The objective of this study is to identify the meanings for relatives who live with an elderly with stroke sequelae. The study participants were family members cohabiting with elderly men and women with stroke sequelae. The sample consisted of 15 family members. Data was gathered using a questionnaire on personal and family characteristics of the participants and semi-structured interviews. We used the Bardin Content Analysis in order to extract the main ideas. The emerging categories for the theme ‘meaning of living together’ were ‘a painful experience’, ‘habits and life changes’, ‘a very difficult situation’, ‘to be resilient’ and ‘the difficulty of the individual in accepting the disease’. We conclude that living with elderly individuals with stroke sequelae has physical, psychological and familial implications.
Elderly; Stroke; Family