334
Views
3
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Accessing information and adapting to the role of care partner for stroke survivors with aphasia during the early Covid-19 pandemic

, & ORCID Icon
Pages 907-928 | Published online: 19 Apr 2022
 

ABSTRACT

Background

Spouses, family members, and close friends of stroke survivors with aphasia are often inadequately prepared to transition into the role of care partner and are consequently at risk for third-party disability. Timely, appropriate informational support may help to mitigate negative effects of caring for someone with aphasia.

Aims

To explore how 11 care partners accessed information and adapted to the caregiver role at different phases of recovery during the early Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods and Procedures

Care partners of stroke survivors with aphasia participated in up to five individual semi-structured interviews while their loved one was in acute care through six months post-hospital discharge. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analysed using a descriptive coding process. Codes were grouped together into categories, and themes were identified from observed patterns in the data.

Outcomes and Results

There were 11 relevant key themes, including how care partners learn about stroke and aphasia (or not), receive information about their loved one, find alternative ways to communicate, prepare for the unknown, long for some type of check-in, desire care coordination, appreciate family support, and adjust to living with aphasia in the long-term.

Conclusions

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted inconsistencies in care partner involvement during stroke rehabilitation. Families navigated stroke and aphasia recovery with varying information from the healthcare team and the pandemic impacted therapy coordination, family support, and access to respite care. Our work highlights several opportunities for improvement in care partner inclusion and indicates a need to develop tailored interventions for timely informational support.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 386.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.