title: Giving voice to vulnerable people: the value of shadowing for phenomenological healthcare research.
abstract: Phenomenological healthcare research should include the lived experiences of a broad group of healthcare users. In this paper it is shown how shadowing can give a voice to people in vulnerable situations who are often excluded from interview studies. Shadowing is an observational method in which the researcher observes an individual during a relatively long time. Central aspects of the method are the focus on meaning expressed by the whole body, and an extended stay of the researcher in the phenomenal event itself. Inherent in shadowing is a degree of ambivalence that both challenges the researcher and provides meaningful insights about the phenomenon. A case example of a phenomenological study on the experiences of elderly hospital patients is used to show what shadowing yields.
authors.affiliation: Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands, j.w.vandermeide@uvt.nl.
authors.forename: Hanneke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van der Meide
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leget
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Olthuis
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001887:Boredom; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology; D007697:Kinesics; D018579:Patient Selection; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012650:Self Disclosure; D035862:Vulnerable Populations