Wei Zhang,1– 3 Ruirui Ma,2 Xiubin Tao,2 Aiping Wang1 

1The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China; 2The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Key Laboratory of Public Health Social Governance, Philosophy and Social Sciences of Anhui Province, Hefei, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Aiping Wang, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, No. 155, Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China, Email apwang@cmu.edu.cn

Purpose: Stroke can cause long-term disability in elderly individuals, and improving the functional ability of patients is vital. This study sought to determine the facilitators and barriers to functional ability in elderly stroke patients from the perspective of healthy aging and to provide a theoretical basis for precise interventions.
Patients and Methods: This study was conducted between December 2023 and January 2024. Eleven patients and eight medical staff from a tertiary hospital were selected for semi-structured interviews using purposive sampling. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results: A total of 19 interviewees participated, including 11 patients and eight medical staff members. Among the patients, four had hemorrhagic stroke and seven had ischemic stroke; ages ranged from 60 to 77 years. Among the medical staff, five had bachelor’s degrees and three had master’s degrees; ages ranged from 30 to 47 years. Five major themes were identified, including 16 sub-themes. Key themes included: medical service factors, health belief factors, patient factors, family factors, and social/environmental factors.
Conclusion: The core elements for improving the functional ability of patients are establishing a service model of multidisciplinary teamwork; guaranteeing the continuity of in-hospital and home rehabilitation; enriching the form and content of health education to improve patient knowledge of the disease; providing psychological support to alleviate patients’ negative emotions; and establishing of effective social safeguards and support systems.
Key Points: Functional ability is a key indicator of the health status of elderly patients with stroke based on the principles of healthy aging.Multidisciplinary teamwork model and positive health beliefs can promote patients’ functional abilities. Disease symptoms, negative psychological emotions, and insufficient family and social support may be detrimental to functional abilities.This article provides suggestions of measures for practitioners to undertake to improve patient functional abilities in response to facilitators and barriers.

Keywords: facilitators, barriers, functional ability, elderly, stroke, qualitative