Characteristics of Meaningful Occupations from the Perspective of Mentally Ill People

Abstract

In recent decades there has been a trend to integrate persons with mental illness into society. One goal in this rocess has been to support a satisfying everyday life for the individual. However, there is limited research identifying what this group of persons experience as meaningful everyday occupations. The aim of the current phenomenological study was therefore to explore and understand the characteristics of the occupations experienced as meaningful by eight long-term mentally ill individuals living in the community. Informants participated in in-depth individual interviews, inspired by a narrative approach. A modified form of the Empirical, Phenomenological, Psychological method (EPP method) was used to analyse and interpret the data. Validity was examined in relation to "horizontal consistency" and peer debriefing. Findings stress that characteristics of occupations experienced as meaningful were closely related to feelings of being supported in living a life approaching normality, and as creating a natural arena of social interaction facilitating the identity of the individual and a sense of well-being. The essential relation between creating meaning and coherence and the development of identity through engagement in meaningful occupations were issues of the discussion. Further, the similarity of meaningful occupations to work or work-related occupations was addressed from a societal perspective.