Abstract
The purpose of the study was to describe the experiences of
home-dwelling stroke patients and their relatives about coping and
to identify possible similarities and differences in these experiences.
The research data were collected by interviewing 18 stroke patients
and 20 relatives. The data were analysed using the phenomenological method.
Based on the data, the stroke patients were divided into six
groups with different coping strategies: flexible coping, realistic
adjustment, recollection of losses, aspiration to work, denial of
illness and submission to problems. Persons showing flexible coping live a full life.
Meaningful activities and interpersonal relations promote coping,
while problems due to the illness impair it. Persons showing realistic adjustment have modified
their life styles to suit their resources. Coping is promoted by
satisfaction with life and impaired by incidental periods of lack
of energy. Persons who prefer to recollect
losses draw energy from their past lives. Coping is promoted
by interpersonal rehabilitation and impaired by a lack of meaningful
activities. Persons showing aspiration
to work seek for meaningful activities similar to salaried
employment. Coping is promoted by humour and impaired by a lack
of activity. Persons showing denial of
illness attribute their problems to causes other than
the disorder in brain circulation. Coping is promoted by stability
of life and impaired by a fear of changes. Persons showing submission to problems tend to dwell
on the losses due to their illness. Coping is promoted by contacts
with children and impaired by depression.
The relatives showed five coping strategies: re-orientation,
confidence, escape, persistence and abandonment. Persons showing re-orientation had modified their strategies
to be compatible with their life situation. Coping is promoted by
hobbies and social relations and impaired by a lack of connections
between rehabilitation and home life. Persons showing confidence see both good and bad
points in their life situation. The need to re-consider one's
life values is good, while the need to give up plans for the future
is bad. People who escape tend
to live either in the past or in the future. Coping is promoted
by the learning of new roles and impaired by living on the patient's
condition. Persistence is shown
by people who only modify their strategies when forced to do so. Coping
is promoted by planning of the future and impaired by disappointments
at the medical and nursing personnel and the rehabilitation system.
People who show abandonment are
dissatisfied with their life situation. They have few chances to
alter the situation and often have poor health.
The patients' and relatives' experiences
showed both similarities and differences. The patients and relatives
had similar experiences of their own situation, treatment and rehabilitation,
interpersonal relations and expectations, but the patients had more
fears about their life situation than the relatives, while the relatives
felt more responsibility for the coping at home. The patients' experiences
generally focused on themselves, while the relatives' experiences
were more abstract and encompassing. The patients and relatives who
coped poorly felt that their whole life was filled by the illness,
while for those who coped well it was only one experience among
the others. The coping strategies of a patient and a relative who
lived in the same household were mutually interdependent, and should
therefore be viewed together.
The findings may help us to understand the everyday home life
of stroke patients and their relatives. They can be utilised while
developing the nursing practice and rehabilitation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:oulo.fi/oai:oulu.fi:isbn951-42-5555-0 |
| Date | 18 February 2000 |
| Creators | Purola, H. (Helena) |
| Publisher | University of Oulu |
| Source Sets | University of Oulu |
| Language | Finnish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, © University of Oulu, 2000 |
| Relation | info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/0355-3221, info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1796-2234 |
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