Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Communicating The Significance Of Home: Stroke Survivors And Caregivers Share Their Stories, Donna Pawlowski

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

The goal of this qualitative study was to examine how stroke survivors and caregivers communicated the significance of home in the short-term transition from hospital discharge to home care. Narratives from 12 stroke survivors and their caregivers produced five themes: marker events as motivation, comfort of home and family, emotional privacy of home, excited anticipation of going home, and nervous preparation for home. While much of the communication focused on the positive and hopeful recovery of stroke survivors upon going home, caregiver preparedness and the modifications to home impacted physical and emotional recovery. Results have implications for the transactive model …