Identify the activity-based design opportunities in the bereavement context

Activities have been proven to play a critical role in regulating emotions and in facilitating an individual’s psychological well-being, this paper concentrates on identifying the activities that contribute to facilitating positive changes in bereavement and explore how technology could contribute to enabling or mediating these meaningful activities. A qualitative study was conducted to investigate the meaningful activities that could yield positive effect to the bereavement process. 12 participants from various nationalities and ages were recruited to report their bereavement experiences. The study included a sensitising phase and an in-depth interview phase. The sensitising phase was designed with writing and photo collaging assignments to revive participants’ memories and prepare them for the in-depth interview. Participants who completed the sensitising task were invited to a 1-hour interview for further details of their bereavement coping activities, needs for external support and their reflections on the outcomes of bereavement. The content analysis involved 4 coders to code the interview data (Holsti’s coefficient 0.825) in 2 domains, meaningful activities and positive outcomes. The result suggested 12 meaningful bereavement activities in which 10 activities exhibited potential to facilitate positive changes (personal growth, self-acceptance, purpose in life, environmental mastery, and positive relations with others) in bereavement. This paper concludes with the implications of technology design and future research opportunities.