Traversing reflexivity in palliative care research: interpreting stress and anxiety

Abstract

This article explains how reflexivity was used in research by an Occupational Therapist (OT) with clinical experience of working with individuals in palliative care. Profession-specific reflections and interpretations of anxiety and stress are explored. An applied example of using ‘reflexive triggers’ from participants’ data is set out, alongside diary entries that navigate the researcher forwards through the project. By means of honest accounting of ‘lessons learned’ to collect her data, light is shed upon some common concerns by qualitative researchers; such as about contaminating the data, or leading and influencing the participants, or whether sufficient depth of insight is gained by, in this instance, the use of telephone interviews versus (face-to-face) focus groups. The tensions between the OT in palliative care and the academic interests of the doctoral researcher are discussed in this clinical context. The article concludes that there has been a significant shift in interpretation and meaning of language surrounding the practice of OTs with a recommendation that clients’ interpretations of anxiety and stress are to be valued.