Moving From Knowledge to Action in Partnership: A Case Study on Program Adaptation to Support Optimal Aging in the Context of Migration

Abstract

This case study explored how a researcher-community partnership contributed to program adaptations when implementing person-centered group-based health promotion services to older people who have migrated to Sweden. The study was conducted over 3 years and various data sources were used: focus groups, individual interviews, documents, and archive material. Findings from different data sources and partners' perspectives were triangulated to an overall case description using an iterative process. Adaptations were shaped through a dynamic process, negotiating toward suitable solutions that culminated in actions taken to adapt or inhibit adaptations. The negotiations were driven by the interplay within and between three reasons to adapt. The partners' opportunities to influence the negotiation process depended on establishing common ground to shape adaptations. Practical implications are provided on how to move from knowledge to action when implementing person-centered group-based health promotion to support optimal aging in the context of migration.

Distribution and evaluation of sense of coherence among older immigrants before and after a health promotion intervention – results from the RCT study promoting aging migrants’ capability

“…Further, some individuals may have declined to participate due to a distrust of health care providers, which has been explored in qualitative studies describing older immigrants’ health perceptions. 43 – 45 Still, the OR calculations can be interpreted to support the hypothesis that the intervention had an impact on SOC, even if the effect did not last.…”

Challenging oneself on the threshold to the world of research – frail older people’s experiences of involvement in research

“…Their project involved a process of finding a common ground to the problem of researchers and external actors coming from two different worlds where there is a lack of understanding for the other's perspective, situation and view of the project. The process of finding a common ground was eased by clarifying the overarching expectations, using a shared language and trying to work on equal terms to counter hierarchical conceptions of power imbalance [24].…”

Promoting aging migrants’ capabilities: A randomized controlled trial concerning activities of daily living and self-rated health

“…The assumption that older people aging in a migration context might be doubly vulnerable and more prone to ill-health compared with their native-born counterparts was based on available research [15] , [47] , [48] and guided the decision to lower the target age for participating in the PAMC study as compared to the age in the original study [25] , [49] . It is possible that older migrants from the targeted group have more resources, within the person and his/her environment, and are less vulnerable than previously thought.…”