Hermeneutic application research - finding a common understanding and consensus on care and caring

Area of Science:

• Caring Science Research
• Nursing Theory
• Qualitative Research Methodologies

Background:

• Implementing 30 years of caring theory into clinical practice remains a significant challenge.
• Traditional problem-solving and action research have not fully bridged the theory-practice divide.
• There is a need for methodologies that unify caring theory and clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advance action research towards a hermeneutic approach for uniting caring theory and practice.
• To highlight hermeneutic application research as an alternative methodology in participatory research.
• To develop the hermeneutical application research design from epistemological, ontological, and ethical perspectives.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing Gadamer's hermeneutical thinking and Levinas' ethical thinking.
• Establishing central foundations: ethics, hermeneutical room, dialogue, common understanding, appropriation, and action.
• Employing participatory-oriented research within a hermeneutic framework.

Main Results:

• Hermeneutic application research offers a new opportunity to unite clinical practice and caring theory.
• Theory and practice become one when theoretical understanding is transformed into praxis.
• Common understanding and consensus among participants are crucial for implementing caring theory in practice.

Conclusions:

• Hermeneutic application research provides a viable methodology for integrating caring theory and clinical practice.
• The integration is achieved through dialogue, shared understanding, and action.
• This approach ensures that caring theory becomes evident and implemented in real-world clinical settings.