The couple relationship when the female partner has an acquired physical disability

Abstract

‘Whereas the couple relationship is described to be the relationship which is typically the most impacted by disability, spousal support is presented to be the most important form of support following such. To date little is known about the exchange of support and the impact of an acquired physical disability on the couple relationship, especially when considering the perspectives of both partners. Taking a feminist, a resilience and a systemic perspective, this paper seeks to address these gaps by presenting the stories told by three heterosexual couples in whom the females sustained an acquired locomotor disability in the course of the relationship. Individual and joint semi-structured interviews were held with each participating couple. The aim was to systemically understand how the beliefs, ideas and attitudes of each partner mutually contributed to the resilience and maintenance of the couple unit over time, taking also into consideration the contextual factors which helped or hindered the couples in this process. Thematic narrative analysis of the stories told showed how coping post-disability was brought about by mutual and reciprocal circular patterns of interaction initiated and maintained within the couple relationship and influenced by the socio-cultural context. Whereas it was difficult to decipher which party had started off these processes, their occurrence over time limited the burden experienced by both parties because of the disability. The females in this study were empathic and endowed with a sense of gratitude whilst the males were caring and supportive. Both parties were determined to help each other in times of need and to survive the disability ordeal as a couple even if this entailed self sacrifice and adjustment. Such research presents novel insights about couples impacted by an acquired locomotor disability and the practices and interventions which practitioners, clinicians and policy makers can adopt in supporting couples following such’.