title: Perceived experience of caring for a wife with stroke.
abstract: This article presents a 55-year-old husband's perceived experience of caring for his wife with stroke, as learned from his 1 year of participation in a Web-based support intervention study. In a secondary analysis of data, his narrative entries (n = 213) were coded and drawn to Friedemann's framework of systemic organization. The themes that emerged from these data were that of the caregiver providing support, offering solutions, and taking control. Friedemann's system maintenance process dimension was the area that captured most of his experience, which indicated that this caregiver spent a significant amount of his energy in creating control and stability within his environment to maintain congruence or balance in his life. These findings can be used to identify and design interventions, which for male spousal caregivers, affect the quality of their lives.
authors.affiliation: University of Toledo, College of Nursing, OH 43614, USA.
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Pierce
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hicks
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dawson-Weiss
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D011340:Problem Solving; D011788:Quality of Life; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000451:nursing