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Home, health and participation for community living people with disability

Author

  • Björg Thordardottir

Summary, in English

The aim of this thesis was to contribute to the understanding of aspects related to home,

health and participation for community living people with disability and identify different

groups with different needs for interventions. Study I used focus groups to explore aspects

of importance for participation. Twenty-nine people with Parkinson’s Disease participated in

nine focus groups. Studies II-III utilized baseline data from an ongoing study among people

applying for housing adaptations in southern Swedish municipalities. Study II investigated

personal, environmental, and activity-related factors linked to participation frequency and

satisfaction among 128 housing adaptation clients. Study III investigated differences in

participation frequency, participation satisfaction and self-rated health between groups of

housing adaptation applicants. Study IV utilized interview data and study specific questions

in longitudinal mixed-method design to explore experiences of participation before and after

a housing adaptation. Study I revealed that participation was experienced in a variety of

situations in a complex context of home and community. Study II showed that frequency of

participation had a strong association with gender, cognitive impairments and dependence

in ADL while satisfaction with participation had a strong association with age, usability

aspects and self-rated health. Study III identified six heterogeneous groups, differing in

terms of age, ADL dependence, functional limitations, cognitive impairments, concerns

about falling and usability of the home, that also showed significant differences in

participation and self-rated health. In Study IV, an overall theme of struggling with

participation towards satisfaction with participation emerged and revealed how the

participants experienced their participation on a continuum. The findings provide insights

into how participation inside and outside the home, with others or alone is related to the

person, the environment, and the performance of activities. This speaks to the importance

of being observant of the different aspects of restrictions to participation for each individual,

especially as disability often progresses over time.

Publishing year

2016

Language

English

Publication/Series

Lund University Faculty of Medicine Doctoral Dissertation Series

Volume

2016:39

Document type

Dissertation

Publisher

Department of Health Sciences, Lund University

Topic

  • Occupational Therapy

Keywords

  • activity
  • community living
  • disability
  • occupational therapy
  • participation

Status

Published

Research group

  • Participation, ageing and everyday life

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1652-8220
  • ISBN: 978-91-7619-265-8

Defence date

14 April 2016

Defence time

13:00

Defence place

Health Science Center, Hörsal 1, Baravägen 3, Lund

Opponent

  • Eric Asaba (Docent)