This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Jensen, L. A. Articles by Allen, M. N. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Jensen, L. A. Articles by Allen, M. N. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A Synthesis of Qualitative Research on Wellness-Illness

University of Alberta

Marion N. Allen

University of Alberta

Health, disease, wellness, and illness have long been concepts central to health care disciplines. To further develop theory regarding the individual's experience of health and disease, a meta-analysis was undertaken of 112 qualitative studies from 1980 to 1991. A synthesis of qualitative research was done to derive substantive interpretations about health, disease, wellness, and illness from grounded theory, phenomenological, and ethnographic perspectives. The texts were compared and analyzed, creating new interpretations through synthesis of reciprocal translations. A dialectic model of wellness-illness was inductively derived. The process, meaning, and context inherent in the experience of health-disease are described as "living-in-the-world" of health-disease. Wellness-illness is depicted as the human experience of actual or perceived function-dysfunction. The theory emerging from this meta-analysis of qualitative research provides a synthesis of the commonalities among individual representations of health and disease.

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 4, No. 4, 349-369 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/104973239400400402


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Suri and D. Clarke Advancements in Research Synthesis Methods: From a Methodologically Inclusive Perspective Review of Educational Research, March 1, 2009; 79(1): 395 - 430. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Bondas and E. O. C. Hall Challenges in Approaching Metasynthesis Research Qual Health Res, January 1, 2007; 17(1): 113 - 121. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Haggman-Laitila Families' Experiences of Support Provided by Resource-Oriented Family Professionals in Finland Journal of Family Nursing, August 1, 2005; 11(3): 195 - 224. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. S. Hughner and S. S. Kleine Views of Health in the Lay Sector: A Compilation and Review of How Individuals Think about Health Health (London) , October 1, 2004; 8(4): 395 - 422. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. L. Finfgeld Metasynthesis: The State of the Art--So Far Qual Health Res, September 1, 2003; 13(7): 893 - 904. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Sandelowski and J. Barroso Classifying the Findings in Qualitative Studies Qual Health Res, September 1, 2003; 13(7): 905 - 923. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. McCormick, P. Rodney, and C. Varcoe Reinterpretations Across Studies: An Approach to Meta-Analysis Qual Health Res, September 1, 2003; 13(7): 933 - 944. [Abstract] [PDF]

				I. R. Hallberg Evidence-Based Nursing, Interventions, and Family Nursing: Methodological Obstacles and Possibilities Journal of Family Nursing, February 1, 2003; 9(1): 3 - 22. [PDF]

				L. W. Moore, R. E. Constantino, and M. Allen Severe Visual Impairment in Older Women West J Nurs Res, August 1, 2000; 22(5): 571 - 595. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Barroso and G. M. Powell-Cope Metasynthesis of Qualitative Research on Living with HIV Infection Qual Health Res, May 1, 2000; 10(3): 340 - 353. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. A. Jensen and M. N. Allen Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Findings Qual Health Res, November 1, 1996; 6(4): 553 - 560. [Abstract] [PDF]