Informal caregivers for stroke survivors: what does occupational therapy offer?

Informal caregivers play an important role in the continuum of care for survivors of stroke and the caregivers’ own well-being may therefore have a significant impact on the survivor of stroke. Yet, caregiver training and support often do not fulfil the needs of caregivers and the consequences are often described in literature as ‘burden of care’. In this article, we encourage occupational therapists to consider caregiving from an occupational perspective and we propose strategies for the enabling informal caregivers to maintain optimal wellbeing and health by means of increased opportunity for balanced occupational participation. Key words: stroke, informal caregivers, burden of care, occupational perspective, occupational therapy