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Living with chronic illness. A biographical analysis of a family's account.

It has been estimated that by the year 2014 there will be a 12 per cent
increase in the number of adults with at least one chronic illness condition
(Carrier, 2009). The turn to caring for those with a chronic illness at home
has resulted in carers having an increased risk of developing health
problems (Ohman & Soderberg, 2004). As such there is a need to
understand how families manage and cope with illness at home. This study
has examined the effect chronic illness had on not only the woman with
illness, but also the immediate family closely involved with her care.
Additionally the study has sought to address the effect chronic illness had on
the ¿self¿ and ¿identity¿ of these three women and to determine what extent
and impact the illness process had on the relationships within this family. The
study used open-ended biographic narrative interviews to elicit data. The
research revealed that each woman experienced change and loss to both
¿self¿ and ¿identity¿ albeit in different ways. Interestingly and of significance is
the way these women in their narrative accounts revisited their past lives in
implicating and accounting for the present and the future (Freeman 2010). It
was discovered that the past history and past relationships of these women
affected how they each responded to illness and each other in their present
circumstances.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/5480
Date January 2011
CreatorsArnfield, Susan M.
ContributorsBeckett-Wrighton, Clare, Horrocks, Christine
PublisherUniversity of Bradford, School of Social and International Studies
Source SetsBradford Scholars
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Doctoral, PhD
Rights<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>.

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