Purpose: Appreciative inquiry (AI) studies have proven to be useful in developing nursing knowledge and changing nursing practice. However, few AI studies have examined the meaning of participation over time among collaborating healthcare providers. Our aim was to explore and illuminate healthcare providers’ participation over time in a Norwegian nursing home to develop new knowledge and practice, focusing on sensory gardens. Method: Twenty healthcare providers participated in the 3 year AI study. Data were collected in fieldwork, interviews, and interventions. Saldañas’ longitudinal analysis was applied. Results: The collaboration between the researcher and participants created insight of a relational room, which was named “the room of closeness”. Participants’ search for new arenas to apply the meaning of the room of closeness was found when focusing on the sensory garden. Their desire for joint development created a bottom–up perspective, the hallmark of successful AI. Conclusion: Knowledge of participants’ experiences may contribute to developing AI as a useful and transferable method, especially regarding co-creating participation, and may have implications for research and society. AI’s strength-based approach may, however, lead to the neglect of data that are associated with problems, and complicate the assessment of success. Further research is therefore needed to develop AI.

This study aims to identify and synthesize qualitative research regarding residents’ experiences of gardens while living in nursing homes and residential care facilities. To provide an optimal nursing environment inspired by nature, we need to derive knowledge from the residents’ perspective. An interpretive meta-synthesis approach, a meta-ethnography, was chosen for this study. Altogether, six articles representing three continents and comprising 124 participants were included. The six articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were analyzed and synthesized according to Noblit & Hare’s seven phases of meta-ethnography and the recent eMERGe guidelines. Four themes were identified: (1) The garden—a place to feel a connection with life, (2) the garden—a place to sense and find comfort, (3) the garden—a place to feel healthy and alive, and (4) the garden—a place to relate past and present. An overarching metaphor, “human flourishing with dignity,” offers a deeper understanding of the meaning of the garden for older people in nursing homes and residential care. This meta-ethnography provides a reflective, systematic, data-driven synthesis based on literature spanning ten years. Rather than simply relying on retelling, the narration of experiences according to the primary researcher’s descriptions and interpretations results in new knowledge. The significance of gardens for older people’s health and well-being needs to be given greater attention and space in nursing practice, education, and health policies.

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Ved hjelp av dialogverktøyet følgekort får sykepleierstudentene hjelp til å sette ord på hverandres sterke sider og positive egenskaper. Foto: Scanpix.