Abstract
ABSTRACTPurpose: Individuals rely upon many types of information to manage an illness, including information provided by their own bodies. This study investigated how people tune into and manage the flow of information from their bodies to manage their health. Method: We developed a platform for participants to share and collaboratively reflect on how they engaged in this dialogic process, in which participants contributed to a discussion on topics relating to body listening and body awareness. Though the study was open to anyone interested in or wanting to contribute to knowledge on “body listening,” the social media recruitment focused on chronic conditions requiring self-care and having overlapping symptomatology, with chronic pain as the primary characteristic. A qualitative analysis method based on grounded theory was used to analyse the data. Results: Six main themes emerged: learning the language, recognizing and heeding limits, experiencing emotional fatigue and despair, regulating the channel, moving from conflict to communication, and settling into an uneasy acceptance. Conclusion: The monitoring and filtering of information from one’s body, and the appeasement of conflicting demands and voices, is difficult work. Knowledge of this process can be used in patient education and in the development of tools to support body listening.
Highlights
Chronic illnesses can have profound effects on people’s lives, including diminished lifeworlds, reduced incomes, withdrawal from social and recreational activities, social isolation, struggles to understand their illnesses, and threats to identity and self-esteem (Arnold et al, 2008; Crooks, 2007; Öhman, Söderberg, & Lundman, 2003; Röing & Sanner, 2015)
It has been argued that body awareness, defined as the ability to recognize subtle body cues, can be helpful in the management of various conditions including chronic low back pain, congestive heart failure, chronic renal failure, and irritable bowel syndrome (Mehling et al, 2009)
We focused on chronic conditions because of the greater need for patients’ self-management efforts and recognition of the potential benefits of online delivery methods for self-management interventions (Gogovor et al, 2017; Röing & Sanner, 2015)
Summary
Chronic illnesses can have profound effects on people’s lives, including diminished lifeworlds, reduced incomes, withdrawal from social and recreational activities, social isolation, struggles to understand their illnesses, and threats to identity and self-esteem (Arnold et al, 2008; Crooks, 2007; Öhman, Söderberg, & Lundman, 2003; Röing & Sanner, 2015). Over the course of a chronic illness, people can learn to adapt in many ways, including becoming more attuned to their bodies, recognizing signals that the body gives, and reacting to these signals (Chen, 2016; Sångren, Reventlow, & Hetlevik, 2009). This might mean greater awareness of pain triggers and food sensitivities, becoming aware of one’s physical limits and the need to rest, and recognizing when one is going to have a hypoglycaemic episode. Patients may combine an awareness of their embodied experience with information from test results, often in the process of discerning patterns of their condition (Wolf & Veinot, 2015)
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