Using conjoint interviews to research the lived experience of elderly rural couples

Understanding the experiences of elderly rural couples in accessing health services can assist nurses and other health professionals in their roles as advocates, service providers, educators, programme planners, and policy makers. In this paper, Frances Racher explores phenomenology as methodology, and its fit with the unstructured conjoint interview as method, in planning for a study to seek knowledge of elderly rural couples' experiences in accessing health services. It is argued that phenomenology is an appropriate approach for gaining an understanding of the experiences of elderly rural couples. In addition, conjoint interviews provide opportunity for the partners to negotiate and jointly construct their responses, when the couple is the unit of study and the couple experience is the topic of interest. As health professionals strive to situate themselves in the everyday worlds of their clients, they are integral in the development and application of new research methods such as the conjoint interview.