Living with Chronic Illness - Article Example

Through methods of “interpretive phenomenology in the Heideggerian tradition, which holds that a person is self-interpreting and understands a situation directly according to the meaning it has for her” (Levin, 1999 as cited by Fox, 2008, 110). The data were collected using narrative accounts, interviews, transcribed verbatim results, of women’s experiences of coping with chronic illness in relation to HCPs direct governance and assistance.The article revealed various experiences as narrated by the participants in terms of qualities of personableness and partnership with the identified HCPs.

The exercise of power and control was also evaluated as contributory to manifesting feelings of dependency, helplessness, oppression, and alienation, among others. The findings revealed that the status of these women’s health was greatly and significantly influenced by the kind and level of the relationship shared with their HCPs. As Fox revealed, “the women experienced a sense of well-being in which they felt cared for and in which they were assured that they were not alone with their illness” (Fox, 2008, 115).

Future implications for the research should focus on the development of committed and connected relationships between the patients and the HCPs, especially for women with chronic illness.