Exploring the Transactional Quality of Everyday Occupations Through Narrative-in-Action: Meaning-Making Among Women Living with Chronic Conditions

Balancing struggles with desired results in everyday activities: strategies for elderly persons with physical disabilities

“…PB conducted participant observations of everyday activities supplemented with unstructured interviews. Participant observations, following guidelines adapted from Mattingly and Alsaker and Josephsson , were used to access meanings of persons’ actions in the contexts of everyday activities . Additional unstructured interviews, designed following what Kvale calls qualitative interviews where questions are raised based on methodological decisions ‘on the spot’, explored participants’ perspectives on their daily lives and observed activities.…”

Narratives-in-action of people with moderate to severe dementia in long-term care: Understanding the link between occupation and identity

“…Little is known about the relationship of identity and meaningful occupation in people with advanced dementia. This paper has two aims: first, to present the application of a narrativein-action approach (Alsaker, Josephsson, & Dickie, 2013) in people with advanced dementia and second, to present findings about the relationship between identity and occupation in this group. After a short literature review, the design and methods of the study are described, followed by a more in-depth discussion of the theoretical background of narrative theory.…”

“…Alsaker, Bongaardt, and Josephsson (2009) developed the narrative-in-action approach that combines narrative theory with an ethnographic approach. Based on the work of Mattingly (1998) and Ricoeur (1988), it claims that narratives are embedded in actions and occupations (Alsaker et al, 2013). When people engage in an action, they produce images that they connect with past or future events to create a possible story (Ricoeur, Blamey, & Thompson, 2008).…”

“…When people engage in an action, they produce images that they connect with past or future events to create a possible story (Ricoeur, Blamey, & Thompson, 2008). Alsaker et al (2013) and Mattingly (1998) based their understanding of the relation of narrative and action on Ricoeur. Meaning is created through a threefold process that Ricoeur (1988) called mimesis.…”

“…In the first step, narrative elements were put in order to obtain a chronological lifestory (Molineux & Richard, 2003). The plot was identified (Polkinghorne, 1995) and interpretation took place in a hermeneutical circle based on the narrative-in-action approach (Alsaker et al, 2013). The final case story followed a four-fold structure:…”