Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T09:00:26.280Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Global Meaning and Rehabilitation in People with Stroke

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2018

Elsbeth Littooij Open the ORCID record for Elsbeth Littooij [Opens in a new window] ,
Joost Dekker ,
Judith Vloothuis ,
Guy A. M. Widdershoven  and
Carlo J. W. Leget
Elsbeth Littooij*
Affiliation:
Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Center Reade, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Joost Dekker
Affiliation:
Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Center Reade, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Judith Vloothuis
Affiliation:
Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Center Reade, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Guy A. M. Widdershoven
Affiliation:
EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Department of Medical Humanities, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Carlo J. W. Leget
Affiliation:
Department of Care and Welfare, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, the Netherlands
*
Address for correspondence: Elsbeth Littooij, MA, Amsterdam Rehabilitation Research Center Reade, PO Box 58271, 1040 HG Amsterdam, the Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

A stroke can have implications for all areas of a person's life. In research on adaptation to stroke, finding meaning is associated with better adaptation. This study focuses on one of the driving principles behind meaning-making processes: global meaning. The aim of this study was to explore whether global meaning (i.e., fundamental beliefs and life goals concerning core values, relationships, worldview, identity and inner posture) is associated with processes and outcomes of rehabilitation, as experienced by people with stroke. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and analysed using qualitative research methods. Aspects of global meaning were associated with the following elements of process and outcome of rehabilitation: motivation, handling stress and emotions, physical functioning and acceptance. The influence was mostly positive. If rehabilitation professionals took global meaning into account, respondents tended to associate this with better or faster recovery.

Keywords

Strokerehabilitationadaptationglobal meaningqualitative research
Type
Articles
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 19 , Special Issue 2: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury , September 2018 , pp. 183 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, S., & Whitfield, K. (2013). Social identity and stroke: ‘They don't make me feel like, there's something wrong with me’. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 27 (4), 820–830.Google Scholar
Cloute, K., Mitchell, A., & Yates, P. (2008). Traumatic brain injury and the construction of identity: A discursive approach. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 18 (5–6), 651–670.Google Scholar
Cole, J. (2011). Pathways to the reconstruction of selfhood in chronic transformative disability: The example of spinal cord injury. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 18 (1), 74–78.Google Scholar
Davis, C.G., Egan, M., Dubouloz, C.J., Kubina, L.A., & Kessler, D. (2013). Adaptation following stroke: A personal projects analysis. Rehabilitation Psychology, 58 (3), 287–298.Google Scholar
Donabedian, A. (1988). The quality of care. How can it be assessed? JAMA, 260 (12), 1743–1748.Google Scholar
Ellis-Hill, C.S. & Horn, S. (2000). Change in identity and self-concept: A new theoretical approach to recovery following a stroke. Clinical Rehabilitation, 14 (3), 279–287.Google Scholar
Ellis-Hill, C.S., Payne, S., & Ward, C. (2000). Self-body split: Issues of identity in physical recovery following a stroke. Disability & Rehabilitation, 22 (16), 725–733.Google Scholar
Frankl, V.E. (1992). Man's search for meaning. An introduction to logotherapy (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Haslam, C., Holme, A., Haslam, S.A., Iyer, A., Jetten, J., & Williams, W.H. (2008). Maintaining group memberships: Social identity continuity predicts well-being after stroke. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 18 (5–6), 671–691.Google Scholar
Hole, E., Stubbs, B., Roskell, C., & Soundy, A. (2014). The patient's experience of the psychosocial process that influences identity following stroke rehabilitation: A metaethnography. The Scientific World Journal, 2014, 1–13.Google Scholar
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Johnstone, B., Franklin, K.L., Yoon, D.P., Burris, J., & Shigaki, C. (2008). Relationships among religiousness, spirituality, and health for individuals with stroke. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 15, 308–313.Google Scholar
Johnstone, B., Glass, B.A., & Oliver, R.E. (2007). Religion and disability: Clinical, research and training considerations for rehabilitation professionals. Disability & Rehabilitation, 29 (15), 1153–1163.Google Scholar
Kaufman, S.R. (2011). Toward a phenomenology of boundaries in medicine: Chronic illness experience in the case of stroke. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 18 (1), 6–17.Google Scholar
King, R.B., Shade-Zeldow, Y., Carlson, C.E., Feldman, J.L., & Philip, M. (2002). Adaptation to stroke: A longitudinal study of depressive symptoms, physical health, and coping process. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 9 (1), 46–66.Google Scholar
Koltko-Rivera, M.E. (2004). The psychology of worldviews. Review of General Psychology, 8, 3–58.Google Scholar
Kruithof, W.J., van Mierlo, M.L., Visser-Meily, J.M., van Heugten, C.M., & Post, M.W. (2013). Associations between social support and stroke survivors' health-related quality of life – A systematic review. Patient Education & Counseling, 93 (2), 169–176.Google Scholar
Littooij, E.C., Dekker, J., Vloothuis, J., Widdershoven, G.A.M., & Leget, C. J. W. (2016a). Global meaning and rehabilitation in people with stroke. Health Psychology Open, 3 (2), 1–9.Google Scholar
Littooij, E.C., Leget, C.J.W., Stolwijk-Swüste, J.M., Doodeman, S., Widdershoven, G.A.M., & Dekker, J. (2016b). The importance of “global meaning” for people rehabilitating from spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord, 54 (11), 1047–1052.Google Scholar
Littooij, E.C., Widdershoven, G.A.M., Stolwijk-Swüste, J.M., Doodeman, S., Leget, C.J.W., & Dekker, J. (2015). Global meaning in people with spinal cord injury: Content and changes. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 39 (2), 197–205.Google Scholar
Mooren, J.H. (1997). Zingeving en cognitieve regulatie. Een conceptueel model ten behoeve van onderzoek naar zingeving en levensbeschouwing. In Janssen, J., Uden, R. V. & , H. V. Ven (Eds.), Schering en inslag (pp. 193–206). Nijmegen: KSGV.Google Scholar
Mooren, J.H. (1998). Trauma, coping and meaning of life. Praktische Humanistiek, 7 (3), 21–29.Google Scholar
Mukherjee, D., Levin, R.L., & Heller, W. (2006). The cognitive, emotional, and social sequelae of stroke: Psychological and ethical concerns in post-stroke adaptation. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 13 (4), 26–35.Google Scholar
Ownsworth, T. (2014). Self-identity after brain injury. London; New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Park, C.L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136 (2), 257–301.Google Scholar
Park, C.L. (2013). The meaning making model: A framework for understanding meaning, spirituality, and stress-related growth in health psychology. European Health Psychologist, 15 (2), 40–47.Google Scholar
Rochette, A., Tribble, D.S., Desrosiers, J., Bravo, G., & Bourget, A. (2006). Adaptation and coping following a first stroke: A qualitative analysis of a phenomenological orientation. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 29 (3), 247–249.Google Scholar
Rokeach, M. (1979). Understanding human values. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Saldaña, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Tedeschi, R.G., & Calhoun, L.G. (1995). Trauma & transformation. Growing in the aftermath of suffering. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Thompson, S.C. (1991). The search for meaning following a stroke. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 12 (1), 81–96.Google Scholar
Tsouna-Hadjis, E., Vemmos, K.N., Zakopoulos, N., & Stamatelopoulos, S. (2000). First-stroke recovery process: The role of family social support. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 81 (7), 881–887.Google Scholar
VGVZ (2015). Beroepsstandaard geestelijk verzorger. Amsterdam: VGVZ.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: ICF. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar