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“Finding oneself after critical illness”: voices from the remission society

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Abstract

The number of people who survive critical illness is increasing. In parallel, a growing body of literature reveals a broad range of side-effects following intensive care treatment. Today, more attention is needed to improve the quality of survival. Based on nine individual stories of illness experiences given by participants in two focus groups and one individual interview, this paper elaborates how former critically ill patients craft and recraft their personal stories throughout their illness trajectory. The analysis was conducted from a phenomenological perspective and led to the meaning structure; a quest to find oneself after critical illness. In this structure, illness represented a breakdown of the participants’ lives, forcing them to develop a new understanding of themselves. Despite acute illness, they felt safe in hospital. Coming home, however, meant a constant balancing between health and illness, and being either in or out of control. To gain a deeper understanding of the participants’ narratives of survival, the meaning structure was developed from a phenomenological life world perspective, Heidegger’s concept of homelikeness and Arthur Frank’s typologies of illness narratives. In conclusion listening to and acknowledging the patients’ lived experiences of critical illness may support the patient efforts to establish the newly defined self and hence be vital for recovery. Phenomenology is one approach facilitating care tailored to the patients’ lived experience of critical illness and its aftermaths.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the informants who shared their experiences with the research group. Moreover, the authors express their gratitude to UH-nett Vest (University and University Colleges Network, Western Norway) for financial support.

Funding

The authors received financial support from the University and College Network for Western Norway UH-nett Vest. https://uhnettvest.no/english/

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Health Studies, VID Specialized University, Bergen, Norway

    S. Ellingsen & R. J. T. Sekse

  2. Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway

    A. L. Moi

  3. Department of Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, National Burn Centre, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

    A. L. Moi

  4. Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    S. Ellingsen, E. Gjengedal & M. Råheim

  5. Centre of Diaconia and Professional Practice, VID Specialized University, Bergen, Norway

    S. I. Flinterud

  6. Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Førde, Norway

    E. Natvik

  7. Department of Health and Functioning, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway

    R. Sviland

  8. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

    R. J. T. Sekse

  9. Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    R. J. T. Sekse

  10. The Centre for Health Research, District General Hospital of Førde, Førde, Norway

    E. Natvik

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  1. S. Ellingsen
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  2. A. L. Moi
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  3. E. Gjengedal
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  8. R. J. T. Sekse
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Contributions

All the members of the research group (all the authors) collaborated on designing the study. G, R, S, N and M conducted the FG interviews. E, M, G and S performed the data analysis, while all authors drafted and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to S. Ellingsen.

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The authors are solely responsible for the content and writing of the paper. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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The Data Protection Official for Research, Norwegian Center for Research Data AS approved the research.

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Ellingsen, S., Moi, A.L., Gjengedal, E. et al. “Finding oneself after critical illness”: voices from the remission society. Med Health Care and Philos 24, 35–44 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-020-09979-8

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