Purpose: Engagement in valued activities is often difficult for people who have experienced stroke. A deeper understanding of the process of re-engagement in personally valued activities would be helpful to those designing interventions to address participation post-stroke.
Method: Six community-dwelling individuals recovering from a first stroke were interviewed at 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months post-stroke. A grounded theory approach was used to construct a substantive theory of re-engagement in valued activities during this period.
Results: Two core concepts, social connection and being in charge were identified. Both led to activity engagement and risk taking to test abilities. These led to lowering of current expectations and activity adaptation which supported hope for recovery and further testing. Alternatively, difficulties perceived to be related to ageing led to disengagement.
Conclusions: Rehabilitation practice that addresses and supports autonomy, social connection, risk taking, adaptation and hope among stroke survivors may help individuals regain personally valued activities post-stroke.