Effects of colour narrative in community-dwelling older adults: A mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

Based on occupational storytelling/story-making, this study developed Colour Narrative, a program to promote the health and well-being of community-dwelling older adults.

OBJECTIVES

To conduct a pilot study to implement Colour Narrative in a heavy snowfall area of Japan and verify the participants' experiences in the program and its effectiveness.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

An advanced mixed methods design was used. The participants were 22 members of a community-based social group for older adults. Quantitative measurements of life functions and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were conducted before and after the intervention. Qualitative data were collected from focus group interviews regarding the participants' experiences during the intervention process. Lastly, both datasets were integrated.

RESULTS

The harsh living conditions due to heavy snowfall reduced the participants' overall activity. In this environment, Colour Narrative encouraged them to control their lives more in their own ways and enhanced their HRQOL. The core of their experiences was 'negating occupations'. This negotiation was a highly intellectual task that significantly improved their cognitive function.

CONCLUSIONS

The structure and content of Colour Narrative were found to be useful and feasible for community-dwelling older adults.

SIGNIFICANCE

Colour Narrative offers a new occupation-based intervention strategy for preventive occupational therapy.

Structural relationships among occupational dysfunction, stress coping, and occupational participation for healthcare workers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Occupational dysfunction is frequent among healthcare workers, but little is known about factors related to occupational participation and stress coping behavior among healthcare workers. This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze structural relationships among occupational dysfunction, stress coping, and occupational participation in healthcare workers.

METHODS

Participants were 601 healthcare workers in 13 facilities. Data were collected with participant profile, Classification and Assessment of Occupational Dysfunction (CAOD), Coping Scale (CS), and Self-completed Occupational Performance Index (SOPI). Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, item response theory (IRT), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlation analysis, and path analysis.

RESULTS

CFAs of CAOD, CS, and SOPI indicated good fit to the predicted models. In IRT, CAOD and SOPI showed conformity, but two items of CS showed nonconformity. The correlation between CAOD-SOPI was high to moderate (-0.486 to -0.246; p < 0.001), whereas that between CAOD and emotion-focused coping was weakly negative. SOPI and CS were negatively associated with occupational dysfunction (p < 0.000).

CONCLUSIONS

This model demonstrated that SOPI and CS had a negative structural relationship with occupational dysfunction. Therefore, it seems important to encourage occupational participation (in the areas of self-care, productivity, and leisure) to reduce occupational dysfunction in healthcare workers.