Doing Nothing?: An Ethnography of Patients’ (In)Activity on an Acute Stroke Unit

TY - JOUR

T1 - Doing Nothing?: An Ethnography of Patients’ (In)Activity on an Acute Stroke Unit

AU - Costa, Alessia

AU - Jones, Fiona

AU - Kulnik, Stefan T.

AU - Clarke, David

AU - Honey, Stephanie

AU - Robert, Glenn

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme (HS&DR 13/114/95). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the HS&DR Programme, NIHR, NHS or the Department of Health. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/1/11

Y1 - 2021/1/11

N2 - Health research has begun to pay increasing attention to inactivity in its broadest sense as lack of meaningful activity and boredom. Few studies however have taken a critical look at this phenomenon. We explore (in)activity drawing on ethnographic data from observations in an acute stroke unit and post-discharge interviews with stroke survivors and their families. Four themes emerged that explain patients’ (in)activity: (i) planned activities; (ii) ‘doing nothing’, (iii) the material environment of the unit; (iv) interactions with staff. Considering these themes, we seek to problematise received conceptual and methodological approaches to understanding (in)activity. We argue that (in)activity is best conceived not as lack of action or meaning, but as a situated practice encompassing both bodily and mental activities that reflect and reproduce the way in which life is collectively organised within a specific healthcare setting.

AB - Health research has begun to pay increasing attention to inactivity in its broadest sense as lack of meaningful activity and boredom. Few studies however have taken a critical look at this phenomenon. We explore (in)activity drawing on ethnographic data from observations in an acute stroke unit and post-discharge interviews with stroke survivors and their families. Four themes emerged that explain patients’ (in)activity: (i) planned activities; (ii) ‘doing nothing’, (iii) the material environment of the unit; (iv) interactions with staff. Considering these themes, we seek to problematise received conceptual and methodological approaches to understanding (in)activity. We argue that (in)activity is best conceived not as lack of action or meaning, but as a situated practice encompassing both bodily and mental activities that reflect and reproduce the way in which life is collectively organised within a specific healthcare setting.

KW - Stroke

KW - Ethnography

KW - Inactivity

KW - Hospital stay

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099300570&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1363459320969784

DO - 10.1177/1363459320969784

M3 - Article

SN - 1461-7196

JO - Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine

JF - Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine

ER -