‘I felt pain. Deep pain…’: Experiences of primary caregivers of stroke survivors with aphasia in a South African township

African Journal of Disability

 
 
Field Value
 
Title ‘I felt pain. Deep pain…’: Experiences of primary caregivers of stroke survivors with aphasia in a South African township
 
Creator Masuku, Khetsiwe P. Mophosho, Munyane Tshabalala, Muziwakhe
 
Subject Speech Pathology Aphasia; Township context; Primary Caregivers; Stroke Survivors; Support
Description Background: Aphasia is an acquired impairment in language and in the cognitive processes that underlie language. Aphasia affects the quality of life of the person with aphasia (PWA) and his or her families in various ways in diverse contexts and cultures. It is therefore important that speech language therapists understand how different contextual and cultural factors may mediate experiences.Purpose: The aim of the study was to describe the caregiving experience of female caregivers of PWA residing in Tembisa, a township situated in the east of Johannesburg.Method: Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with primary caregivers of PWA. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 14 primary caregivers of PWA who were daughters, daughters-in-law or wives of the PWA. The interviews were conducted in participants’ first language and analysed by the researcher, who is proficient in isiZulu. Data were analysed according to the principles of thematic analysis.Results: Findings indicated that caregivers are unfamiliar with aphasia and the support available to them. Participants experienced frustration and found communication to be challenging owing to their lack of communication strategies. The participants’ experiences reflected their context-specific experiences, such as feminisation of caregiving, barriers to healthcare, the influence of low health literacy and contextual perspectives on stroke and aphasia.Conclusions: Contextual factors of caregivers in Tembisa have an influence on the experiences between caregivers and PWA, the feelings of individuals and families and health-seeking behaviours of individuals and families.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2018-03-08
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Qualitative Research
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ajod.v7i0.368
 
Source African Journal of Disability; Vol 7 (2018); 7 pages 2226-7220 2223-9170
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/368/748 https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/368/747 https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/368/749 https://ajod.org/index.php/ajod/article/view/368/750
 
Coverage South Africa — Caregivers of Persons with Aphasia
Rights Copyright (c) 2018 Khetsiwe P. Masuku, Munyane Mophosho, Muziwakhe D. Tshabalala https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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