Living with stroke: a phenomenological study

Understanding how stroke sufferers experience their stroke and recovery is essential if the development of rehabilitation services is to be effective and appropriate. Previous research in this area has tended to be either cro ss-sectional or with a limited amount of informant follow-up, and consequen tly has limited utility. This paper describes a study underpinned by a phen omenological approach, which tracked the experiences of six patients admitt ed to a rehabilitation unit in the north-west of England. Informants were f ollowed for at least 12 months after stroke, acid a total of 73 interviews were undertaken during the study. The data demonstrate that recovery from s troke involved restructuring and adaptation in physical, social and emotion al aspects of an individual's life. Two important features of recovery were highlighted. First, whilst aspects of pre-stroke life may be used to descr ibe individual progress, no end-point to recovery was identified as informa nts described and anticipated life with stroke. Second, informants focused on the social context of recovery where engagement in the social world was emphasized over discrete physical function. Although no common path of reco very was found, it is recommended that stroke services are structured to ta ke account of the long-term needs of stroke patients and their families in their home environment.