“I´m the one who has written this”: reciprocity in writing courses for older adults in Norway

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The aim of this article is to explore, theoretically and empirically, the reciprocity of care afforded by writing courses as community interventions for older adults.

Methods: We narratively analyzed 209 excerpts of the anthology “I´m the one who has written this” written by teachers and participants of courses organized by the Church City Mission in Norway.

Results: The reciprocity that appeared in the writing courses is grounded in the sense of vulnerability that both teachers and participants embraced, and that is experienced in three main relational movements that these writing courses convey: self-exploration, otherness and togetherness. In addition, the data suggests that these courses promote affective processing and existential meaning-making, motivation, as well as improvements of memory and attention. However, more research is needed to confirm these preliminary findings, and their possible effects in older adults with and without symptoms of dementia.

Conclusion: Even though these writing courses for older adults are not explicitly therapeutic, they can have therapeutic effects, given the reciprocity afforded in these cultural community interventions. A theoretical exploration upon reciprocity in eldercare is hereby provided. These findings could shape improvements in aging and health care policies that are person-centered and focus on reciprocity.

KEYWORDS:

• Writing course
• journaling
• older adults
• aging
• self-exploration
• otherness
• togetherness
• existential meaning
• meaning-making
• motivation

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the coordinating team at the Church City Mission in Oslo, who have made the important work they do publically available through the published anthology. Special thanks to Benedikte Guttormsen Slørdal for trusting us to provide a psychological perspective on the courses that the writers-teachers and other members of Kirkens Bymisjon in Oslo have developed. Thanks also to Hans Wigo Kristiensen for this feedback on a previous version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Olga V. Lehmann

Olga V. Lehmann, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Mental Health, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim. She also leads the Health and Compassionate programs at Pracademy. She is a poetess, teacher, psychologist, and researcher interested in feelings and emotions, silence–phenomena, communication, poetic instants qualitative methods.

Svend Brinkmann

Svend Brinkmann, PhD, is a professor of psychology in the Department of Communication and Psychology at the University of Aalborg, Denmark, where he serves as a co-director of the Center for Qualitative Studies. His research is particularly concerned with philosophical, moral, and methodological issues in psychology and other human and social sciences. In recent years, he has been studying the impact of psychiatric diagnoses on individuals and society and is now directing the research project The Culture of Grief.