Hermeneutic phenomenology, as a methodology, is not fixed. Inherent in its enactment are contested areas of practice such as how interview data are used and reported. Using philosophical notions drawn from hermeneutic phenomenological literature, we argue that working with crafted stories is congruent with the philosophical underpinnings of this methodology. We consider how the practical ontic undertaking of story crafting from verbatim transcripts is integral with the interpretive process. We show how verbatim transcripts can be crafted into stories through examples taken from interview data. Our aim is to open dialogue with other hermeneutic phenomenological researchers and offer alternate possibilities to conventional ways of work with qualitative data. We argue that crafted stories can provide glimpses of phenomena that other forms of data analysis and presentation may leave hidden. We contend that crafted stories are an acceptable and trustworthy methodological device.

Little is known about what it is like to live in adolescence with a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. This article reports the findings of a small qualitative study that explored the experience of four New Zealand youth aged between 16 and 21 years, who had been recently diagnosed with Crohn disease. Semistructured interviews focused on discovering the youth' thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of living with this condition. Analysis of the transcribed data is presented thematically. The findings reveal stress as integral to living with Crohn disease. They illuminate the paradoxical relationship between fear and hope and provide insight into what helps and what hinders young people's ability to cope with the disease and its treatments. Collectively, these three themes describe the ways in which the lives of young adults are drastically and almost irreparably changed by Crohn disease. The findings contribute to the "promoting wellness" literature and will inform those who support the increasing number of young people living and coping with a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

This hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the relationship between health professionals and families who have a child with a chronic illness. Study participants included 10 family groups who had a child with a chronic illness and 12 practitioners from the disciplines of nursing, medicine, dietetics, physiotherapy and speech therapy. Data were collected by narrative audiotaped interviewing. The results of this study revealed that chronic childhood illness ‘throws' families and practitioners together into a web of relationships, which must work for the sake of the child. However, children are usually excluded from the relationship. To understand and manage the child's illness, practitioners and families ‘go around’ and act ‘in-between’ relationships. While the quality of the relationship from the family perspective is not essential, relationships are more successful when practitioners recognize the uniqueness of each family web. The nature of the relationship is often simple, yet it coexists with complexity.

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