Visual art-making as a resource for living positively with arthritis: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of older women’s accounts

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Journal of Aging Studies. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.This study explored whether and how visual art-making, as a leisure activity, provided a coping resource for older women affected by arthritis. Twelve older women (aged 62–81) were interviewed. They had lived with arthritis for many years, and engaged in arts and crafts regularly. Transcripts were explored through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three main themes were identified. Firstly, most participants experienced art-making as a powerful means of controlling arthritis pain, through deep concentration, and through use of color and imagery. Secondly, participants experienced art-making as encouraging sustained attention to the outside world, offering psychological escape from the confines of the body and home. Thirdly, art-making protected and promoted identity, for example, through integrating current and former selves, enabling participants to express and re-experience certain valued memories, and engage in personal development. Some participants felt able to celebrate positive difference from others, on the basis of their art rather than their illness

Creative reminiscence as an early intervention for depression: results of a pilot project.

Reminiscence may help in resolving conflicts from the past and making up the balance of one’s life. Life-review may be further enhanced by the creative expression of memories in stories, poems or drawings. In this way people are encouraged to create and discover metaphors, images and stories that symbolically represent the subjective and inner meaning of their lives. In this article, a new intervention, which combines reminiscence and creative expression aimed at early treatment of depression, is described. A pilot project showed that the intervention Searching for the meaning in life may generate small-sized effects in reducing depression. Additionally, it appears to generate effects of medium size in enhancing mastery. Several possible ways to improve the effectiveness of the intervention are described

Struggling to Maintain Occupation While Dealing With Risk: The Experiences of Older Adults With Low Vision

The primary aim of this descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the core aspects of living with low vision in later life among older adults (aged 70 years and older) who had not accessed rehabilitation services for low vision. Thirty-four older adults from urban and rural areas participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview and a telephone follow-up. Drawing on an occupational science perspective and using Giorgi and Giorgi’s (2003) method of analysis, the essence of the experience of living with low vision was identified as struggling to maintain valued and necessary occupations while dealing with risk. Additional themes included enhanced sense of risk, striving for independence, and shrinking physical and social life spaces. Findings are interpreted in relation to occupational adaptation and environmental influences on occupation, and implications for the role of occupational therapists are discussed