Journeys and experiences of life after tracheostomy: a case study of patients, their kin/friends and health care professionals.
type: CreativeWork
description: Advances in critical care mean more people than previously reported are surviving critical care events such as stroke with the support of a tracheostomy. Research to date predominantly focuses on the clinical rationale for tracheostomy insertion or the technical and clinical problems associated with removal. Little research has looked at the longer-term impact of temporary tracheostomy experiences on patient lives. Additionally, most literature on this group comes from the USA and Asia: little is known about UK populations in respect to prevalence, demographics, outcomes, experiences or quality of life. The aim of this study was to explore the journeys and experiences of people after tracheostomy and stroke/other critical illness residing in the UK, examining both clinical data and outcomes, as well as patient/kin/friend/healthcare professionals' experiences and perceptions, to determine who these people are (the population), what they experience and what matters to them. This was a mixed methods case study underpinned by pragmatism. It involved three sources of data: 1) A systematic literature review and synthesis of qualitative study findings pertaining to people with tracheostomy after a critical illness, and their kin/friends; 2) A cross-sectional descriptive study, secondary analysis of an existing UK dataset of people with stroke and tracheostomy (n=211); 3) A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews for data collection (n=18). Participants were survivors of stroke and/or acute critical illness/event who had required a tracheostomy (n=7) (between 1 and 4 years after critical incident/tracheostomy insertion), connected kin/friends (n=6) and primary care health care professionals (n=6). Initial analysis was inductive. Data were then considered deductively using two recent theories of critical illness survivorship as frameworks for analysis. This case study presents a patient group vulnerable to iatrogenic illness/events and ongoing chronic health. The …
abstract: Advances in critical care mean more people than previously reported are surviving critical care events such as stroke with the support of a tracheostomy. Research to date predominantly focuses on the clinical rationale for tracheostomy insertion or the technical and clinical problems associated with removal. Little research has looked at the longer-term impact of temporary tracheostomy experiences on patient lives. Additionally, most literature on this group comes from the USA and Asia: little is known about UK populations in respect to prevalence, demographics, outcomes, experiences or quality of life. The aim of this study was to explore the journeys and experiences of people after tracheostomy and stroke/other critical illness residing in the UK, examining both clinical data and outcomes, as well as patient/kin/friend/healthcare professionals' experiences and perceptions, to determine who these people are (the population), what they experience and what matters to them. This was a mixed methods case study underpinned by pragmatism. It involved three sources of data: 1) A systematic literature review and synthesis of qualitative study findings pertaining to people with tracheostomy after a critical illness, and their kin/friends; 2) A cross-sectional descriptive study, secondary analysis of an existing UK dataset of people with stroke and tracheostomy (n=211); 3) A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews for data collection (n=18). Participants were survivors of stroke and/or acute critical illness/event who had required a tracheostomy (n=7) (between 1 and 4 years after critical incident/tracheostomy insertion), connected kin/friends (n=6) and primary care health care professionals (n=6). Initial analysis was inductive. Data were then considered deductively using two recent theories of critical illness survivorship as frameworks for analysis. This case study presents a patient group vulnerable to iatrogenic illness/events and ongoing chronic health. The …
author: Galt, Sally Patricia
language: en
keywords: Tracheostomy, Stroke, Critical illness, Patient experience, Patient perspectives, Lived experience, Health care professionals, Health care staff, Health care teams, UK
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:10:12Z
provider: Robert Gordon University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Robert Gordon University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.48526/rgu-wt-2988658