Exploring the meaning of recovery following myocardial infarction.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the meaning of recovery from the perspective of patients who have had a myocardial infarction (MI) and their carers.


METHODS
Constructivist grounded theory was used, incorporating individual and group interviews. Twenty-four cardiac support group members (15 patients and nine carers) participated in a group interview. Ten patients were individually interviewed six to nine months after MI.


RESULTS
Following an MI, participants felt different from how they were as a person' before the MI. Recovery was therefore an ongoing process that involved learning to live with that difference. 'Watchful insecurity' emerged as a core category in explaining recovery from the participants' perspective. Recovery was depicted as a series of 'peaks and troughs'.


CONCLUSIONS
The individual nature of each person's recovery pathway can be used to develop acceptable and accessible services to support recovery following MI.
Tod
Angela
A
Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield. a.tod@shu.ac.uk
D000368:Aged; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*