Abstract
Hope and life courage in illness narratives after stroke
 This essay illuminates the meaning of hope and life courage in the narratives of Tomas and Maria, a couple who had experienced the life changing consequences of Maria’s stroke. Hope is supported by the couple’s strong and loving relationship and by empathy and caring in their relationships with professional caregivers. In this way, the relational component of hope is revealed as the most important prerequisite for maintaining hope. The analysis demonstrates that life courage and hope are strongly needed for trust in the future and rehabilitation efforts. However, careless and unprofessional attitudes and practices of clinicians may lead to loss of control, poorer self-image and hopelessness. To support the hope of patients and relatives, clinicians must show caring attitudes and use both medical and humanistic knowledge. They should not devalue the phenomenon of hope as unrealistic.
Highlights
Keyword/Nøkkelord hope; life courage; health care professionals, caring relationships, information; Gabriel Marcel håp; livsmot; helsepersonell; omsorgsfulle relasjoner; informasjon; Gabriel Marcel
«But nobody can live without hope, even if it were only for the smallest things which give some satisfaction even under the worst conditions, even in poverty, sickness and social failure
I mitt virke som sykepleier i ulike praksisfelt har jeg hatt anledning til å lytte til mange sykdomsfortellinger
Summary
This essay illuminates the meaning of hope and life courage in the narratives of Tomas and Maria, a couple who had experienced the life changing consequences of Maria’s stroke. To support the hope of patients and relatives, clinicians must show caring attitudes and use both medical and humanistic knowledge. Fortellingene har gitt meg en bedre forståelse for hvordan ulike personer opplever sin sykdom, hvilken mening de tillegger den, og hvordan de ser for seg å leve videre med kronisk sykdom og funksjonshemming. Som forsker ser jeg at deltakerne ofte innleder sine fortellinger med å beskrive sykdomshendelsen i detalj, selv om den ligger langt tilbake i tid (Kitzmüller, Häggström, Asplund & Gilje, 2012). Dette meningsskapende arbeidet ser ut til å være viktig for å forstå sykdommen og dens konsekvenser og kan berede grunnen for å kunne opprettholde håp og livsmot (Kitzmüller, Häggström, Asplund & Gilje, 2012). De aller fleste fortsetter med å leve i håp om bedring, og mange opplever kontinuerlig fremgang gjennom mange år (Kitzmüller, Häggström, Asplund & Gilje, 2012). Fortellingen er på ingen måte unik, men den er et eksempel på hvilken betydning håp og livsmot har både for den som får kjenne sykdommen på kroppen og for den som står nærmest
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