Social Belonging as the Main Concern for Achieving Life Satisfaction When Adapting to Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a complex, progressive neurological condition that impacts daily life and reduces life satisfaction (LS). To achieve and maintain high LS, persons with PD (PwPD) must go through a process of change to adapt to their new life situation. However, our knowledge about this process is very limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the process of change, and the main concern in this process, in PwPD. To study the transitional experience of PwPD, an inductive qualitative approach, using Grounded Theory (GT), was employed. Thirteen participants (9 women, 3 men and 1 non-binary), with a mean age of 54 years (range from 47–62 years), participated in in-depth interviews. Data showed that social belonging is the main concern in the process of change for PwPD. In this process of change, they use strategies to comprehend, accept, adapt, and balance in their strive for social belonging, which in turn can enhance LS. Health care professionals can use this model with an interdisciplinary approach to support PwPD through a successful process of change to achieve social belonging, and thereby achieving and maintaining LS.