Self-care needs of caregivers dealing with stroke

Education is essential for successful transition from hospital to home, for both persons with stroke and their caregivers. Guided by Orem's self-care deficit nursing theory, this article identifies self-care needs about which physical and occupational therapists believe caregivers most frequently want information. The therapists (N=113), who responded to a mailed survey, were mostly White women prepared at the graduate educational level in the eastern United States. Descriptive statistics revealed that demonstrating safe transfer techniques was the most frequently chosen information need (82%) identified by physical and occupational therapists surveyed.