Involvement in rehabilitation makes the way back to everyday life after a stroke easier
People who have suffered a stroke may have a long way back to their everyday life. By participating in a client centered ADL-intervention (activities of daily living intervention), these persons have a better chans at understand their own situation and the rehabilitation process, which can lead to an increased participation in the rehabilitation and in everyday life. This according to a new PhD thesis presented by Maria Ranner, doctoral student at the Division of Occupational Therapy.
Dissertation on April 1, see further information here.
What´s the main focus of your thesis?
My thesis ”Evaluation and experiences of a client-centred ADL intervention after stroke” focus on rehabilitation after stroke, and evaluating a client-centred ADL intervention aiming to enable agency in daily activities and participation in everyday life among people with stroke. Also, focus lies on the experiences from both people with stroke who participated in the intervention and from occupational therapists who performed the intervention.
Which are the most important results?
That occupational therapists who performed the intervention had a client-centred approach in which they invited and allowed people with stroke to participate in their rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, the occupational therapists listened to peoples´ own experiences and continuously shared experiences with them.
Further, when people with stroke experienced participation in their rehabilitation it became clearer to them what they did during their rehabilitation. They could see and follow their own process and situation. The transparency of the rehabilitation supported the persons with stroke to better understand how they could influence their situation and future progress.
Another important result is the knowledge that it is worthwhile to evaluate a client-centred ADL intervention in different ways. This type of intervention is complex, with many different components affecting the outcome. In my thesis I used both quantitative- and qualitative analysis method when evaluating the intervention. The different methods enriched each other and provided insight on important components regarding the effect of the intervention.
How can this new knowledge be useful for people, or contribute in improving their health?
The knowledge of how occupational therapists performed a client-centred approach, and the experience of participating in the intervention among the persons with stroke, provide new clinical knowledge that can be of assistance to both occupational therapists and other health professionals in their daily work. Furthermore, when people with stroke and/or other individuals get the opportunity to be more involved in their rehabilitation, that might increase their self-motivation and attitude to become their own problem solvers in life.
What´s in the future for you? Will you keep on conducting research?
After my dissertation, likely is that I will teach at the occupational therapy education at Luleå Technical University and hopefully continue conducting research.
Thesis
Evaluation and experiences of a client-centred ADL intervention after stroke
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