Effects of colour narrative in community-dwelling older adults: A mixed methods study

Abstract

Background

Based on occupational storytelling/story-making, this study developed Colour Narrative, a program to promote the health and well-being of community-dwelling older adults.

Objectives

To conduct a pilot study to implement Colour Narrative in a heavy snowfall area of Japan and verify the participants’ experiences in the program and its effectiveness.

Material and methods

An advanced mixed methods design was used. The participants were 22 members of a community-based social group for older adults. Quantitative measurements of life functions and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) were conducted before and after the intervention. Qualitative data were collected from focus group interviews regarding the participants’ experiences during the intervention process. Lastly, both datasets were integrated.

Results

The harsh living conditions due to heavy snowfall reduced the participants’ overall activity. In this environment, Colour Narrative encouraged them to control their lives more in their own ways and enhanced their HRQOL. The core of their experiences was ‘negotiating occupations’. This negotiation was a highly intellectual task that significantly improved their cognitive function.

Conclusions

The structure and content of Colour Narrative were found to be useful and feasible for community-dwelling older adults.

Significance

Colour Narrative offers a new occupation-based intervention strategy for preventive occupational therapy.

Keywords:

• Storytelling
• story-making
• narrative
• older adults
• community
• preventive occupational therapy
• snow country
• mixed methods study

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgments

We appreciate Mr.Wataru Nagai, Mr. Takeshi Aoyama, and Mr. Hisashi Enomoto of A City Hall for assisting with the research field. In addition, we thank Mr. Joao Carlos Koch Junior of Sapporo Gakuin University, Hokkaido, Japan for content editing and proofreading this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was carried out with the aid of Hokkaido University COI ‘Innovative Food & Healthcare MASTER’ [JPMJCE1301] and JSPS Research Fund [19K1986209].