Occupational Therapy Commons^™

Working Towards The Promise Of Participatory Action Research: Learning From Ageing Research Exemplars, Colleen E. Mcgrath

Occupational Therapy Publications

Within research addressing issues of social justice, there is a growing uptake of participatory action research (PAR) approaches that are ideally committed to equitable participation of community members in all phases of the research process in order to collaboratively enact social transformation. However, the utilization of such approaches has not always matched the ideal, with inconsistencies in how participation and action are incorporated. “Participation” within various research processes is displayed differently, with the involvement of community members varying from full participation to their involvement as simply participants for data collection. Similarly, “action” is varyingly enacted from researchers proposing research implications …

"We Were Meant To Go Down One Road, But Now We Have Rerouted": A Phenomenological Inquiry Into The Experience Of Aging Out-Of-Place, Sachindri Wijekoon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In an age of globalization, the experience of aging in a foreign land is part of the late-life experience of many older adults. However, studies of aging and migration have largely failed to conceptualize the unique resettlement experiences of immigrants entering North America as older adults. This dissertation asked, “What is the experience of aging out-of-place?” Specifically, this research question aimed to understand how late-life immigrants relate to, and connect and engage with places through aging processes, and the essentiality of daily occupations within such engagement. An interpretive paradigm and a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology guided this inquiry. The hermeneutic phenomenological …

How Do Health Care Providers Identify And Address Lifestyle Factors With Community Dwelling Adults Who Have Chronic Wounds?, Linda Norton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Wound prevention and management best practice guidelines and literature contain recommendations that treatment plans need to consider the client’s lifestyle but offer little guidance about the specific lifestyle factors to be considered, nor how to address these. A post positivist constructivist grounded theory study was used to explore this gap Participants were health care providers with at least 5 years of experience working with community dwelling adults with chronic wounds. Data were transcripts of two semi structured individual interviews, a reflective journal, relevant documents identified by participants and transcripts of focus groups.

A common understanding of lifestyle factors was not …

Expanding Beyond Individualism: Engaging Critical Perspectives On Occupation., Alison J Gerlach, Gail Teachman, Debbie Rudman, Rebecca M Aldrich, Suzanne Huot

Occupational Therapy Publications

BACKGROUND: Perspectives that individualize occupation are poorly aligned with socially responsive and transformative occupation-focused research, education, and practice. Their predominant use in occupational therapy risks the perpetuation, rather than resolution, of occupational inequities.

AIM: In this paper, we problematize taken-for-granted individualistic analyses of occupation and illustrate how critical theoretical perspectives can reveal the ways in which structural factors beyond an individual's immediate control and environment shape occupational possibilities and occupational engagement.

METHOD: Using a critically reflexive approach, we draw on three distinct qualitative research studies to examine the potential of critical theorizing for expanding beyond a reliance on individualistic analyses …

Understanding Parkinson’S Through Visual Narratives: “I’M Not Mrs. Parkinson’S”, S. G. Lutz, Jeffrey D. Holmes, D. Rudman, A. M. Johnson, K. Ladonna, M. E. Jenkins

Occupational Therapy Publications

Although it is accepted that individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) must navigate challenges such as receiving their diagnosis, and changing daily occupations, little is known about how they navigate. The purpose of this study is to deepen the current understanding of the experience of living with PD and its implications for occupation through a narrative visual methodology (photo-elicitation). Methods: Six individuals with PD were asked to take photographs and share verbal narrative accounts to illustrate their experience of living with PD. Findings: Results highlight the interrelationship between occupation and identity, as many of the participants stories were interpreted as foregrounding …