Background: Informal caregivers (i.e., individuals who provide unpaid care to a family member and/or friend) have a significant role in supporting the recovery and wellbeing of stroke survivors. To ensure adequate and effective support, caregivers must also attend to their health and wellbeing. Therefore, research is needed to understand the experiences of informal stroke caregivers to better support their wellbeing and inform intervention development.

Objective: To understand the experiences of informal stroke caregivers on the impact of caring on caregiver health and wellbeing, and to make recommendations to inform the development of a program to better support caregivers.

Methods: A mixed-methods convergent design was used to understand caregiver experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 informal stroke caregivers in Sydney, Australia, and data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The Occupational Gaps Questionnaire was also administered to participants to explore activity incongruence.

Results: All participants identified occupational gaps (range 7-15). Three major themes were identified from interviews: Complexities of caring, Looking after yourself, and Life changes with caring. All caregivers discussed the impact of caregiving on their identity and ability to participate in meaningful activities. Caregivers suggested the importance of developing coping strategies such as engaging in healthy behaviours and prioritising important activities. Participants identified the need for individualised support and education to assist with maintaining the caregiving role.

Conclusions: The caring role can significantly impact on caregiver identity and their ability to engage in meaningful activity. To further support caregivers, future interventions should consider tailored education and individual support.

Keywords: Caregiver; Mixed-methods; Program recommendations; Stroke rehabilitation; Wellbeing.

Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

背景： 非正式照护者（即为家庭成员和/或朋友提供无偿照护的个人）在支持中风幸存者的康复和福祉方面发挥着重要作用。为了确保充足的且有效的支持，照护者也必须关注自身的健康和福祉。因此，需要进行研究以了解非正式中风照护者的经验，以便更好地支持他们的福祉并为干预措施的发展提供信息。

目标： 理解非正式中风照护者在照护对自身健康和福祉的影响方面的经验，并提出建议以制定更好的方案来支持照护者。

方法： 使用混合方法收敛设计来了解照护者的经历。在澳大利亚悉尼与10名非正式中风照护者进行了半结构化访谈，数据通过归纳主题分析进行分析。还向参与者发放了职业差距问卷，以探索活动不一致。

结果： 所有参与者都确定了职业差距（范围为7-15）。从访谈中确定了三个主要主题：照护的复杂性、自我照顾和因照护而产生的生活变化。所有照护者都讨论了照护对他们的身份以及参与有意义活动的能力的影响。照护者建议开发应对策略，如进行健康行为并优先考虑重要活动的重要性。参与者认为需要个性化的支持和教育来帮助维持照护者的角色。

结论： 照护角色会对照护者的身份及其参与有意义活动的能力产生重大影响。为了进一步支持照护者，未来的干预措施应考虑量身定制的教育和个人支持。

关键词： 照护者；混合方法；方案建议；中风康复；福祉。