How a group of disabled persons experience rehabilitation over a period of time

• The purpose of this study was to describe how a group of mainly elderly disabled persons experienced their rehabilitation over a period of time focusing on their interactions with professionals, relatives and the community. Fifteen persons who had suddenly been taken ill and who had received rehabilitation were interviewed. The interview transcripts were analysed qualitatively. The results showed that the informants' experiences could be described in a form of three rehabilitation chains, each one consisting of a number of phases. First, a medical rehabilitation chain that started at the onset of the informants' disability. This chain was relatively short and reflected the informants' interactions with the professionals. A psychological rehabilitation chain that represented the informants' internal struggle towards a new meaningful life. The third was labelled a social rehabilitation chain. This chain became visible later in the rehabilitation process and reflected the informants' interactions with their relatives and their experiences of a stigmatizing society. Although rehabilitation in Sweden is claiming to apply a holistic perspective encompassing medical, psychological and social aspects, the results of the study showed that it is not perceived so by the informants in the study, who experienced rehabilitation mainly in the medical rehabilitation chain.

Nyckelord

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)