Abstract
To demonstrate a conceptual approach to applied phenomenology using the concept of embodiment. Traditionally, qualitative researchers and healthcare professionals have been taught phenomenological methods, such as the epoché, reduction or bracketing. These methods are typically construed as a way of avoiding biases so that one may attend to the phenomena in an open and unprejudiced way. However, it has also been argued that qualitative researchers and healthcare professionals can benefit from phenomenology's well-articulated theoretical framework, which consists of core concepts, such as selfhood, empathy, temporality, spatiality, affectivity and embodiment. This is a discursive article that demonstrates a conceptual approach to applied phenomenology. To outline and explain this approach to applied phenomenology, the Discussion section walks the reader through four stages of phenomenology, which progress incrementally from the most theoretical to the most practical. Part one introduces the philosophical concept of embodiment, which can be applied broadly to any human subject. Part two shows how philosophically trained phenomenologists use the concept of embodiment to describe general features of illness and disability. Part three illustrates how the phenomenological concept of embodiment can inform empirical qualitative studies and reflects on the challenges of integrating philosophy and qualitative research. Part four turns to phenomenology's application in clinical practice and outlines a workshop model that guides clinicians through the process of using phenomenological concepts to better understand patient experience. A conceptual approach to applied phenomenology provides a valuable alternative to traditional methodological approaches. Phenomenological concepts provide a foundation for better understanding patient experience in both qualitative health research and clinical practice, and therefore provide resources for enhancing patient care.
Highlights
The body is central to the practice of nursing and health care
I focus on the phenomenological concept of embodiment, which provides a valuable foundation for understanding a range of experiences in illness and health care
Havi Carel, for instance, has proposed a workshop model that uses phenomenological methods, such as the reduction and thematization, to help patients understand and articulate their experiences of illness (Carel, 2012, p. 107). In contrast to these traditional ways of applying phenomenology outside of philosophy, Dan Zahavi has argued that qualitative researchers and healthcare professionals can benefit from phenomenology's well-articulated theoretical framework, which consists of core concepts, such as selfhood, empathy, temporality, spatiality, affectivity and embodiment (Zahavi, 2019a, 2019b, 2020)
Summary
Many nurses and qualitative health researchers have turned to philosophical traditions to help them better understand patient experience. I demonstrate an alternative approach to applied phenomenology, which relies on phenomenology's concepts, rather than its methods To demonstrate this approach, I focus on the phenomenological concept of embodiment, which provides a valuable foundation for understanding a range of experiences in illness and health care. The article has two key aims: first, it provides a philosophical foundation and guide for better understanding embodied experiences in illness and health care; second, it provides a general model for how any core phenomenological concept, such as temporality, selfhood or affectivity, may be applied in healthcare research and clinical practice
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
