Diaries

Health and social science researchers are increasingly interested in the range of new possibilities and benefits associated with diary methods, particularly using digital devices. In this article, we explore how a flexible diary method, which enables participants to choose the device (i.e., paper notebook, tablet, or computer) and medium (i.e., text, photographs, sketches) through which they narrate their experiences, can be used to promote sensitive and rigorous research engagement with family carers to people with dementia.

A researcher who conducted a study on the experiences of informal carers of terminally ill patients had difficulty gaining access to participants. In many cases this was because nurses would not refer them to the researcher without the permission of a doctor.