Ricoeur's Interpretation Research Articles

Cross-sectoral exchange of nurses: An intervention study.

In health policy, much attention has been paid to collaboration between the primary and secondary health care sectors, especially in relation to hospitalisation and discharge. Despite ideal plans for collaboration, the research literature shows that inadequate communication is a well-known problem that can be a barrier to a safe trajectory for the citizen. Based on the assumption that better knowledge of each other's work will lead to better collaboration, a cross-sectoral exchange program with nurses was initiated. The aim was to investigate which barriers to good patient trajectories the involved nurses attributed to cross-sectoral collaboration and what impact the exchange to the opposite sector had for them. Twenty-eight nurses were exchanged: 14 from a cardiology department and 14 from municipal home care. The nurses shadowed a colleague from the opposite sector in their daily work. Subsequently, six focus group interviews were conducted. The transcribed material was analysed based on Ricoeur's interpretation theory. Two main themes, including sub-themes emerged: (1) Challenging communicative conditions: (a) Inadequate digital communication, (b) Inadequate care plans and discharge reports, (c) Conversation promotes understanding, and (d) Challenging collaboration and communication with the discharge coordinators. (2) Perceived importance of the exchange: (a) Cross-sectoral relationship, prejudice and gaining respect for each other and (b) Working in two different worlds. Electronic communication is inadequate, and the IT systems do not support sufficient cross-sectoral communication. The organisational model in the municipal care sector is inflexible in terms of allocations for the current needs of citizens, and professionals feel that their professional judgements are not recognised. The nurses gained insight into each other's work and working conditions and respect for each other's professionalism. The exchange has the potential to both improve the relationship and communication between the sectors for the benefit of a better and more coherent patient course.

Relational vulnerability in motherhood-an existential perspective on pain and exhaustion among women.

Stress-related ill-health like pain and exhaustion are demanding public health problems in Europe. In Sweden, women are particularly at risk to develop stress-related ill-health during a period in life that coincides with child-rearing years. When entering motherhood, Swedish women's sick leave substantially increases. Yet, motherhood is rarely acknowledged in clinical encounters concerning pain and exhaustion although women suffer from these ailments more often than men. To incorporate motherhood as an existential dimension of health in the care of women living with pain and exhaustion might alleviate women's suffering. But knowledge on women's experiences of motherhood and health is scarce. Therefore, the aim of the study is to reach a deeper understanding of how women suffering from long-lasting pain and exhaustion experience their health in relation to motherhood. Ricoeur's interpretation theory has been applied to analyze 27 phenomenological interviews with 14 mothers suffering from long-lasting pain and exhaustion. These women's experiences shed light on how closely motherhood is interwoven with the experience of their health and suffering: The women's suffering seems to be rooted in a relational vulnerability that has been uncovered during motherhood. Further, the women suffer from a burden of difficult life experiences and inner conflicts. Reconciliation with life is possible when women find an existential shelter, which offers ways to relate to their suffering making the own suffering more bearable.

Mobilisation during mechanical ventilation: A qualitative study exploring the practice of conscious patients, nurses and physiotherapists in intensive care unit.

To explore the practice of mobilisation of conscious and mechanically ventilated patients and the interaction between patients, nurses and physiotherapists. Long-term consequences of critical illness can be reduced by mobilisation starting in Intensive Care Units, but implementation in clinical practice is presently sparse. A qualitative study with a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Participant observations in three Intensive Care Units involved twelve conscious mechanically ventilated patients, thirty-one nurses and four physiotherapists. Additionally seven semi-structured patient interviews, respectively at the ward and after discharge and two focus group interviews with healthcare professionals were conducted. The data analysis was inspired by Ricoeur's interpretation theory. The study adhered to the COREQ checklist. Healthcare professionals performed a balance of support and guidance to promote mobilisation practice. The complexity of ICU mobilisation required a flexible mobility plan. Furthermore, interaction with feedback and humour was found to be 'a leverage' for patient's motivation to partake in mobilisation. The practice of mobilisation found patients striving to cope and healthcare professionals promoting a 'balanced standing by' and negotiating the flexible mobility plan to support mobilisation. The study revealed a need to clarify interprofessional communication to align expectations towards mobilisation of conscious and mechanically ventilated patients. The study demonstrated the important role of healthcare professionals to perform a stepwise and 'balanced standing by' in adequately supporting and challenging the mobilisation of mechanically ventilated patients. Furthermore, a synergy can arise when nurses and physiotherapists use supplementary feedback and humour, and cooperate based on a flexible situation-specific mobility plan in intensive care.

A life-changing process when living with chronic kidney disease: A qualitative study.

Patients with chronic kidney disease and their family members experience a number of lifestyle changes caused by the illness. The value of advance care planning includes understanding health status and options for future care, communication between close family members, and identification of wishes and preferences for care and treatment in relation to family and everyday life. Explore how patients with chronic kidney disease and their families experience everyday life and how they experience having to make choices about treatment. An explorative study using a qualitative method with a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Twelve patients with chronic kidney disease without kidney replacement therapy who were considering their treatment options and eight family members. Individual semistructured interviews with a narrative approach were conducted between August 2021 and March 2022. The data were analysed using Ricoeur's interpretation theory on three levels: naïve reading, structural analysis and critical interpretation and discussion. One main theme was generated: Family dynamics in a life-changing process. From this, three subthemes were derived: Living in an ordinary life placed in a waiting position, The dilemma of readiness to share and Feelings of being left alone. There are changes in family roles and in identity and a desire to maintain the known and ordinary life. Living with chronic kidney disease as a part of daily life is managed differently in the family, which can lead to feelings such as sadness, frustration and loss of shared life and resilience.

Perceptions of haemodialysis nurses regarding patients' and families' loss and grief.

The experience of loss and grief in patients' lives with life-long treatment in haemodialysis, and in their families' lives is a major cause of mental health problems. In practice, nurses often describe a lack of time and limited knowledge of how to provide nursing care in situations of loss and grief, thus finding out from nurses' perspectives of what competencies they need to provide care would be useful for the development of nursing practice. To develop knowledge in a nursing perspective of competencies to provide care for patients and their families, who experience grief linked to loss due to kidney failure, haemodialysis and/or death. The study took a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted 12 nurses caring for patients receiving haemodialysis with no kidney transplantation option and family members. Ricoeur's interpretation theory involving naïve reading, structural analysis and critical interpretation and discussion was used for analysis. Four themes emerged of nurse's experiences: (1) patient's loss and grief in everyday life, (2) dealing with supportive conversations when caring for patients, (3) families' losses are resulting in grief reactionsand (4) importance of close relationships when caring for families. To nurses, patients on haemodialysis and their families have multiple loss and grief experiences. Nurses' working in kidney care need to develop competencies to support patients and families to cope with grief and loss. Further research is needed to develop these competencies and then to implement in education and practice.

The experiences of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis of their decision-making processes to invasive home mechanical ventilation-A qualitative study.

To explore and gain knowledge of the experiences and needs among patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) of their decision-making processes whether to choose invasive home mechanical ventilation or not. A qualitative study. A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach influenced by Ricoeur's interpretation theory was used. Seven patients with ALS were interviewed. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist was used for reporting. Three themes were evident in patients' accounts of the decision-making process: (1) being taken care of directly after receiving the diagnosis, (2) living in uncertainty about what the future would bring and (3) doubt causing patients with ALS to change their minds. Patients with ALS were burdened with everyday life challenging decision-making processes about future treatment and doubt caused patients to change their minds about their future treatment. It is necessary to support patients in their decision-making processes using shared decision-making. No Patient or Public Contribution.

Something wicked this way comes! Applying linguistic structures within Ricoer's interpretation theory

Punctuation may seem to be minor, but even ‘minor’ editing influences the interpretation of a text. This paper draws in several novel connections in language and communication in order to look at how the punctuation of the exclamation mark, and the editors that select it, create a symbol that suggests to the reader how to appropriate the text. Using Ricoeur's interpretation theory as the foundation, this study applies linguistic structures of propositions, syntax, speech act functions, and genre to microscopically analyze the use of punctuation and how it functions to guide the reader's interpretation of a text. In the case of a religious text, the exclamation point is used to alert the reader to understand his own state of wickedness.

An Integrated Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation Program Experienced by Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain.

Purpose: To examine how an integrated, multidisciplinary rehabilitation program was experienced by patients with chronic low back pain and to gain insight into how these patients integrated knowledge, skills, and behaviors obtained by the program into their everyday lives.Materials and Methods: A phenomenological hermeneutic design using Ricoeur's interpretation theory was used in the analysis. Data were generated through nine semi-structured interviews in patients with chronic low back pain. The study adhered to the Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist.Results: Standardized rehabilitation efforts adapted to individual needs and provided by a highly professional healthcare team in a combination of inpatient stay and home-based activities was experienced as beneficial, because the patients were able to integrate the obtained knowledge, skills, and behaviors into their everyday lives.Conclusions: The findings revealed that the multidisciplinary holistic approach led to higher bodily awareness, greater mental health, and increased social interaction, which improved happiness and quality of life among the patients. This study emphasizes and highlights a rehabilitation approach that promotes home-based activities to provide a base for co-creation across professions regarding rehabilitation initiatives for patients with chronic low back pain.

Helpful factors in a healthcare professional intervention for low-back pain: Unveiled by Heidegger's philosophy.

Low-back pain can be invalidating physically as well as mentally. Despite professional help to treat and prevent low-back pain, the pain often persists, and so do the problems related to low-back pain. An intervention that made it possible for a significant part of patients with low-back pain to improve health and well-being raised the question: Why was it possible to help some and not others? The aim of the present paper was to achieve a deeper understanding of factors patients experienced as helpful in professional support related to low-back pain. This was explored using a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach while analysing 20 interviews with patients with low-back pain purposively chosen interviews conducted in relation to the intervention. An analysis was made using Ricoeur's interpretation theory. Data on both positive and negative experiences were read and reflected upon. We found that healthcare professionals' adoption of a narrative approach facilitating the patient's perspective was perceived as helpful. Patients experienced this as being taken seriously; an experience that could be explained at a deeper, more nuanced level using Heidegger's philosophy. Facilitating the patient's perspective was conditional not only on the professional obtaining access to the patient's perspective but also on understanding and acknowledging the patient's existence. The challenge for healthcare professionals in this respect is to bridge the gap between the consultation's fact-focused concern with the medical implications of low-back pain and the patient's concern with the implications low-back pain has for his or her personal identity and life. Listening to the patient's perspective in itself supports the subjective recovery process, while also supporting the quality of patient-centred support and strengthening the patient's trust in its helpfulness.

Investigating job satisfaction in palliative rehabilitation: Reflections and perspectives of health professionals working with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which causes impairment of the motor functions in the upper and lower limbs and bulbar muscles with a median survival time is three years from the first appearance of symptoms. There is massive psychological impact on health professionals to persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, hence the work leads to multiple challenges and stressful and demanding situations with high risk of experiencing diminished personal well-being including burnout, moral distress, and compassion fatigue. To investigate reflections and perspectives from health professionals working within palliative rehabilitation for elements of importance in relation to job satisfaction. The design was qualitative and based on the phenomenological-hermeneutical methodology by Paul Ricoeur's interpretation theory. Data consisted of two semi-structured focus group interviews with a total of 12 specialized health professionals: Nurses, Psychologists, Physicians, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, and Social workers, working within a hospital setting of specialized palliative rehabilitation for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their families. The analysis revealed insight into four themes: fundamental drive, working conditions, value of collegiality and work-life balance. Fundamental drive was deeply rooted in the professionals' sense of having a meaningful job. Working conditions such as self-management were important for job satisfaction as were good collegial relations. Finally, a good balance between working life and private life was considered important for job satisfaction. Our study indicates that work within the field of palliative rehabilitation is experienced as enriching and beneficial under the right circumstances and in an appreciatory working environment. We found elements like autonomy, mastery, purpose, collegiality, and work-life balance to be of great importance. Our findings can help guide managements and health professionals in other palliative rehabilitation contexts to ensure satisfied employees and to optimize the quality of care.

Contemporary Painting: Anjani Mystery Room

Abstract painting is a genre of art whose forms of delivery are not direct. Anjani is one of the young artists who work with abstract paintings by displaying her wild imagination. Through a mix of media mix and sweep, spill, melt scratch techniques together and connect together into an unexpected configuration of results. The artist himself has dyslexia, which is not trivial for someone, especially artists because dyslexia is a 'language disorder' which causes individual deferences. However, lack is not an obstacle to Anjani, Anjani makes her shortcomings into an artistic 'personal charm' and this is a great capital and impetus for creating the best work of art. The theory used is Paul Ricoeur's interpretation theory. Interpretation is the interpretation, meaning, meaning, impression, opinion, and theoretical view of an object, the object this time meant is Anjani's painting, which the author limits to three paintings, namely Regeneration, Shifting, Mandala. Lukisan Abstrak, Paul Recoeur, Hermeneutik, Disleksia.

It's Not Just a Virus! Lived Experiences of People Diagnosed With COVID-19 Infection in Denmark.

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of people infected with the coronavirus in Denmark during the first phase of the pandemic. An explorative qualitative design underpinned by a phenomenological hermeneutical approach was applied. Fifteen individuals with confirmed COVID-19 infection were included and interviewed individually by telephone. Analyses were inspired by Ricoeur's interpretation theory. The study illuminated how being diagnosed with COVID-19 was experienced not just a virus infecting the participants' biology; it was also a threat to their existence and bodily perception as well as an interference in ordinary social relationships. Beyond a supportive approach, the participants experienced being a special case where people around them acted with excitement and curiosity. Responsibility for existential and emotional care after COVID-19 has been placed with the individual ill person and within their ordinary social circle. We suggest follow-up and rehabilitation for people during and after COVID-19 to support recovery.

Self-care experiences of Pakistani patients with COPD and the role of family in self-care: A phenomenological inquiry.

Self-care enables patients in improving quality of life and reducing hospital admissions. Research explored the experiences of patients about breathlessness, sleep problems and complication management in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the self-care experiences and the role of the family in self-care are underexplored. This study aimed to understand the self-care experiences of patients with COPD and explore the role of the family in self-care. An interpretive phenomenological inquiry was used, and 13 patients were interviewed in 2019 from two hospitals in Pakistan. The inclusion criteria were patients above 30years of age at any stage of COPD, who received a confirmed diagnosis of COPD and were receiving the treatment, and engaged in self-care at their homes or communities. The interviews lasted for 35-60min. Ricoeur's interpretation theory was used for data analysis comprising steps explanation, naive understanding and in-depth understanding. Self-care emerged as a complex individual and familial endeavour affected by personal, social and economic factors. Poverty was one of the core determinants of self-care. Patients emphasised the spiritual, cultural and traditional approaches to self-care. Future research is warranted to develop better understanding of spiritual and cultural self-care and how these dimensions of self-care affect patients' self-care behaviours.

The Challenge of Being Present and Inclusive: Chaplains’ Experiences With Providing Existential Care to Older Persons With Acquired Deafblindness

Introduction: Experiencing deafblindness is frequently accompanied by existential struggles. The number of older people with acquired deafblindness is fast increasing, and older persons' health-related burdens are particularly associated with existential challenges. Hence, older persons with acquired deafblindness are explicitly exposed to existential struggles. Chaplains have a vital role in providing existential care. They do this both in congregational as well as health and social care contexts and are confronted with older persons' religious, spiritual, and secular concerns. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore chaplains' lived experiences with providing existential care to older persons with acquired deafblindness. Materials and Methods: Individual open narrative interviews were conducted with five chaplains. The interview texts were analyzed by using Lindseth and Norberg's phenomenological hermeneutical method for analyzing lived experience based on Ricoeur's interpretation theory. Findings: The chaplains are direct and immediate during their encounters with older persons with acquired deafblindness. They can experience personal limitations trying to alleviate the older persons' burdens. Establishing trust and confidentiality appears to be a prerequisite for conversations about the older peoples' existential struggles. The chaplains emphasize the importance of acknowledging the persons' negative feelings and addressing new perspectives to a life with deafblindness. In this way, the older persons can experience reconciliation with their lives. The chaplains struggle with creating inclusive fellowships but show high commitment trying to make that possible. Conclusion and implications for health and social care: Chaplains can contribute to the existential wellbeing of older persons with acquired deafblindness through their presence in times of existential struggle. They provide existential care in a highly compassionate way, but can also experience the support they offer as insufficient. The implementation of a systematically organized service for existential care to older persons with acquired deafblindness could be worthwhile. Discourse about different ways of using (sign) language and other possibilities for the inclusion of older persons with acquired deafblindness in the Deaf Church and other communities is recommended.

Lived Experiences of Male Nurse Educators: An Interpretive Phenomenological Inquiry.

Male nurses experience stereotypes and obstacles that affect their career progression in clinical and leadership roles. The experiences of male students and nurses in educational and clinical settings are documented, but no research explored the experiences of nurse educators. To explore and develop a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of male nurse educators. An interpretive phenomenological inquiry was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 male educators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Ricoeur's interpretation theory was used for data analysis. The themes included "searching for respect and autonomy: from discrimination to recognition", "keeping up the pace: proving worth as nurse educators", "building relationship with the opposite gender: overcoming cultural constraints", "withstanding unfair female nursing and non-nursing management", "appreciating support from democratic management" and "envisioning a non-gendered nursing profession". Male educators surmounted various challenges while searching for respect and recognition and felt content with their professional growth. The greatest challenge was discriminative institutional and the government policies. The educators recognized that female dominance in nursing can be a hurdle, but they indicated that gender discrimination can be ended with collaborative efforts at personal, institutional, and governmental levels. Nursing regulatory bodies and institutions should develop policies that are conducive to recruitment of male and female educators. Separate sub-divisions could be established to provide support to and advocate for the rights of male nurses in clinical, educational, and leadership positions.

Ricoeur's narrative philosophy: A source of inspiration in critical hermeneutic health research.

Patient-centred care has gained ground in health service following a health policy initiative aimed at changing the paternalistic culture towards one with more patient involvement. Development of knowledge relating to people's lived experiences of illness is important in this context. Literature in the field of health science describes methods for exploring what is at stake for people affected by illness, and the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur has been a significant source of inspiration. Especially, Ricoeur's interpretation theory has been construed and applied in different, often schematic, methodological variations, whereas his narrative philosophy is a little used source of inspiration. Health science has been characterized by a biomedical awareness of method and the idea that there is a direct and immediate path to patients' experiences, a viewpoint that can be traced back to Descartes and the philosophy of subjectivism. Opposed to Descartes, Ricoeur says that we are already embedded in a world of traditions and meanings over which we have no control. According to Ricoeur, we leave traces when we express ourselves, and traces are formed by the world of meanings and traditions to which we belong. Often, the sense in the traces is hidden, making it impossible to directly understand individual's experiences. Reflection on an individual's lived experiences must take place via the narratives in which the individual expresses themselves. The centrepiece of Ricoeur's narrative philosophy is the threefold mimesis, which is an approach to understanding the meaning of peoples' lived experiences. The philosophical hermeneutics of Gadamer plays an important role in Ricoeur's theory of interpretation, although he has criticized Gadamer for failing to include one dimension in his philosophy; he finds this dimension in Habermas' ideology critique. Ricoeur's ideology critique is absent in health science research, which is why it has been made a focal point in this article.

The Discourse of Meaning of Jihad in Muhammadiyah Circle (A Hermeneutics Perspective)

This study focuses on the discourse about the meaning of Jihad that emerged in the Muhammadiyah circle as one of the Islamic Organizations in Indonesia. The discussion of meaning of Jihad as a way of peace or a way of war becomes crucial amid radicalism, terrorism, violence movements and chaos waged on behalf of religion. However, Muhammadiyah believes that the meaning of Jihad is anti-war and anti-violence which strengthens the understanding of Islam as the religion of rahmatan lil alamin (a mercy to all creation). This belief is criticism and contra-discourse towards camps that perceive Jihad as war and acts of violence. This study uses Paul Ricoeur's Interpretation Theory and focuses on the interpretation of the text based on the distinction between the text and the reader. The method is Ricoeur's hermeneutic method which focuses on the distortion of language, discourse, and textuality. The study shows that textually the meaning of Jihad among the Muhammadiyah circle is jihad lil-muwajahah, or the struggle to tackle a challenge by creating a superior movement, for example, “Jihad Konstitusi.” Muhammadiyah's understanding of the meaning of Jihad can be used as a counter-discourse on the meaning of Jihad which well known as an act of terrorism.

REINTERPRETASI HADIS MAYAT DIAZAB ATAS TANGISAN KELUARGANYA DENGAN HERMENEUTIKA PAUL RICOEUR

<p><em>Islam as the religion of ra<em><em><span lang="IN">ḥ</span></em></em></em><em>mah li al-‘âlamin has the dimension of law-setting based on the conditions of time and place of law will be determined. The law that Rasulullah set in a <em><em><span lang="IN">ḥ</span></em></em></em><em>adîth is inseparable from geographical, sociological, and historical conditions lied behind it. The dynamics of interpretation science help the reinterpretation of a <em><em><span lang="IN">ḥ</span></em></em>adith to produce a law that is actual and in accordance with the conditions but not out of the rules of Qur’an, because Qur’an indeed is as the main legal source in Islam. This paper is to describe the interpretation of the <em><span lang="IN">ḥ</span></em></em><em>adîth about the corpse being tortured by the tears of his family </em><em>(Muslim 1536) with Paul Ricoeur's interpretation approach. Author comes to the conclution that the use of the word bukâ’ in the matan of <em><span lang="IN">ḥ</span></em></em><em>adîth means corpse actually got tortured because of the hysterical cry of his family who bemoaned over it. As for the historical aspects of this <em><span lang="IN">ḥ</span></em></em><em>adîth when Rasulullah saw the Jews weep for his family who died with hysterical cry. Thus, the point of emphasis of the <em><span lang="IN">ḥ</span></em></em><em>adîth is a way of responding those who grieve. If the attitude is excessive until hysterical wailing for days, then it includes an inappropriate attitude that is not even recommended in the Qur'an.</em><em></em></p>

Medication and care in Alzheimer's patients in the acute care setting: A qualitative analysis.

The acute hospital admission of patients with dementia is associated with poor outcome and higher costs. Much of our knowledge on how hospital stays are experienced by patients and staff is generated from short and fragmented data collections, in which the significance of knowledge about day-to-day care might be overlooked, and might partly explain why the poor outcome for this group of patients is not fully understood. This study used participant observation to follow patients with Alzheimer’s disease admitted to orthopaedic wards after fall incidents. To gather longitudinal data, patients were followed during day and evening shifts, from admission to discharge. The data were interpreted from a phenomenological-hermeneutic perspective, inspired by Ricoeur's interpretation theory. The data showed that, despite having little specific knowledge about dementia care, staff were able to gather information about the patient’s needs and wishes relevant to administrating medicine in a person-centred way. However, much of this valuable information was lost between shifts or became hidden among the overwhelming amount of information in electronic patient records. As a consequence, much of the knowledge about individual patients’ needs and wishes had to be collected all over again at every shift. The study concludes that careful handover of information on person-centred dementia care can play an important role in making hospital stays more dementia-friendly.

Narratives of life with long-term low back pain: A follow up interview study

BackgroundLong-term low back pain is associated with multiple challenges to a person's identity and social position. Despite efforts to understand the challenges of low back pain, recovery remains a major problem both personally and socially. This indicate a need for a different approach. Although personal stories have been used to extend knowledge of issues that relate to low back pain, they also make it possible to learn about how people understand themselves and their lives. As such, analysis of narratives may provide further insights into people's coping processes and novel insights about how best to support them. ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyse personal recovery narratives to gain an insight into how people understand themselves and cope with long-term low back pain 2–4 years after a bio-psycho-social counselling intervention. Study designUsing a Ricoeurian phenomenological-hermeneutic perspective, qualitative in-depth interviews were undertaken and interpreted to explore people's narratives of long-term recovery after an intervention. MethodsWe interviewed 25 informants 2–4 years after participating in a counselling intervention for low back pain where they were advised to exercise regularly; they were part of the intervention group in a randomised clinical trial. The sample included both informants who had benefited from the intervention and some who had not. Analysis was informed by Ricoeur's interpretation theory. FindingsThe informants’ stories revealed two main narratives regarding themselves and their lives: (1) getting on with life without pain, (2) life with continual pain and variations of the emplotment. The first included Recovering from low back pain and returning to prior lifestyle if possible, Keeping low back pain in check by strict regimes, or Developing strategies when low back pain recurs. The second related to Finding a way to a functioning everyday life with continual pain while narratives of being stuck with low back pain and finding no way out highlight the significance of being able to configure a narrative that can support an understanding of the pain and how to deal with it to have a functioning life. Furthermore, the health professional has a significant role to play in the configuration of narratives. ConclusionsThe challenge for people with low back pain was to find ways of getting on with life, and this included their ability to configure an understandable narrative that opened up for a future, implying new understandings of the self and how life could be lived. When healthcare professionals offered personal and realistic suggestions to the informants’ configuration of narratives of life with low back pain, they supported a positive change in the informants’ ways of coping with their situation. ImplicationsHealth professionals can play an important role in low back pain sufferers’ configuration of meaningful narratives that help in coping with pain and learning about the relationship between pain and everyday life.