Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine is an international peer-review journal published in English, with at least 10 issues published per year.

Objectives The aim of the study was to explore the associations between the dyad’s (person with stroke and informal caregiver) perception of the person with stroke’s rehabilitation needs and stroke severity, personal factors (gender, age, sense of coherence), the use of rehabilitation services, amount of informal care and caregiver burden. Further, the aim was to explore the personal experience of everyday life changes among persons with stroke and their caregivers and their strategies for handling these 1 year after stroke. Design A mixed methods design was used combining quantitative and qualitative data and analyses. Setting Data were mainly collected in the participants’ homes. Outcome measures Data were collected through established instruments and open-ended interviews. The dyad's perceptions of the person with stroke’s rehabilitation needs were assessed by the persons with stroke and their informal caregivers using a questionnaire based on Ware’s taxonomy. The results were combined and classified into three groups: met, discordant (ie, not in agreement) and unmet rehabilitation needs. To assess sense of coherence (SOC) in persons with stroke, the SOC-scale was used. Caregiver burden was assessed using the Caregiver Burden Scale. Data on the use of rehabilitation services were obtained from the computerised register at the Stockholm County Council. Participants 86 persons with stroke (mean age 73 years, 38% women) and their caregivers (mean age 65 years, 40% women). Results Fifty-two per cent of the dyads perceived that the person with stroke’s need for rehabilitation was met 12 months after stroke. Met rehabilitation needs were associated with less severe stroke, more coping strategies for solving problems in everyday activities and less caregiver burden. Conclusions Rehabilitation interventions need to focus on supporting the dyads’ process of psychological and social adaptation after stroke. Future studies need to explore and evaluate the effects of using a dyadic perspective throughout rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES. This study examined the relationship between awareness of disability and occupational performance in a group of elderly persons during the year after stroke. METHOD. Data on awareness of disability and occupational performance (i.e., activities of daily living [ADL] motor and process ability) were collected 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after stroke. A mixed-linear-effects model was implemented to examine the relationship between awareness of disability and ADL motor and process ability over time. RESULTS. Increased awareness of disability was related to improvements in occupational performance (ADL motor and process ability). The 2 relationships were different, with a positive linear relationship between awareness of disability and ADL motor ability, and a stronger, positive, nonlinear relationship between awareness of disability and ADL process ability. CONCLUSION. Clients’ awareness of disability and their ability to perform occupations should be assessed several times during a rehabilitation process so that interventions can be adjusted to match each client's potential to benefit from them.

This article draws on empirically derived illustrations of return to work and unemployment to critically explore how a narrow understanding of work pervades contemporary social policies and programmes. This is particularly relevant in economic and labour market transitions aligned with neoliberalism that individualise the social problem of unemployment and thus restrict occupational possibilities related to work. An overview of how work and related concepts have been conceptualised in occupational science scholarship is presented. After describing the theoretical orientation of the paper, three illustrations derived from a secondary analysis of data from projects conducted in Sweden and the United States are presented. The three empirically grounded illustrations are integrated with theory to highlight tensions between the politically informed structures that shape social policies and programmes and the individual experiences of work, unemployment, and return to work that users and providers of these programmes communicate. By asserting that success in work-related placement programmes is not synonymous with meaningful employment, we attempt to heighten awareness of the potential risks associated with a reliance on measuring work by merely being in paid formal employment.