Life after a stroke
Jul 6, 2022
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
Life after a stroke: Family and friends provide nearly all post-hospital care, but who’s caring for the caregivers?
Authors:
- Anna Garnett, assistant professor, Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University
- Maureen Markle-Reid, professor and Canada Research Chair in Person Centred Interventions for Older Adults with Multimorbidity and their Caregivers, School of Nursing, McMaster University
- Patricia H Strachan, associate professor, McMaster University
Stroke is a major cause of disability in Canada. More than 50,000 Canadians have a stroke every year and about 40 per cent of those will live with lasting effects of stroke on their health. Once a person living with stroke returns home, up to 80-90 per cent of the care at home is provided by family and friends, known as informal caregivers.
Caregiving can be a wonderful and rewarding experience. However, when caregiving continues over months and years, it can become difficult and a caregivers’ own health may begin to suffer.
Caregiving can be a wonderful and rewarding experience. However, when caregiving continues over months and years, it can become difficult and a caregivers’ own health may begin to suffer.
In order to better support caregivers, we sought to understand the considerations they made when choosing to access and use supportive services. Our research entailed conducting interviews with stroke caregivers and health providers. This enabled us to better understand their experience as caregivers and helped us to identify what helped or hindered their ability to find and use suitable supports.
READ the rest of the article at The Conversation: Life after a stroke: Family and friends provide nearly all post-hospital care, but who’s caring for the caregivers?
Related Faculty