Making Sense of Occupational Balance: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study in Informal Caregivers

Introduction:
Stroke not only changes the everyday life of the person concerned but also detrimentally impacts on the family system, that is often greatly involved in the caretaking. In many countries, informal care constitutes the backbone of long-term care provision. One major and remarkably underexplored concern in the context informal care of stroke survivors is the difficulty to balance roles and tasks related to caregiving activities and other meaningful everyday activities. This study hence aims to explore the occupational balance of informal caregivers of stroke survivors as well as to identify barriers and facilitators towards their occupational balance.
Method:
To give voice to this often-overlooked population group of informal caregivers, this study combines two data collection methods: First we conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews with informal caregivers of stroke survivors. Second, study participants are solicited to keep record of their experiences via diary entries over a period of four weeks. Following interpretative phenomenological analysis by Smith et al. (2009), transcribed interview data and diary entries are independently analysed by two researchers.
Results:
The findings are based on interview data and diary entries of 8 informal caregivers making sense of their occupational balance. The identified themes are related to both limitations and coping strategies with regard to their occupational balance.
Implications for Occupational Science:
The results of this research are the starting point for the development of a multifaceted intervention on the policy and individual level to improve occupational balance of informal caregivers. Further research on the concept of occupational balance in the population of informal caregivers is called for.