Karen Strickland1, Allison Worth2, Catriona Kennedy1. 1. School of Nursing & Midwifery, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK. 2. Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the lived experience of the meaning of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis on the individual's sense of self. BACKGROUND: The time leading up to and immediately following the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has been identified as a time period shrouded by uncertainty and one where individuals have a heightened desire to seek accurate information and support. The diagnosis brings changes to the way one views the self which has consequences for biographical construction. DESIGN: A hermeneutic phenomenological study. METHODS: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 people recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. FINDINGS: This study presents the three master themes: the 'road to diagnosis', 'the liminal self' and 'learning to live with multiple sclerosis'. The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis may be conceptualised as a 'threshold moment' where the individual's sense of self is disrupted from the former taken-for-granted way of being and propose a framework which articulates the transition. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the need for healthcare professionals to develop interventions to better support people affected by a new diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The conceptual framework which has been developed from the data and presented in this study provides a new way of understanding the impact of the diagnosis on the individual's sense of self when affected by a new diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. This framework can guide healthcare professionals in the provision of supportive care around the time of diagnosis. RELEVANCE FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings provide practitioners with a new way of understanding the impact of the diagnosis on the individual's sense of self and a framework which can guide them in the provision of supportive care around the time of diagnosis.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the lived experience of the meaning of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis on the individual's sense of self. BACKGROUND: The time leading up to and immediately following the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has been identified as a time period shrouded by uncertainty and one where individuals have a heightened desire to seek accurate information and support. The diagnosis brings changes to the way one views the self which has consequences for biographical construction. DESIGN: A hermeneutic phenomenological study. METHODS: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 people recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. FINDINGS: This study presents the three master themes: the 'road to diagnosis', 'the liminal self' and 'learning to live with multiple sclerosis'. The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis may be conceptualised as a 'threshold moment' where the individual's sense of self is disrupted from the former taken-for-granted way of being and propose a framework which articulates the transition. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the need for healthcare professionals to develop interventions to better support people affected by a new diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The conceptual framework which has been developed from the data and presented in this study provides a new way of understanding the impact of the diagnosis on the individual's sense of self when affected by a new diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. This framework can guide healthcare professionals in the provision of supportive care around the time of diagnosis. RELEVANCE FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: The findings provide practitioners with a new way of understanding the impact of the diagnosis on the individual's sense of self and a framework which can guide them in the provision of supportive care around the time of diagnosis.
Authors: Jane Desborough; Crystal Brunoro; Anne Parkinson; Katrina Chisholm; Mark Elisha; Janet Drew; Vanessa Fanning; Christian Lueck; Anne Bruestle; Matthew Cook; Hanna Suominen; Antonio Tricoli; Adam Henschke; Christine Phillips Journal: Health Expect Date: 2020-06-24 Impact factor: 3.377