Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Introduction: \nStroke is the third largest cause of death in New Zealand and is a major cause of disability. While a lot is known about the stroke survivor and the primary caregiver, little is known about how stroke affects the survivor’s wider family. \n \nAims: \nThis study’s aim is to investigate the lived experience of being a family member of someone who has had a stroke, over the period of six months from the initial stroke. It is part of a larger longitudinal four year project exploring the stroke family lifeworld. \n \nMethod: \nThe method used was hermeneutic phenomenology as guided by Max van Manen (1997). \n \nResults: \nThe stroke survivor is not the only person who needs care. The overarching theme is duty of care. There are three sub-themes: care is ‘different for different people’; there are care ‘expectations of self and expectations of others’; and care brings ‘strain’. All are significant in the family experience. The family have expectations and obligations of their own duty of care and these are also influenced by sources outside the family. In addition there are considerations of fairness regarding the sometimes competing needs of the survivor and the caregiver. \n \nConclusion: \nStrains on the family change over time. Competing values of mercy and fairness within this family take up time and risk disengagement of the family from the stroke survivor’s progress.
Author: Andrew J. Duthie
Language: English
Topic: Nursing care and research
Subfield: Research and Theory
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W89717530