Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Myocardial Infarction and Functional Outcome Assessment in Pigs
Published on: April 25, 2014
Exploring the meaning of recovery following myocardial infarction
1Centre for Health and Social Care Research, Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield. a.tod@shu.ac.uk
Aim:
To explore the meaning of recovery from the perspective of patients who have had a myocardial infarction (MI) and their carers.
Method:
Constructivist grounded theory was used, incorporating individual and group interviews. Twenty-four cardiac support group members (15 patients and nine carers) participated in a group interview. Ten patients were individually interviewed six to nine months after MI.
Findings:
Following an MI, participants felt different from how they were as a person' before the MI. Recovery was therefore an ongoing process that involved learning to live with that difference. 'Watchful insecurity' emerged as a core category in explaining recovery from the participants' perspective. Recovery was depicted as a series of 'peaks and troughs'.
Conclusion:
The individual nature of each person's recovery pathway can be used to develop acceptable and accessible services to support recovery following MI.
Related Concept Videos
Acute Coronary Syndrome IV: Interprofessional Care
Myocarditis III: Medical Management
Acute Coronary Syndrome I: Introduction
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...
Acute Coronary Syndrome III: Diagnostic Studies
Myocarditis IV: Nursing Management
