Illness in the Context of Older Age: The Case of Stroke

Abstract

Stroke is popularly conceived of as an illness which shatters lives. The discourse of shattered lives, articulated more generally within the sociological literature on chronic illness as ‘biographical disruption’, is examined with reference to the experience of a sample of predominantly elderly, working class people living in the East End of London. We begin by exploring the interviewees’ responses to the stroke as something which was ‘not that bad’, before going on to examine the place of the stroke within the context of these peoples’ lives. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which age may mediate illness experience.