Merel Visse
Biographic Data
| ID | 183193 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Merel Visse |
| GIVEN NAMES | Merel |
| FAMILY NAME | Visse |
| SIGNATURE | VISSE M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Humanistic Studies |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1500-666X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 45 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Emotional responses to potentially traumatic events
Professionals in emergency-focused environments are taught to prioritize emergencies over their own emotions and trained to suppress their own emotional reactions. High-risk professionals in a vertical social structure, such as police officers, military personnel, career firefighters, and perioperative nurses, also tend to develop an us-versus-them mentality with emotional distance from patients or civilians. This study explores emotional reactio…
Unveiling life stories about social justice for individuals with intellectual disabilities
This paper unveils the story of Wilhelm, an individual with intellectual and physical disabilities in the context of eugenics practices during the Nazi regime. The findings of the singular case study are presented in a storytelling format, for contextual understanding, and to help everyone better comprehend the challenges faced by individuals with intellectual disabilities. Wilhelm’s story has been discussed through the lens of social justice sha…
Sometimes, indirect is more direct. An aesthetic–apophatic phenomenological approach to self-reflexivity in qualitative inquiry
In this article, I present a six-step, multimodal approach to self-reflexivity responsive to hiddenness in research. This approach harnesses making and reflecting to live research questions indirectly and to connect with dimensions that are hard to capture in words. In research, we sometimes travel along hidden corners that are hard to access. I introduce the concept of “meandering,” highlighting indirect (= apophatic) approaches to inquiry where…
The Role of Group Formation and Interpersonal Connections in Support
Professionals in emergency services organizations (firefighters, paramedics, police, military) and professionals in hospital-based emergency settings (emergency rooms, operating rooms, intensive care units) are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events. They are at higher risk for the development of trauma-related mental health problems than the general population. To maintain mental health, it is essential for individuals to be embedded…
A Sensory Gaze into Embodied, Material and Emplaced Meanings
Creative leisure occupations, such as arts and crafts, can give rise to meaningfulness. To date, much of what is known about meaningful occupations relates to verbalised meanings. This article assumes a sensory gaze to examine the tangible creative leisure occupations of three women in midlife. A sensory ethnographic approach comprising participant observation, a reflexive ethnography diary, and photo elicitation was augmented by semi-structured …
Embodying Moral Space
This paper explores whether and how moral space, as the unfolding of an expressive-collaborative process, can be fostered in a way that engages embodied, affective experiences in relational practices of responsibility. A care ethical constellation is a tool that aims to shed light on relational needs and responsibilities as experienced by participants in an institutional context. We present the theoretical backgrounds of this tool. Then the use o…
Enriching evaluation practice through care ethics
Recently, several authors have called for a critical assessment of the normative dimensions of evaluation practice. This article responds to this call by demonstrating how evaluation practice can be enriched through deliberate engagement with care ethics. Care ethics has a relational and practice view of morality and places caring relationships and responsibilities at the forefront of our being in the world. We will demonstrate how care ethics, i…
Inarticulate Experiences in Qualitative Health Research
Not all human experiences can be expressed in words. Arts-based expressions may be useful to qualitative researchers as they can disclose people's experiences with health, illness and disability. These expressions, which connect with non-linguistic and unexplored realms of experience, may support researchers' efforts to honor the complexities of their lives. In our study, we explored and identified modes of expression among those sharing their ex…
Apophatic Inquiry
In qualitative research, the importance of knowledge production is illustrated by the confidence in logos, that still flags. Although there is significant attention for approaches that are inclusive to the body, affect and non-rational dimensions, these approaches still aim to generate understandings by the appropriation of knowledge. This paper critiques that view and proposes another view of inquiry that centers the praxis of living the questio…
The Unsayable in Arts-Based Research
Arts-based research (ABR) provokes different ways of thinking about how art relates to knowledge in research. There are few authors, however, who explicate their view on aesthetics in the context of ABR and the type of knowledge that it generates. Accordingly, this article clarifies an aesthetic view in the context of a phenomenological approach to ABR. Ample arts-based researchers explore questions that touch upon the liminal nature and complexi…
Gay-friendly elderly care
Studies on older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults in residential care point to their discrimination, invisibility and the taboo on LGBT lifestyles, and call for development of ‘gay-friendly’ care. Yet, the literature is short on how to create inclusive residential care for older LGBT people. We aim to acquire in-depth understanding of experiences and needs of LGBT older people concerning their inclusion and participation in ca…
The Mindful Body
For people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), one's own body may no longer be taken for granted but may become instead an insistent presence. In this article, we describe how the body experience of people with MS can reflect an ongoing oscillation between four experiential dimensions: bodily uncertainty, having a precious body, being a different body, and the mindful body. People with MS can become engaged in a mode of permanent bodily alertnes…
The Role of Spirituality in Lifestyle Changing Among Patients with Chronic Cardiovascular Diseases
Nested Tensions in Care
This project presents research-based art works that inquire into the tensions in everyday life from an ethical viewpoint of care, which sees people as embedded, "nested" in care-based relationships. Trust is the glue that holds these "nests" together. Care is the air that lifts them up, but tensions exist as well-between dependency and autonomy, vulnerability and strength, for example. The pull of these ideas exist in a kind of "check" and run th…
Challenging Standard Concepts of ‘Humane’ Care through Relational Auto-Ethnography
What is deemed ‘good’ or ‘humane’ care often seems to be underpinned by a standard ideal of an able-bodied, autonomous human being, which not only underlies those ‘social and professional structures within which narratives and decisions regarding various impairments are held’ (Ho, 2008), but also co-shapes these structures. This paper aims to explore how a relational form of auto-ethnography can promote good care. Rather than being based on and f…
To care or not to care a narrative on experiencing caring responsibilities
This paper explores caring responsibilities in everyday life by a thorough investigation of the lived experience of one woman, called Eva. We reflect on Eva's relational experiences in taking care of her own life and in relating to situations and events which more or less are the result of the relational web in which she is situated. Her narrative shows that for her, caring requires a relationship in which moral intimacy can be experienced. There…
Autoethnography as a praxis of care – the promises and pitfalls of autoethnography as a commitment to care
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the possibilities of autoethnography as a commitment to care and a social justice agenda (Denzin, 2014:p. x). Design/methodology/approach – Autoethnography can be seen as a “methodology that allows us to examine how the private troubles of individuals are connected to public issues and to public responses to these troubles” (Mills, 1959, cited in Denzin, 2014). This resonates strongly with the fi…
Patient involvement in research programming and implementation
BACKGROUND: The Dialogue Model for research agenda-setting, involving multiple stakeholders including patients, was developed and validated in the Netherlands. However, there is little insight into whether and how patient involvement is sustained during the programming and implementation of research agendas. AIM: To understand how the Dialogue Model can be optimised by focusing on programming and implementation, in order to stimulate the inclusio…
Practising Political Care Ethics
This paper examines if and how responsive evaluation as a deliberative approach can serve as a guide for a politically oriented care ethics. A political care ethics puts the assignment of responsibilities and the inclusion of multiple perspectives of people at the centre of care. It honours the expressive-collaborative nature of care practices. It is responsive to political positions of vulnerability, fragility and resilience of those whom it con…
Patient issues in health research and quality of care
Aim The purpose of this review is to generate an inventory of issues that matter from a patient perspective in health research and quality of care. From these issues, criteria will be elicited to support patient(s) (groups) in their role as advisor or advocate when appraising health research, health policy and quality of health care. Background Literature shows that patients are beginning to develop their own voice and agenda’s with issues in ord…
The Unsayable in Arts-Based Research
Arts-based research (ABR) provokes different ways of thinking about how art relates to knowledge in research. There are few authors, however, who explicate their view on aesthetics in the context of ABR and the type of knowledge that it generates. Accordingly, this article clarifies an aesthetic view in the context of a phenomenological approach to ABR. Ample arts-based researchers explore questions that touch upon the liminal nature and complexi…
Autoethnography as a praxis of care – the promises and pitfalls of autoethnography as a commitment to care
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the possibilities of autoethnography as a commitment to care and a social justice agenda (Denzin, 2014:p. x). Design/methodology/approach – Autoethnography can be seen as a “methodology that allows us to examine how the private troubles of individuals are connected to public issues and to public responses to these troubles” (Mills, 1959, cited in Denzin, 2014). This resonates strongly with the fi…
The Mindful Body
For people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), one's own body may no longer be taken for granted but may become instead an insistent presence. In this article, we describe how the body experience of people with MS can reflect an ongoing oscillation between four experiential dimensions: bodily uncertainty, having a precious body, being a different body, and the mindful body. People with MS can become engaged in a mode of permanent bodily alertnes…
Gay-friendly elderly care
Studies on older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults in residential care point to their discrimination, invisibility and the taboo on LGBT lifestyles, and call for development of ‘gay-friendly’ care. Yet, the literature is short on how to create inclusive residential care for older LGBT people. We aim to acquire in-depth understanding of experiences and needs of LGBT older people concerning their inclusion and participation in ca…
Enriching evaluation practice through care ethics
Recently, several authors have called for a critical assessment of the normative dimensions of evaluation practice. This article responds to this call by demonstrating how evaluation practice can be enriched through deliberate engagement with care ethics. Care ethics has a relational and practice view of morality and places caring relationships and responsibilities at the forefront of our being in the world. We will demonstrate how care ethics, i…
Practising Political Care Ethics
This paper examines if and how responsive evaluation as a deliberative approach can serve as a guide for a politically oriented care ethics. A political care ethics puts the assignment of responsibilities and the inclusion of multiple perspectives of people at the centre of care. It honours the expressive-collaborative nature of care practices. It is responsive to political positions of vulnerability, fragility and resilience of those whom it con…
Embodying Moral Space
This paper explores whether and how moral space, as the unfolding of an expressive-collaborative process, can be fostered in a way that engages embodied, affective experiences in relational practices of responsibility. A care ethical constellation is a tool that aims to shed light on relational needs and responsibilities as experienced by participants in an institutional context. We present the theoretical backgrounds of this tool. Then the use o…
To care or not to care a narrative on experiencing caring responsibilities
This paper explores caring responsibilities in everyday life by a thorough investigation of the lived experience of one woman, called Eva. We reflect on Eva's relational experiences in taking care of her own life and in relating to situations and events which more or less are the result of the relational web in which she is situated. Her narrative shows that for her, caring requires a relationship in which moral intimacy can be experienced. There…
Patient issues in health research and quality of care
Aim The purpose of this review is to generate an inventory of issues that matter from a patient perspective in health research and quality of care. From these issues, criteria will be elicited to support patient(s) (groups) in their role as advisor or advocate when appraising health research, health policy and quality of health care. Background Literature shows that patients are beginning to develop their own voice and agenda’s with issues in ord…
Patient involvement in research programming and implementation
BACKGROUND: The Dialogue Model for research agenda-setting, involving multiple stakeholders including patients, was developed and validated in the Netherlands. However, there is little insight into whether and how patient involvement is sustained during the programming and implementation of research agendas. AIM: To understand how the Dialogue Model can be optimised by focusing on programming and implementation, in order to stimulate the inclusio…
Practising Political Care Ethics
This paper examines if and how responsive evaluation as a deliberative approach can serve as a guide for a politically oriented care ethics. A political care ethics puts the assignment of responsibilities and the inclusion of multiple perspectives of people at the centre of care. It honours the expressive-collaborative nature of care practices. It is responsive to political positions of vulnerability, fragility and resilience of those whom it con…
Challenging Standard Concepts of ‘Humane’ Care through Relational Auto-Ethnography
What is deemed ‘good’ or ‘humane’ care often seems to be underpinned by a standard ideal of an able-bodied, autonomous human being, which not only underlies those ‘social and professional structures within which narratives and decisions regarding various impairments are held’ (Ho, 2008), but also co-shapes these structures. This paper aims to explore how a relational form of auto-ethnography can promote good care. Rather than being based on and f…
To care or not to care a narrative on experiencing caring responsibilities
This paper explores caring responsibilities in everyday life by a thorough investigation of the lived experience of one woman, called Eva. We reflect on Eva's relational experiences in taking care of her own life and in relating to situations and events which more or less are the result of the relational web in which she is situated. Her narrative shows that for her, caring requires a relationship in which moral intimacy can be experienced. There…
Autoethnography as a praxis of care – the promises and pitfalls of autoethnography as a commitment to care
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the possibilities of autoethnography as a commitment to care and a social justice agenda (Denzin, 2014:p. x). Design/methodology/approach – Autoethnography can be seen as a “methodology that allows us to examine how the private troubles of individuals are connected to public issues and to public responses to these troubles” (Mills, 1959, cited in Denzin, 2014). This resonates strongly with the fi…
The Role of Spirituality in Lifestyle Changing Among Patients with Chronic Cardiovascular Diseases
Nested Tensions in Care
This project presents research-based art works that inquire into the tensions in everyday life from an ethical viewpoint of care, which sees people as embedded, "nested" in care-based relationships. Trust is the glue that holds these "nests" together. Care is the air that lifts them up, but tensions exist as well-between dependency and autonomy, vulnerability and strength, for example. The pull of these ideas exist in a kind of "check" and run th…
Gay-friendly elderly care
Studies on older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults in residential care point to their discrimination, invisibility and the taboo on LGBT lifestyles, and call for development of ‘gay-friendly’ care. Yet, the literature is short on how to create inclusive residential care for older LGBT people. We aim to acquire in-depth understanding of experiences and needs of LGBT older people concerning their inclusion and participation in ca…
The Mindful Body
For people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), one's own body may no longer be taken for granted but may become instead an insistent presence. In this article, we describe how the body experience of people with MS can reflect an ongoing oscillation between four experiential dimensions: bodily uncertainty, having a precious body, being a different body, and the mindful body. People with MS can become engaged in a mode of permanent bodily alertnes…
The Unsayable in Arts-Based Research
Arts-based research (ABR) provokes different ways of thinking about how art relates to knowledge in research. There are few authors, however, who explicate their view on aesthetics in the context of ABR and the type of knowledge that it generates. Accordingly, this article clarifies an aesthetic view in the context of a phenomenological approach to ABR. Ample arts-based researchers explore questions that touch upon the liminal nature and complexi…
Enriching evaluation practice through care ethics
Recently, several authors have called for a critical assessment of the normative dimensions of evaluation practice. This article responds to this call by demonstrating how evaluation practice can be enriched through deliberate engagement with care ethics. Care ethics has a relational and practice view of morality and places caring relationships and responsibilities at the forefront of our being in the world. We will demonstrate how care ethics, i…
Inarticulate Experiences in Qualitative Health Research
Not all human experiences can be expressed in words. Arts-based expressions may be useful to qualitative researchers as they can disclose people's experiences with health, illness and disability. These expressions, which connect with non-linguistic and unexplored realms of experience, may support researchers' efforts to honor the complexities of their lives. In our study, we explored and identified modes of expression among those sharing their ex…
Apophatic Inquiry
In qualitative research, the importance of knowledge production is illustrated by the confidence in logos, that still flags. Although there is significant attention for approaches that are inclusive to the body, affect and non-rational dimensions, these approaches still aim to generate understandings by the appropriation of knowledge. This paper critiques that view and proposes another view of inquiry that centers the praxis of living the questio…
Embodying Moral Space
This paper explores whether and how moral space, as the unfolding of an expressive-collaborative process, can be fostered in a way that engages embodied, affective experiences in relational practices of responsibility. A care ethical constellation is a tool that aims to shed light on relational needs and responsibilities as experienced by participants in an institutional context. We present the theoretical backgrounds of this tool. Then the use o…
A Sensory Gaze into Embodied, Material and Emplaced Meanings
Creative leisure occupations, such as arts and crafts, can give rise to meaningfulness. To date, much of what is known about meaningful occupations relates to verbalised meanings. This article assumes a sensory gaze to examine the tangible creative leisure occupations of three women in midlife. A sensory ethnographic approach comprising participant observation, a reflexive ethnography diary, and photo elicitation was augmented by semi-structured …
Sometimes, indirect is more direct. An aesthetic–apophatic phenomenological approach to self-reflexivity in qualitative inquiry
In this article, I present a six-step, multimodal approach to self-reflexivity responsive to hiddenness in research. This approach harnesses making and reflecting to live research questions indirectly and to connect with dimensions that are hard to capture in words. In research, we sometimes travel along hidden corners that are hard to access. I introduce the concept of “meandering,” highlighting indirect (= apophatic) approaches to inquiry where…
The Role of Group Formation and Interpersonal Connections in Support
Professionals in emergency services organizations (firefighters, paramedics, police, military) and professionals in hospital-based emergency settings (emergency rooms, operating rooms, intensive care units) are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events. They are at higher risk for the development of trauma-related mental health problems than the general population. To maintain mental health, it is essential for individuals to be embedded…
Emotional responses to potentially traumatic events
Professionals in emergency-focused environments are taught to prioritize emergencies over their own emotions and trained to suppress their own emotional reactions. High-risk professionals in a vertical social structure, such as police officers, military personnel, career firefighters, and perioperative nurses, also tend to develop an us-versus-them mentality with emotional distance from patients or civilians. This study explores emotional reactio…
Unveiling life stories about social justice for individuals with intellectual disabilities
This paper unveils the story of Wilhelm, an individual with intellectual and physical disabilities in the context of eugenics practices during the Nazi regime. The findings of the singular case study are presented in a storytelling format, for contextual understanding, and to help everyone better comprehend the challenges faced by individuals with intellectual disabilities. Wilhelm’s story has been discussed through the lens of social justice sha…
Psychology (15 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Political science (12 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Public relations (6 works) · Ethics of care (5 works)