Appraising the trustworthiness of qualitative studies: Guidelines for occupational therapists

Qualitative research provides a valuable source of evidence to enhance occupational therapy practice. Occupational therapists need to consider the issue of trustworthiness prior to deciding whether the findings of qualitative research have relevance to their day-to-day work. By trustworthiness we mean the extent to which the findings are an authentic reflection of the personal or lived experiences of the phenomenon under investigation. In this article we provide guidance to enable occupational therapists to competently determine the trustworthiness of a qualitative research project. We do this by explaining, and illustrating with examples, six considerations that should be taken into account when determining whether the method, findings and interpretation of a qualitative research have been conducted in a trustworthy manner. These considerations are evidence of thick description, triangulation strategies, member-checking, collaboration between the researcher and the researched, transferability and reflexivity. Once the trustworthiness of a qualitative research has been determined, occupational therapists are in a better position to consider how the research findings may impact on their practice.