Self-Concept, Disposition, and Resilience of Poststroke Filipino Elderly with Residual Paralysis

Abstract

The interplay among self-concept, disposition, and resilience mirrors how the condition affects the emotional status of poststroke Filipino elderly with residual paralysis. Despite healthcare professionals' understanding of these clients' physical conditions, little is known regarding these clients' emotional health status related to stroke. Therefore, the central aim of this phenomenological study is to describe the self-concept, disposition, and resilience of poststroke Filipino elderly with residual paralysis through the lens of mask-painting. A total of nine poststroke Filipino elderly with residual paralysis were chosen for this qualitative study, and a three-part research instrument was used to gather data: robotfoto, semistructured interview, and mask-painting activity. Field texts were structurally analyzed via a dendrogram, and themes were validated via persuasiveness and coherence (Miles & Huberman, 1994) and a member-checking procedure during data explicitation. The study revealed a hyperbola model typifying the lived experiences of the respondents relative to the three variables. The respondents' self-concept surfaced two themes: relationality and corporeality. Disposition was described as both phylogenetic and ontogenetic, and resilience was shown to arise from both conviction and condition. These six themes collectively describe residual paralysis as a hyperbolic experience. On the whole, poststroke Filipino elderly with residual paralysis demonstrate major changes in these three variables poststroke. In these situations, Filipino elderly commonly based their self-concept on their relationships with others, their disposition on their innate feelings, and their resilience on the measures they have taken to accept and to cope with the chronic effects of stroke.