Struggling Together: Examining the Narratives of Interdependence and Healing Within Romantic Relationships After Stroke

Abstract

The consequences of a brain injury can introduce ripple effects within a family for years after the initial event. In this study, we focused on the experiences of couples negotiating their relationship after stroke. We specifically concentrated on the changes to couples’ interdependence and the relational ramifications of those changes. Interview data from 41 participants (including 20 people who have had a stroke and 21 caregiving partners) suggest that as individuals noticed changes in themselves and their partner, they also noted significant changes within their relationship. As couples encountered their new relational dynamic, they had to manage various struggles including how to provide assistance, how to communicate effectively, and how to reframe their situation. Overall, couples relayed a trajectory of post-stroke life that involved a level of mutual influence that did not seem to exist prior to stroke.

Longing for normalcy in couple relationships: How chronic illness and care dependency change the relationship of long-married couples

“…Partners struggle with changing tasks and roles: In accordance with other studies (5,15,23), our findings show how partners struggle when they have to give up their "taken for granted" tasks and roles in everyday life due to illness and care dependency. As Abendschein et al (5) suggest, partners long for normalcy, but it costs them a great deal of strength to handle the changes due to the care situation. Accordingly, the persons interviewed in our study perceive changing tasks and roles as a particular burden, as it irritates their self-concept as a husband [also see (42)] or wife.…”

“…Progressive functional impairments and the need for care gradually change couples' daily lives and partnerships (5); it is crucial for them to adapt and maintain daily routines, such as shared mealtimes (4,6). Persson et al (7) elaborated in their study that continued attachment in their dyadic relationship is perceived by both partners as a lived experience of dignity in palliative care.…”

Between division and connection: a qualitative study of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on social relationships in the United Kingdom

“…As such, our findings resonate with early conceptualisations of fatal epidemics as "dramatic social cris[e]s" causing fear, suspicion, moralising, disruption and disorientation (Strong, 1990, p. 250). However, they also point to another, less examined aspect of lived reality; namely the experience of greater intraand interpersonal connection and compassion during times of health crisis, also discussed in other studies (Abendschein et al, 2021;Whitehead & Torossian, 2021). Reverberating the meaning of the Greek root of the word crisis (κρίσις), meaning "discrimination, decision" (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021), our findings show that being faced with the COVID-19 crisis caused many to reflect on, distil and decide to nurture those relationships regarded as most valuable and important.…”

Novelty Experience in Prolonged Interaction: A Qualitative Study of Socially-Isolated College Students’ In-Home Use of a Robot Companion Animal

“…We followed a step-wise, iterative approach to analysis ( Abendschein et al, 2021a ). During the first step, each author read the nine interviews and then wrote a memo reflecting on the data set as a whole as well as ideas about emergent themes.…”