Facilitators and barriers of stroke survivors in the early post-stroke phase.

PURPOSE To identify facilitators and barriers among persons with first-ever stroke discharged to the home in the first 3 months post-stroke by means of ICF categories. METHOD Stroke survivors were interviewed using semi-structured questions based on the ICF categories of Environmental factors of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for Stroke (extended version) at 6 weeks and at 3 months post-stroke. RESULTS The study sample exists of 67 stroke survivors with an average age of 71 years (51% women). Eleven environmental factors from the ICF chapters 'support and relationship', 'products and technology' and 'services, systems and policies' were experienced to be facilitators and only 'physical geography' was experienced as a barrier by 50% or more of the participants in the study. CONCLUSIONS It was possible to document facilitators and barriers among stroke survivors in a structured way using ICF categories. The high number of experienced facilitators gives an idea of how well stroke care functions in Sweden. There is a great need for further studies examining environmental factors in the post-stroke phase.