The felt sense of well-being of older people living with acquired brain injuries and undergoing physical rehabilitation

Introduction: The increasing ageing population and the profound life-changing consequences of ABI make it critical to reorient the focus of care and rehabilitation for older adults towards promoting their potential for a fulfilling and prosperous life. Consequently, there is a growing need to investigate well-being qualitatively, especially in the context of enhancing rehabilitation systems. This necessitates current research to give more attention to older adults’ experiences of well-being and satisfaction levels concerning their care during ABI rehabilitation.

Aim: To acquire an in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of older individuals (+65) living with acquired brain injury when undergoing physical rehabilitation in relation to their sense of well-being during care provision within the Greek Healthcare System. To provide an interpretive exposition illustrating the impact that Greece’s healthcare and rehabilitation system has on older individuals’ felt sense of well-being. Design: A qualitative study design with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach was developed to provide a comprehensive exploration and interpretation of the well-being subjective experiences of older individuals living with acquired brain injury, undergoing physical rehabilitation.

Method: A total of 14 semi-structured interviews with older individuals living with acquired brain injury were purposively conducted. A thematic analysis of the interviews’ transcriptions was carried out within the perspective of a hermeneutic phenomenological paradigm, following van Manen’s and Clarke and Braun’s methods.Results: Four themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Challenges of new life situation, 2) Seeking emotional and practical support through social interaction, 3) Identifying contextual processes of rehabilitation, 4) The felt sense of self in the aftermath of ABI. The different subjective experiences, intersubjective relations and contextual clinical conditions influence and determine older individuals’ sense of well-being and by extension the realisation of the new changes in their life, leading to various well-being or suffering possibilities.

Conclusions: The exploration of the interrelation between these dimensions is crucial to understand further older individuals’ needs regarding their rehabilitation as well as for the enhancement of their mental and physical state. A deep and comprehensive knowledge of the factors impacting older individuals’ felt sense of well-being during rehabilitation can contribute to the provision of more dignified and humanising health care.