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Making meaning around experiences in interventions: identifying meaningfulness in a group-based occupational therapy intervention targeting older people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2017

INGEBORG NILSSON  and
ANNA SOFIA LUNDGREN
INGEBORG NILSSON*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Occupational Therapy, Umeå University, Sweden. Center for Demographic and Aging Research (CEDAR), Umeå University, Sweden.
ANNA SOFIA LUNDGREN
Affiliation:
Center for Demographic and Aging Research (CEDAR), Umeå University, Sweden. Department of Culture and Media Studies, Umeå University, Sweden.
*
Address for correspondence: Ingeborg Nilsson, Umeå University, Vårdvetarhuset, Occupational Therapy, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

There is a need to understand the underlying mechanisms at work within health promotion and occupational therapy interventions. The aim of this article was, therefore, to explore and describe how the participants of a group-based occupational therapy intervention with positive health outcomes created meaning of and around their experiences of the intervention. The studied intervention was part of the evaluation of a single-blinded, exploratory randomised controlled trial of three different interventions. A total of 19 participants between 77 and 82 years of age with experiences from the group-based intervention were interviewed, and the transcribed interviews were analysed from a constructivist approach. The results showed five different perspectives of meaning, including enjoyment, usefulness, togetherness, respect for individuality and self-reflection. Based on our findings, we argue that the possibility of getting information, sharing with others and having fun, and the ability to adjust the activities in the intervention so that they met the individual's needs, created meaning for the participants. Moreover, meeting with others supported the participants’ perspectives of themselves. The results are discussed in relation to the pervasive discourse of successful ageing, including how it was present but also challenged within the participants’ accounts of the intervention.

Keywords

meaninginterventionsoccupational therapyidentitysuccessful ageingold age
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 38 , Issue 9 , September 2018 , pp. 1887 - 1911
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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