With the support of informal carers now recognised as a priority if people with significant needs are to live at home, Lesley Adcock examines the care given to an individual patient and her husband upon her discharge from hospital following a stroke injury.

Lesley Adcock BSc(Hons) Community Health, DN, RGN, District Nursing Sister, Hounslow & Spelthorne Community & Mental Health Trust.

Article accepted for publication April 1999.