Adapting interpretative phenomenological analysis: a multilayered perspectival design for health research.

Abstract

Background: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is evolving to address increasingly complex experiential phenomena. Existing multiperspectival designs often focus on single-context groups, limiting opportunities to capture relational and contextual diversity.

Aim: To present a multilayered perspectival IPA design that brings together distinct participant groups to enhance inclusivity and illuminate diverse perspectives.

Discussion: The design progresses from individual accounts to dyadic perspectives, group-level insights and whole-group interpretations. This sequencing preserves IPA's idiographic focus while attending to relational dynamics. Triangulation across layers reveals convergences and divergences in meaning-making, and the dyadic lens captures how people make sense of shared experiences.

Conclusion: Multilayered perspectival IPA offers a flexible, rigorous approach that enhances IPA's translational potential and supports the development of evidence-based, person-centred nursing interventions.

Implications for practice: Multilayered analysis can guide nurses in tailoring interventions to individuals and to the care contexts shaping their experiences, supporting more person-centred and context-responsive practice.