Issues using the life history calendar in disability research

Tracking Needs-Based Community and Specialized Services of Young Adults and Their Parents Before and During a First Episode of Psychosis (FEP): Highlighting Intervention Trajectories in FEP

Aim

This article aims to document 10 service trajectories of young adults (YA) and their parents, informed by healthcare professionals (HP), before and during a first episode of psychosis (FEP).

Design

Based on a crisis model perspective of the Life Course Theory (Elder; Elder and Shanahan) developed by Carpentier and White, and adapted to the current context to track community and specialized services trajectories. Thematic analysis was used to code responses to open-ended questions around the need for help and accessing services by young adults affected by a psychotic disorder, and their parents.

Setting

In collaboration with FEP clinics, setting of choice by YA and their parents.

Participants

5 YA, 12 parents, and 6 HP.

Results

10 individual service trajectories grouped into 3 distinct types of trajectories (optimal, typical, and complex) based on grouping 5 similar characteristics, highlighting service access complexity and early intervention in FEP.

Conclusion

This study is the first of its kind to examine the experiences of those who seek needs-based community and specialized services leading up to and during a FEP. Findings provide key insights related to early intervention in FEP and recommendations on improving access to such services in Quebec.

The Life-Course Perspectives of Mexican American Men With Mobility Limitation

The life-history narratives of 10 Mexican American men with mobility limitations, age 55-77 years (mean = 63.8, SD = 5.8), were explored using a qualitatively driven, life-history mixed-methods study to understand perceptions of mobility limitations over the life course. Within that methodological and paradigmatic framework, conceptualizations of alterity and masculinity guided interpretation of data. Through an iterative, thematic analysis, we detail the way the men's lives were influenced by growing familial responsibility with age. Quantitative data were integrated into themes of narrative inheritance, family, and masculinity. It was posited that masculinity with mobility limitations shaped and was shaped by ethnic identity and responsibility. This has implications for understanding the experience of Mexican American men over the life course.

The Pain Management Life History Calendar: A Pilot Study

Pain management trajectory data that includes previous pain treatments, timing, changes, and outcomes provide crucial data for patients with chronic pain and their practitioners to use when discussing ways to optimize pain management regimens. The aim of this study was to test the use of the life history calendar method to identify pain treatments, treatment regimens, timing, and outcomes of the pain management trajectory of individuals with chronic pain, and to examine feasibility. A pilot, descriptive, methodological design was used. Settings included community-based sites such as congregate housing. Nineteen community-dwelling older adults with osteoarthritis (OA) pain of at least 1 year's duration participated. Participants were interviewed and asked to chronicle from the beginning of the OA pain to the present all of their pain treatments and treatment effects (pain outcomes and adverse events). Raters independently content analyzed the transcribed interviews to identify pain treatments, treatment groupings (regimens), and treatment effects on pain. Feasibility of patients reporting their pain management trajectories was content analyzed by identifying participant difficulty identifying pain treatments, treatment effects, treatment sequence; and difficulty discriminating between treatments, and between OA pain and other pain sources. Individual pain management trajectories were constructed that depicted chronological order of pain treatment regimens and treatment effects. Participants identified pain treatments, discriminate between treatments and between OA and other conditions, and identified treatment effects. Treatment sequence was identified, but more precise timing was generally not reported. Pain management trajectories could provide a helpful way for practitioners to discuss safe, efficacious pain management options with patients.