Third year OT student in North West (Chester) seeking subject for research interview.

Fiona Allan has approached us in search of a subject for her study outlined below. This is not a study conducted by NRAS but we are happy to inform you about it and encourage you to contact Fiona directly if you would like to pursue being the subject of her research.

Fiona Allan in Chester, a third year student of Occupational Therapy at Wrexham:

CONTACT: [e-mail]

is looking for the following:

I would like to explore the impact of rheumatoid arthritis on employment. Occupational Therapy as a profession is concerned with promoting health and well-being through occupation. Its primary goal is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational Therapists recognise the importance of work and have become increasingly involved in vocational rehabilitation in the UK over the past decade. We consider the impact of work disability not only from a financial perspective, but also from a personal view point, in terms of aspects such as individual identity, self esteem and social roles.

I understand that employment is a critical issue for many people with Rheumatoid Arthritis and that a large number of people give up work or retire early as a direct result of their condition. The overall aims of my research project would be:

- to explore the impact of rheumatoid arthritis on accessing, remaining in or returning to work, from the point of view of a person with rheumatoid arthritis;

- to explore the meanings of the participant's experience;

- to explore the implications of the participant's experience for occupational therapy practice.

The study would be exploratory in nature and based on a phenomenological approach. I would like to interview a person with rheumatoid arthritis who has battled with the challenge of remaining in paid employment for several years. The interview would last about an hour and half and would be unstructured, broad and conversational. I would be simply asking the person to describe what they had experienced and the circumstances of events. I would send an information leaflet to any interested participants, summarising the nature and purpose of the research. This would also outline the rights of the participants (such as the voluntary nature of the research and the right to withdraw) and include any advantages and disadvantages of taking part. I would ensure confidentiality in the research, using pseudonyms for the participant's name and any locations mentioned. I would of course be prepared to carry out the interview in a location convenient for the participant.

I live in Chester, so would ideally like to meet someone in the North West, however I am willing to travel further if needs be.

Thank you all for getting in touch with Fiona if you can help her with this project.

[cathie]

Id be happy to help but am in edinburgh. I struggled to stay in work as a uni lecturer/ researcher for about ten years. Took sort of early tetirement at 61partly because of ra partly because of departmental reorganisation

Id be up for a telephone/ email interview if you were interested.

Best cathie

[Hidden in reply to cathie]

Cathie, do let Fiona know directly as I NRAS isn't steering this, Fiona's making her own arrangements and she would know if the geography makes it possible or not. Her email is [e-mail]. Thanking you.

[cathie]

Ok