The Hope of the Stroke Patients

Kim, Lee Sun

Abstract

Cerebrovascular diseases in Korea is an important health problem since mortality and morbidity have been increased rapidly. It marked the 2nd cause of specific death rates in 1993. The stroke causes physical function disorder due to hemiparalysis and emotional disorder, and stroke patients experience helplessness, powerlessness, sense of alienation and loss of hope. These feelings make the rehabilitation difficult because they lose the will of life. The subjects of the study were seven citizens who live in Pusan, are over 50 year old and belong to low income-level. The data were collected from Jan. to Sep. 1195. The researcher as a caregiver and volunteer made confidence of them and asked for their agreement on the purpose of the study. The subjects expressed their experience as openheartedly as possible. The analysis of the data was made through the phenomenological analytic method suggested by Giorgi, which is as follows ; as an unit of description which include the subject' expressions and the researcher's observation, it is examined the theme that express the hope experience with the subject's language(underlining), and the focal meanings are identified. The focal meaning is the crystalization of the theme, which is written in the language of the researcher. After integrating the focal meaning ant make the situated structural description as the meaning of the hope experience identified on each subject's point. After integrating the situated structural description and make the general structural description as the meaning of the hope experience identified on total subject's point the systemizing of the structure of the hope experienced phenomena and the flowing of the consciousness was researched. The conclusions of this study was as follows : The ten sources of hope which the subjects experienced were sorted as under : , , , , , , , , , and . Their hope was spoken out by the following two kinds of linguistics. First, the hope was expressed in the affirmative expression as follows : , , , , , , , , self-confidence, Courage>, , , , , and Second, the hope was expressed in the negative expression as under : , , , , , , < to bear a burden>, , , , , , , and . And their hope was expressed by the following four behavioral expressions : , , and . The reaction patterns of their experience appeared in the following 4 coping method : , , and . Finally, in the hope structure the sense of certainty don't always coexict with the sense of uncertainty. When the stroke patients try to search for the best quality of life, the senses of certainty and uncertainty make a continual cyclic system in the hope structure.