Home Adjustment

In trying to adjust to the needs of the stroke survivor, changes in family and home may occur. Family members may have to decide for the survivor where he or she should live throughout their recovery. This is not an easy decision as it affects not only the survivor, but also the household of the family member the survivor goes to live with. Family interactions, functions, and routines will change in response to the survivor being there. There will be more demands on the household emotionally, physically, and economically. These demands will directly affect everyone in that household in some positive and negative ways.

The family’s ability to live day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month with the recovery process will be the overall factor in how an African-American family recovers from stroke. In having the stroke survivor re-enter the family, the previous roles each member of the family had will change. The stroke survivor may not be able to carry out the roles he or she once had. It is up to the family to rearrange or redistribute these roles to help the family function properly.

Care must also be made to keep the stroke survivor involved in the family's life. This means allowing the stroke survivor to take responsibility for the roles he or she can do. If Mom is not capable of cooking, but wants to help in raising the children, let her. If Dad can't drive, but can do yard work, let him. These roles will allow the stroke survivor to feel like he or she is a useful and wanted part of the family, not a burden on others.

Keeping routines
All families have a rhythm to them that is as individual as the people that make up the family. When a stroke affects one of the family members, the rhythm of the family is disrupted. In trying to find the rhythm again, families tend to fall back on to the normal routines they once had. It is important to keep these routines even after the stroke survivor returns home.

The everyday rhythm of family will allow the stroke survivor to feel safe and comfortable while adjusting to the physical and emotional changes occurring to them. The routines also allow the family to cope with the changes in their loved one. In keeping the family rhythm going, promises made by the family should be kept. This includes the member of the family that had the stroke. If the family promised to be at Auntie’s birthday party, then the entire family should go. If the family goes to church every Sunday, then the entire family should continue to go. The promises that are important to the family should remain important, and involve everyone in the family to make sure they are kept.