The aesthetic and cultural pursuits of patients with stroke

Background: There has been an increasing interest in the arts in health care, with a suggestion that the arts and aesthetics can augment patient outcomes in stroke and other illnesses. Designing such programmes requires better knowledge of the artistic, aesthetic, and cultural pursuits of people affected by stroke. The aim of this study was to obtain the insights of this group about the profile of art and aesthetic activities in their lives and the influence of stroke on these aspects. Methods: Patients attending a stroke service were administered questions adapted from the Irish Arts Council's 2006 questionnaire on participation in aesthetics and cultural pursuits. Information was also collected on stroke type and present functional and cognitive status. Thirty-eight patients were interviewed. Of these, 20 were inpatients in hospital at the time of the interview and 18 were interviewed in an outpatient setting. Results: Popular activities included mainstream cinema, listening to music, dancing, attending plays or musicals, and being outdoors. Many patients ceased these activities after their stroke, mostly because of health issues and inaccessibility. Most of the patients valued the importance of the arts in the health-care setting. Conclusions: This study gives a perspective for the first time on the aesthetic and cultural pursuits of stroke patients before their stroke. It portrays a wide variety of cultural and leisure activities and the cessation of these poststroke. It revealed the restrictions patients felt on gaining access to leisure pursuits both while in hospital and following discharge.