Caregiver narratives and marital status during transitional care with remote support programs

Abstract Introductuion: Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability globally. Post-stroke caregiving involves a significant physical, emotional burden that can affect the quality of life of the surviving dyad – caregiver. The transition phase from the hospital to one's own home is one of the most critical phases. Teletraning and telesupport interventions represent effective support, but effectiveness can be influenced by the social and relational context between the survivor and the caregiver. Among the factors of relationships, marital status has rarely been studied as an interpretative element, but only as a descriptive variable. Porpouse: To explore how marital status influences the narrative of caregiving after a teletraining and telesupport intervention dedicated to caregivers of people with stroke. Method A qualitative textual analysis was conducted based on the lexicometric approach, using the IRaMuTeQ softwear. The interviews were performed via video call one month after discharge and after telesupport and teletraning interventions. The stratification of the interviews was carried out according to marital status: married, cohabiting and single. To identify lexical proximity and associations between forms between lexical forms and marital status, respectively, Similarity Analysis and Correspondence Analysis were applied. Results The analysis showed differences in the different profiles. Conjugated caregivers predominantly used a management-oriented lexicon, referring to daily tasks and the clinical context. The cohabitants have oriented themselves towards a relational narrative, referring to the support and role of the nurse navigator. The singles used an introspective lexicon with words related to personal load. Conlusion: The different narratives that emerged in the three groups indicate that teletraining and telesupport interventions do not give a uniform impact, but are influenced by the relational context and marital status of the caregiver. Marital status influences the way information is processed, perceived needs, adaptation strategies, and the demand for support during the transition from hospital to home. In particular, while married caregivers seem to be moving towards more operational management, cohabitants value the relational dimension more and single caregivers manifest a more important emotional burden. This influences needs, the demand for support and how to adapt to the new condition. The experience of caregiving and the integration of teletraning and telesupport is modulated by the coivile state. Marital status should be considered in transitional care by improving the identification of needs and the personalization of post-discharge care.