Using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to understand occupation from the perspective of the experiencing self: An illustrative example in workers with type 1 diabetes

In people, the experiencing, remembering, and believing selves are distinct modes of being that co-exist, though at any particular moment one mode can be dominant. While qualitative methods are effective for querying the remembering and believing selves, Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) methods may be better suited to capture the perspective of the experiencing self. Using EMA to investigate occupation allows participants to engage in their regular occupations in their natural environments, pausing to record information about experiences that occurred seconds or minutes prior. To demonstrate the use of EMA to capture the experiencing self (the 'I' in the present moment not occupied with memories or beliefs), we examined associations between working, recovering, and various aspects of being (e.g., mood) in secondary analyses using EMA data from workers with type one diabetes (T1D, <i>n</i>=92). Densely repeated sampling of workers' experiences through EMA allowed for a correspondingly comprehensive representation of how both working and recovering were associated with various aspects of being, yielding insights relevant to the clinical needs of workers with T1D and to understanding their experiencing self's view of work and recovery generally. The potential benefits of EMA for occupational science include allowing a more comprehensive understanding of the immediate experience of occupation, enabling investigation of the experiencing self at different timescales (e.g., experience of work in the moment, versus average experience of work over a day), and providing additional means through which to inform occupation centered interventions in populations with chronic conditions.