Living with Parkinson’s disease - managing identity together

Abstract

The specific aim of this paper is to discuss how individuals living with Parkinson’s disease and their main family supports perceive communications with each other, with a focus on their roles related to care. The paper is based on individual interviews conducted with individuals and their main family support person. The transcripts were analyzed based on grounded theory and ‘managing identity together’ emerged as the core category. This is discussed in terms of independence, a sense of self-sufficiency and an overall sense of personhood. Implications for other populations conclude the paper.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, care, communication, identity, personhood, caregiver, grounded theory

(Published: 30 March 2010)

Citation: Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being 2010, 5: 5129 - DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v5i2.5129