"I'm still the person!": experiences, barriers and facilitators relating to returning to work with post-stroke communication disorders.

Abstract

This study explored the experiences and perceptions of people with post-stroke communication disorders who had attempted or were attempting to return to work. Eleven participants (4 male, 7 female, mean age 57.7 ± 6.36 years) who were an average of 6.55 (±6.14) months post-stroke took part in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were generated. These were: (i) the reality of planning and actualising a return to work at different time-points during stroke recovery; (ii) intrapersonal barriers, including communication and cognitive impairments; (iii) external barriers, including lack of information or advice from healthcare professionals and lack of support or understanding from employers; (iv) intrapersonal facilitators, including personal attributes and use of strategies; and (v) external facilitators, including support from individual healthcare professionals, employers, colleagues and peers. Returning to work with post-stroke communication disorders can be a challenging journey, with a number of potential barriers and facilitators. One of the major barriers is a lack of specialist and/or cohesive support for people with post-stroke communication disorders who wish to return to work. There is therefore a need for interventions designed specifically to facilitate return to work for this group.