The Meaningful Lived Space of the Acute Stroke Unit: Creating Maps to Evoke the Experience of Stroke Survivors and Health Care Practitioners

Abstract

Despite advocates for aesthetic forms of presentation in qualitative enquiry, for going beyond thin description, to share evocative forms of representation that resonate with that (Todres, 2008; Todres & Galvin, 2008), qualitative research in the health care field continues to favor conventional methods. This article adds to existing knowledge by articulating the innovative creation and value of aesthetic offerings in the unique form of visual maps to evoke the lived experience of being on an acute stroke unit, drawn from phenomenological interview findings. The maps helped embody the meaningful lived space and conveyed the complexity, spatiality, and holistic understanding being developed. They embodied the researcher’s involvement, position, and place as she imaginatively lived through the space of the acute stroke unit and proceed to invite others to join the dialogue. This article articulates the methodical alignment of creative mapmaking within three stages, for the development of phenomenological understanding, dialogue in-between, and ongoing life of dialogue for future projections toward practice and within the phenomenological project. This article illustrates the underutilized potential of mapmaking for the human sciences, understanding health care spaces, other meaningful lived spaces, and qualitative research methods.