Place Integration Through Daily Activities 1 Year After Stroke

OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health

AOTF: The American Occupational Therapy Foundation

Interventions, Effects, and Outcomes in Occupational Therapy: Adults and Older Adults

Feature Article
Place Integration Through Daily Activities 1 Year After Stroke

OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health
Vol. 30, No. 2 Spring 2010

By Anette Erikson, OT, Lic. Degree in Med.; Melissa Park, OTR/L PhD; Kerstin Tham, OT, PhD

ABSTRACT

Actions link meaning to particular places over time. This study examined how familiar places, in turn, inspired or influenced actions in the rehabilitation process for individuals who had experienced stroke. The aim of this study was to describe the meanings of actions in different places during 1 year of rehabilitation after stroke. The interview data were longitudinal and collected on four occasions during the first year after stroke (e.g., at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months). Seven categories emerged from the data analysis using a constant comparative method: (1) workplace in mind, (2) experiences at home enabling reflection, (3) rehabilitation setting creates uncertainty, (4) retrieving inspiration from familiar places, (5) matching the complexity of tasks across places, (6) understanding the reality by confrontation, and (7) on the way to place integration. From these themes, a core or overarching theme emerged: the desire for place integration inspires engagement in rehabilitation. The central finding in this study revealed a strong relationship between the desire to be reintegrated into familiar places, such as work and home, and motivation to engage in rehabilitation. Further, this desire for place integration was a constant driving force over the year that motivated the participants to find activities on their own that matched the task demands at their workplaces.

AUTHORS

Anette Erikson, OT, Lic. Degree in Med., is Lecturer and Doctoral Student, Melissa Park, OTR/L PhD, is Postdoctoral Fellow, and Kerstin Tham, OT, PhD, is Head, NVS Department, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.

Originally submitted May 18, 2008. Accepted for publication June 25, 2009. Posted online September 25, 2009.

The authors have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.

Address correspondence to Anette Erikson at anette.erikson@ki.se.

doi: 10.3928/15394492-20090922-01

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