Article

PURPOSE: To increase understanding of stroke survivor's needs to successfully
re-establish attachment to meaningful places at home and in the community.
METHODS: Qualitative research methodology including in-depth interviews with
stroke survivors in the clinical, post-discharge and reintegration phases of the
rehabilitation process. RESULTS: Participants longed for recovery and domestic
places in the clinical phase, for pre-stroke activities and roles in the
post-discharge phase, and for recognition and a sense of belonging in the
reintegration phase. The participants' selves had changed, while the spatial and
social contexts of their homes had remained the same. Their spatial scope became
smaller in both a social and a geographical sense. It was difficult to achieve a
feeling of being at home in their bodies and own living environments again. The
complexities that needed to be dealt with to engage with the outside world,
turned participants unintentionally inwards. In particular, family members of
participants with cognitive problems, longed for support and recognition in
dealing with the changed personality of their spouses. CONCLUSIONS:
Rehabilitation should put greater effort into supporting stroke survivors and
their families in home-making and community reintegration processes, and help
them to re-own and renegotiate their disabled bodies and changed identities in
real life. Implications for Rehabilitation The experienced self-body split,
identity confusion and related mourning process should be foregrounded in the
post-discharge phase rather than functional recovery, in order to help stroke
survivors understand and come to terms with their changed bodies and selves. In the post-discharge and reintegration phases stroke survivors should be coached in
rebuilding meaningful relations to their bodies, home and communities again. This
home-making process should start at real-life sites where stroke survivors wish to (inter)act.

Langue : ANGLAIS