Rehabilitation Professionals’ Perspective on the Assessment, Correspondence and Intervention for Patients with Post-stroke Depression: Qualitative Research Using Semi-structured Interviews

Abstract

[Purpose] This study clarifies the assessment by, and intervention of rehabilitation professionals for patients with post-stroke depression. [Participants and Methods] Fifteen rehabilitation professionals (physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language-hearing therapists) participated in a semi-structured interview and theme analysis. From this theme analysis, 73 codes were extracted from the word-for-word records: 20 comprised the primary category, and 10 the secondary category. [Results] The results indicate that rehabilitation professionals assess post-stroke depression by “interpret the condition of experiencing depressive symptoms” based on daily observations such as “pessimistic speech,” “depression” and “loss of motivation.” Also, rehabilitation professionals use correspondence and intervention for patients with post-stroke depression by “saying something to boost confidence,” “interventions improving the degree of independence,” and “interventions aligned with the patient.” [Conclusion] Rehabilitation professionals interpret the condition of experiencing depressive symptoms from the daily speech of patients with post-stroke depression and assessments, and work to improve their degree of independence with confidence-boosting statements.