Introduction: Informal carers play a significant role in supporting the rehabilitation and daily activities of stroke patients. To ensure adequate and effective patient support and protect against stress and strain, carers must also attend to their own health and wellbeing. Healthcare professionals have a crucial role in supporting carers but often face challenges that impact their ability to do so.
Objectives: To explore the experiences and perceptions of informal stroke carers and healthcare professionals, identify the challenges they face in stroke care, and provide recommendations for improving carer programs and stroke care.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 informal carers (nine female, one male) and 11 healthcare professionals (five occupational therapists, five physiotherapists, one psychologist) with at least 12 months’ experience working in stroke care. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: Three major themes were identified: (1) Challenges in stroke care; (2) Recommendations for carer programs; and (3) Future priorities. Carers faced many challenges including feeling isolated and not recognised. Healthcare professionals acknowledged the importance of supporting carers but faced challenges such as staffing, working hours, resource availability, and funding constraints. Both carers and healthcare professionals identified the need for more tailored resources and programs that are codesigned with carers to address their needs and priorities.
Conclusion: A need exists for additional training and resources to equip healthcare professionals to better support carers. Carer programs should be co-designed with carers and health professionals to ensure they are appropriate and suitable for implementation within existing services.