Young Women Stroke Survivors and Their Desire for Peer Support

Abstract

The concerns of young stroke survivors are not well known. The aim of this paper is to draw on data from a larger study to show that young women who survived a hemorrhagic stroke desire access to peer support, but there is not widespread access to peer support. Open-ended interviews were conducted with an international sample of 28 women to learn about their poststroke experiences and were analyzed qualitatively for common issues and themes. A prominent theme across the interviews was the significance of age-similar peer support. Participants discussed feeling alone and misunderstood and wanting to have access to peer support. In conclusion, peer support may help to enhance psychological well-being, but the survivor’s own understanding of her peers must be centrally considered.