Body, participation and self transformations during and after in-patient stroke rehabilitation

Table 1.

Name^aAgeStroke (location in the brain)Impairments and disabilities reported in medical journal the first weeks after strokeTime since strokeStatus when included in the studyRelatives/friends included in the studyAgnes65Right sideHemiplegia and reduced sensibility in the left side. Homonym hemianopia, neglect and mild reduced cognitive functions.12 yearsMarried and lives in a villa. Works part time. Children and grandchildren.HusbandKaty56Left sideRight side hemiplegia, Broca aphasia. Diminishing concentration. Reduced memory, attention and psychomotor tempo. Emotional changes9 yearsCohabitant and lives in a flat. Works part time. Children and grandchildrenDaughter, mother, father and friendGeorge39Left sideHemiplegia and reduced sensibility in the right side, aphasia, reduced memory, attention, psychomotor tempo, diminishing concentration. Apraxia.8 yearsCohabitant and lives in a house. Works part- time. Small children.CohabitantSteven42Right sideHemiplegia and reduced sensitivity in the left side, neglect, facial paresis, emotional changes8 yearsLives alone in an apartment. Works part time.BrotherSonja72Right sideHemiplegia and reduced sensitivity and proprioceptive sense in the left side. Neglect. Facial paresis, Emotional changes, Wheelchair user, one hand user.6 monthsLives together with her husband in a villa. Pensioner. Children and grandchildren.HusbandOliver62Right sideLeft hemiplegia, Neglect, dysphasia, facial paresis, reduced sensitivity and proprioceptive sense in the left side. Mild reduced cognitive functions. Wheelchair user, one hand user. Emotional changes2 yearsDivorced, lives alone in a flat. Help from community service in all daily activities. Grown-up childrenDaughter and sisterKurt49Right sideHemiplegia in the left side. Neglect, moderate reduced cognitive functions, One hand user.7 yearsLives together with his wife in a villa. Receiver of disability benefit. Children and grandchildren.WifePer66Right sideDysarthria identified. Some right side hemiplegia and facial paresis.2 yearsLives together with his wife in a flat. Pensioner. Children and grandchildren.WifeAntony58Left sideMild hemiplegia observed in the right side, reduced sensibility9 yearsLives together with his wife in a house. Pensioner. Children and grandchildren.Wife

Table 2.

Naive reading and structural analysisComprehensive understandingMeaning unitsCodeTheme and subthemesThe in-patient experience‘I was taken under the wings’ (Kurt)
‘I was vulnerable in the acute phase and was well taken care of’ (George)
‘It was very good being there’(George)
‘. in a hospital (…) you are very much shielded from everything’(George)
‘I become very attached to it (the body)’(Sonja) ‘I was so eager to train all the time’ (George)
‘It was easy for the physical therapist to know which “buttons he had to press” to get back my gait function…but there was so much more I needed help to sort out’ (George)
‘I wanted to be the way I used to be’ (Katy)
‘Back to work, I will just be absent for a week. I just needed a rest.’(Katy)A good place
Feeling of being shielded
Training the physical body
Focus on the physical body
Be like beforeA good place to be in a vulnerable situation
Shield from everything
Hope of recovering the physical body is all- absorbing
Being absorbed into culture of the rehabilitation practice
The Body ‘detached’ from self and real life participation.Discharge home experience‘It was a very abrupt transition from being very safe to kind of wondering if this is a life I feel like living…when I was done with the rehabilitation I realized very quickly that something was missing, because there was such a tremendous follow-up for four-five months.’ (George)
‘.it was very difficult (laughs) to get the button in the buttonhole! And to wipe one's behind and everything… and to wash your hair and to put on mascara! Things I never considered before!’ (Katy)
‘When I saw him suffer…I jumped. He never asked for help. It was like that for a year and a half!’ (Kurt's wife)
‘Well I was laying here on the couch… What else should I be doing? I needed help with everything. If I was going to bed I had to be supported over to the bed. It was really tough, yes, bloody hell!’(Kurt)
‘He was always in the forefront, and then suddenly he was…nothing. That was the worst part.’(Kurt's wife)Feeling of being safe to a feeling that something is missing
Trouble doing things they never considered before
Doing things for the other
Who am I now?Transfer from the safe to the uncertain
Unexpected and problematic bodily responses to everyday activities
Negotiated and changed participation in everyday life context
The sense of self fragments