Lived Experience of Having Difficult Conversations Among Care Partners of Individuals with Parkinson's: An Occupational Science Perspective
Abstract
Difficult conversations, which can be challenging co-occupations, play an important role in the lives of care partners of individuals living with Parkinson’s disease. In our first study for this integrated-article thesis, we used a critical interpretive synthesis to explore how informal caregiving had been conceptualized in occupation-focused research. We found that an occupational perspective illuminated otherwise overlooked aspects of caregiving. In our second study, we used an occupational science lens to explore how seven care partners of individuals with PD experienced having difficult conversations within the caring role. We conducted two rounds of in-depth semi-structured interviews and used an American Phenomenological Constructivist approach. We learned that not all difficult conversations are equal; difficult conversations may initially increase, then decline over time; and mediating factors impact how difficult conversations will go. Difficult conversations relate to the doing, being, becoming, and belonging of care partners and may contribute to their wellbeing.