The Experience of Stroke for Men in Retirement Transition

Abstract

In this study, the authors aimed to explore how men manage when two significant life events, stroke and retirement, occur within a close time proximity. They selected 7 men purposively who were either in the process of planning to retire or had just retired when they had suffered a stroke, and used interpretive phenomenological analysis to guide data collection and to analyze the resulting transcripts. The authors derived three interrelated processes with eight subthemes. The three themes were associated with ambivalence about retirement, the impact of the stroke, and healing and adjustment. The themes suggested that significant interplay existed between the meanings made of the two life events. The emergent themes implied that stroke had a profound impact on the men’s lives and affected them on a number of levels. The experience of suffering a stroke also led to some positive reframing of life.