Activity problems in everyday life--patients' perspectives of hand osteoarthritis: "try imagining what it would be like having no hands".

Purpose: To explore first-person perspectives on activities and participation in everyday life among people with hand osteoarthritis (OA).

Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 5 men and 26 women of different ages living with hand OA. Supplemental data were collected via photo-interviews of two of the men and nine of the women. The analytical process was inspired by the interpretive phenomenological analysis and informed by the interpretive frameworks of critical psychology and social practice theory.

Results: Empirical findings indicate that persons with hand OA experience activity problems and participation limitations in the conduct of everyday life. Activity problems were related to self-care, paid work, as well as leisure activities. The participants also reported employing different strategies attempting to overcome the challenges of their everyday lives in order to keep actively performing valued activities. They reported environmental support of utmost importance for these attempts. Social participation in networks was also reported to be affected by the participants' activity problems.

Conclusions: Arranging everyday life is complex and is carried out in structures of social practice. A supportive physical and social environment facilitates participation. The findings highlight the importance of paying attention to individual needs in rehabilitation processes.