To come home after a stroke: patients' early experiences of health and recovery in their home settings

Conference poster, 2018

Healthcare systems and services for stroke patients are increasingly performed within home settings where both, people with moderate and severe disability can receive care. However, at present little knowledge is available in regard to early stroke phases and how the interaction with the physical environment of home settings might affect rehabilitation outcomes.

The aim of this work was thus, to increase our understanding in regard to the interplay between home settings and people’s rehabilitation process, a month after stroke onset. A cross-sectional interdisciplinary investigation was conducted using validated measures in face-to-face interviews and by observing the participants’ interactions with their home settings. People with stroke (N = 16) that had a mild disability, and cognitive and communicative abilities to participate in an interview of approximately 2 hours, were recruited in the study and their data was collected within 4 to 7 weeks after stroke onset. Information was collected in regard to their experience of the physical and social home environment, their attachment to place, self-efficacy and the quality of continuity of care from the hospital to the home. Moreover, data about their recovery and overall health were collected with, Stroke Impact Scale and the EQ-5D.

Preliminary results suggests the existence of a relation between recovery levels, self-efficacy and the perceived quality of the physical environment of home settings. More detailed results and their implication for early rehabilitation phases of stroke patients within home settings will be discussed.