TY - JOUR
T1 - Living With Parkinson’s
T2 - The Process of Finding Optimism
AU - Gardenhire, Julie
AU - Mullet, Natira
AU - Fife, Stephen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often experience poor mental and emotional well-being, which negatively affect their quality of life. Optimism is a protective factor which has been shown to promote resiliency, reduce distress in health crises, and protect against the effects of negative mental health outcomes. The current article utilized grounded theory methodology to examine personal accounts (N = 85) detailing how individuals were able to cultivate optimism despite challenges presented by PD. The grounded theory indicated that a process occurs in which individuals with PD move through the following five phases on their journey toward optimism: (a) diagnosis, (b) initial reactions, (c) adjustment, (d) acceptance, and (e) living with optimism. These findings indicate that individuals with PD often struggle to experience optimism. Nevertheless, by reframing optimism as a choice rather than a feeling, participants were able to make decisions that allowed them to progress on their journey toward optimism.
AB - Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often experience poor mental and emotional well-being, which negatively affect their quality of life. Optimism is a protective factor which has been shown to promote resiliency, reduce distress in health crises, and protect against the effects of negative mental health outcomes. The current article utilized grounded theory methodology to examine personal accounts (N = 85) detailing how individuals were able to cultivate optimism despite challenges presented by PD. The grounded theory indicated that a process occurs in which individuals with PD move through the following five phases on their journey toward optimism: (a) diagnosis, (b) initial reactions, (c) adjustment, (d) acceptance, and (e) living with optimism. These findings indicate that individuals with PD often struggle to experience optimism. Nevertheless, by reframing optimism as a choice rather than a feeling, participants were able to make decisions that allowed them to progress on their journey toward optimism.
KW - Parkinson’s disease
KW - adaptation
KW - coping
KW - enduring
KW - qualitative content analysis. online research
KW - quality of life
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067890872&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1049732319851485
DO - 10.1177/1049732319851485
M3 - Article
C2 - 31179832
AN - SCOPUS:85067890872
VL - 29
SP - 1781
EP - 1793
JO - Qualitative Health Research
JF - Qualitative Health Research
SN - 1049-7323
IS - 12
ER -