TITLE:
The lived experience of a 24-hour support center for persons with psychiatric disabilities: Making me feel almost like an ordinary person
AUTHORS:
Ann-Christin Janlöv, Irené Persson, Agneta Berg
KEYWORDS:
Psychiatric Disability; Lived Experience; Community Mental Health Service; 24-Hour Service Center; Phenomenological-Hermeneutical Method; Mental Health Nursing
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
22,
2014
ABSTRACT: This study illuminates nine psychiatric disabled persons’
lived experience of a newly established community-based service center open around
the clock. This new 24-hour support
center (SC) was established in 2011 in a Swedish community to better match and
facilitate the disabled persons’ needs. In order to illuminate the disabled
person’s experiences individual interview was performed. A
phenomenological-hermeneutical method inspired by Paul Ricoeur
was used to interpret the texts. After a naive reading, a structural analysis
revealed two themes: 1), becoming aware of myself as a person, and 2) having a
lifeline and belongingness. The comprehensive understanding was interpreted as
meaning “Making me feel almost like an ordinary person”, which incorporated the
person’s past with their present together with a direction for the future and
hope for a more fulfilling life.