Antenarratives to Inform Health Care Research: Exploring Workplace Illness Disclosure for People with Multiple Sclerosis (Ms)

Abstract

I share Boje's (2001) concept of antenarratives as a useful means of presenting qualitative health care research, especially their capacity to share illness-related stories which may be fragmented, non-linear, sometimes incoherent, and often speculative. I do this to offer insights to health care professionals that might maximize the health care outcomes for those they serve. An Australian based qualitative research project explored the lived experience of what life is really like for a person with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Rather than presenting a traditional, narrative based, coherent and saturated theme, I present antenarratives that vivify the lived experience of illness disclosure. Antenarratives have the capacity to share key elements of experience in ways that can edify health care practitioners concerned with offering support that consists of more than prescriptive solutions and certain advice.