, this paper aims to present a set of heuristics and recommendations for the design of mobile serious games for older adults. To elaborate these heuristics and recommendations, we conducted two studies with older people. In the first study, we invited people aged 60 or more to evaluate mobile games, intending to collect data that could help us to adapt the heuristics that were already published to the public of this research. In the period between the two studies, we developed a serious mobile game (Labuta​ Batuta​) that met the set of adapted heuristics. In the second study, we invited another group of older people, aged 45 or over, to qualitatively evaluate Labuta​ Batuta​, in order to develop a Grounded Theory about the desirable characteristics for the design of serious mobile games for older adults. Besides a Grounded Theory, the second study allowed the identification of nine requirements to be considered when designing the mechanics of mobile games for older adults.


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