The use of digital legacies with people affected by motor neurone disease for continuing bonds: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study

Background: Motor neurone disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease without cure. Little is known about how young people are affected when a family member has the illness and subsequently dies, resulting in a gap in understanding of how best to support them. One psychotherapeutic approach involves creating a legacy to pass onto the young person, but little research has investigated the use of an emerging format, digital legacies, where videos document a person’s life, memories and achievements.
Aim: To investigate the views, perceptions and experiences of digital legacies with people affected by motor neurone disease.
Design: A qualitative study underpinned by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
Setting/Participants: People living with motor neurone disease (n=4), bereaved young people (n=3) in the United Kingdom. Open-ended interviews were conducted in person. Ethical approval was granted by a University ethics committee.
Results: Five key themes emerged exemplifying mutual challenges and benefits for people with motor neurone disease and bereaved young people. Creating a digital legacy provides a sense of purpose for people with motor neurone disease and a way to convey personality and life experiences. Bereaved young people can modify disease-related memories of the person and gain comfort from hearing and seeing videos.
Conclusion: This study expands the existing continuing bonds model of grief to include an ‘autobiographical chapter’, creating ‘The Model of Reciprocal Bonds Formation’.