Being part of an unfolding story: togetherness in everyday occupations when ageing

Abstract

It was apparent from the analysis that togetherness could not be taken for granted. Rather, the findings reflect how togetherness was created and maintained through an ongoing process of nurturing established relationships as well as creating something new around occupations with others.

Exploring potential in participation mediated by digital technology among older adults

“…Lillian and Nils were a part of each other, mattered to each other, and complemented one another. Belonging together means being part of a group and context while creating shared but personalized meanings through doing together (Nyman et al, 2014;van Nes et al, 2012). Through co-occupations, Lillian and Nils provided each other a sense of coherence by maintaining the nexus of meanings that they have co-created and shared.…”

Influencing everyday activities in a nursing home setting: A call for ethical and responsive engagement

“…In this paper, we understand everyday activities as emerging and enacted in collaboration with others (Nyman, Josephsson, & Isaksson, 2014). This understanding is grounded in occupational science (Cutchin & Dickie, 2013), a discipline that critically explores the meaning and value of people's everyday activities.…”

Altering the boundaries of everyday life in a nursing home context

“…The resourcefulness triggered by doing together [39] tells us about the emergent nature of engagement and could, for example, be identified in the hostess role adopted by one of the participants. Her familiarity with the role could be seen as reconnecting with embodied dimensions in a social context.…”

“…When older adults are seen as resourceful, a shift can occur towards enactment of their capabilities [12,25,37] and fostering of engagement [11,25]. This understanding of doing together [38,39] and to connect with peers challenges an individualistic view of engagement by proposing doing and co-creating in an emergent dialog through occupations. An example of this is how simple household chores such as helping to fold clean laundry or setting the table can be experienced as meaningful [21,23,40,41] or connecting with peers [12,23,[42][43][44][45] when performed in accordance with older adults' capabilities, desires, and interests.…”