Title

NAVIGATING LIFE AFTER STROKE: A HERMENEUTIC PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

Author(s)

KENT RYAN O. CARILLO

JANELLE E. CATIGBE

ANNE CLEAR S. DECENA

IRISH ANN H. DECENA

DANICA JANE P. DOMINGUEZ

Affiliation

Misamis University

Degree Program

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Contributor

Elmedulan, Ginalyn C.

Taghoy, Sammy B.

Elmedulan, Arnielyn M.

Lian, Charry Jo P.

Year

2025

Abstract

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of long-term disability in the Philippines. While many studies focus on clinical outcomes and caregiver roles, survivors themselves, especially in smaller cities like Ozamiz, rarely have the opportunity to share their stories. This study explored how stroke survivors in Ozamiz City live with speech and mobility limitations, highlighting the emotional, social, and physical shifts they experience. A hermeneutic phenomenological design guided by van Manen’s lifeworld existential was used. Seven stroke survivors, at least four months post-stroke, were selected through snowball sampling and interviewed. Grounded in Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory and Roy’s Adaptation Model, the study examined how survivors adapted to new dependencies and redefined their identity and roles within their environment. These theories supported an understanding of how individuals make sense of stroke not only physically but as an ongoing adjustment in self-care and meaning-making. Five essential themes emerged: (1) the body as a site of struggle and adaptation, (2) home as a paradox of safety and confinement, (3) reconstructing life through altered temporality, (4) rediscovering self in the wake of stroke, and (5) redefining independence through everyday objects. Based on the findings, the researchers recommend a holistic, person-centered approach to stroke care that includes emotional and social support, family involvement, accessible communities, and more empathetic training for nursing students. Future studies may focus on long-term adjustment and include a more balanced gender representation.

Keywords

community-based recovery, hermeneutic phenomenology, lived experiences, stroke survivors, van Manen’s existential lifeworlds