Scholarly record

NEEDS OF FAMILIES OF PATIENTS AFTER BRAIN DAMAGE

M. Bartova, J. Vackova, K. Mandatova, A. Praskova, A. Matejkova

Abstract

A brain damage accidentally originated in the course of life may be caused by injury, brain tumour, intoxication, inflammation or brain stroke. Brain strokes are one of the most frequent causes of death and permanent disability both worldwide and in the Czech Republic. From the very acute phase of the disease, it is important to interconnect the individual rehabilitation components within coordinated rehabilitation and involvement of a multidisciplinary team. However, such interconnection and activities of the multidisciplinary team are often missing after the client passes to home care. The members of a family with a member after brain stroke must cope with a lot of changes. In many cases, one person from the family, so called informal caretaker, assumes the greatest share of care. It is important that not only the caretaker but also the whole family have sufficient information on brain stroke, the development and the prognosis of the disease just from the beginning of the disease; the information should be provided by the professionals involved in the care for the patient. The family must respond to the challenging situation and adapt their function system in order to provide the patient with adequate care in the home environment. Specific needs resulting from the disease of a family member were ascertained with the help of interviews with the family members caring for brain stroke patients.

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