A Narrative of Agency Enacted within the Everyday Occupations of an Older Swedish Woman

Abstract

This article explores how agency is enacted in everyday occupations with others and evolves over time. Agency is a complex concept that is closely linked to human occupation. By using a transactional perspective and a narrative approach, our ambition was to explore agency beyond individual acts or responsibilities. To achieve this, we used a story of an older woman in the context of being widowed and living with late-life depression. Data were generated over time using interviews and by taking part in the participant's everyday occupations. Narrative analysis was used to create a contextualized in-depth story. The findings show how resources embedded in enacted stories can challenge one's view of oneself as a victim and create possibilities to be an agent, thereby illustrating how agency becomes enacted in the context of acting together in everyday occupations. In light of these findings, we reflect on how a transactional perspective can contribute to exploring the concept of agency as contextually situated and embedded in occupations. Further, we reflect on how the transactional dimensions of everyday occupations can be explored through a narrative approach.

Keywords:

• Agency
• Aging
• Everyday occupation
• Transaction
• Narrative