The lived experiences of people with cerebrovascular accidents in Ga- Dikgale, Limpopo Province

Abstract

The CVA patients normally do not know what to expect and often get confused by the change of behaviour that may result. This is because little is done on informing them of the risk factors, the stigma attached to CVAs, and also some strategies on how to deal with all the experiences CVAs bring along with them. The main aim of this study was to inquire more about the lived experiences of people with cerebrovascular accidents in Ga-Dikgale, Limpopo Province. Ten people living with CVAs’ in Ga-Dikgale village, in the Capricorn district, were selected and interviewed. The interviews were audio-taped, and later transcribed and translated. The original data was reduced and interrogated to identify some emerging meaning units which further led to emergence of themes. Phenomenology and the health belief model were chosen as the relevant lenses with which the study could be viewed. Phenomenology helps understand the individual from his or her point of view while the health belief model describes how a person’s belief towards his or her health status can affect their healing process, and these are lens with which to view this study. Snowball and purposive sampling methods were used for sampling participants and data was collected through semi-structured face- to-face interviews. IPA was used for analysing collected data in this study. Most participants in this study were found to still believe that CVAs are a result of witchcraft, while ignoring the main risk factors such as hypertension, high blood pressure and diabetes, to mention a few. The study also study revealed the daily experiences of living with CVAs. It is not an easy thing for others as they have to endure a lot of pain and also the embarrassment of being unable to control their bodies and emotions.