Intentional strengths interviewing in occupational justice research

Abstract

Background: Occupational justice research can generate knowledge about societal conditions that support participation in meaningful occupations. This is useful because occupational therapy’s human rights goal is to create societal conditions that are conducive to occupational engagement. Participants in this research field are likely to be vulnerable and need special ethical considerations. However, no model exists to support ethical considerations for vulnerable participants in occupational justice research.

Aim: This study aimed to develop a model for additional ethical considerations for occupational justice research with vulnerable participants.

Materials and methods: A secondary analysis was carried out on data from a previous study with asylum seekers. Data included semi-structured interview transcripts with seven asylum seekers, researcher memos, and text from the researcher’s written report. Template analysis was employed.

Results: The Intentional Strengths Interviewing model was developed. It has three component strategies: strengths-informed interview processes, strengths questioning, and strengths responding.

Conclusion and significance: This model might be considered in the design of future occupational justice research involving vulnerable participants in order to best support their inclusion. This model might support future occupational justice research and might be evaluated in other contexts.

Keywords:

• Asylum seekers
• ethics
• human rights
• interviewing
• occupational therapy
• qualitative research
• strengths approach
• vulnerable people

Disclosure statement

The authors declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Research ethics

Ethics review approved by the University of Queensland Human Ethics Office. Reference number: #2016000037.