After stroke people often experience many different consequences, such as physical, cognitive and psychosocial consequences. As a result, stroke generally has a large impact on stroke patients’ lives. This may lead to patients experiencing problems with their psychosocial well-being and their ability to resume their daily life. Therefore, it is important that in the stroke care provided enough attention is paid to this impact and how people can resume their daily lives. But it turns out that in practice insufficient attention appears to be paid to this, and this attention seems to mainly depend on the knowledge and expertise of individual healthcare professionals. Also, at present, not enough is known about how psychosocial well-being changes after stroke and about the needs stroke patients experience. Therefore, this thesis focuses on finding out what is currently done to support stroke patients on a psychosocial level and which needs these patients experience regarding the stroke care they receive.
This research shows that, at this moment, most healthcare professionals mainly pay attention to physical recovery and less to psychosocial well-being after stroke. Also, a clear approach to support psychosocial well-being lacks. Stroke patients appear to mainly have a need for clarity, a personal approach where the care provided fits their personal goals and needs, and to be involved in the decisions healthcare professionals make. It is important that these needs are incorporated sufficiently in healthcare professionals’ education and in applicable guidelines and protocols. In this way, psychosocial care and psychosocial well-being of stroke patients could be improved.
