Developing an intervention to improve talking about recovery v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing an intervention to improve talking about recovery on the stroke unit: A joint approach
IRAS ID
289386
Contact name
Louisa-Jane Burton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 0 days
Research summary
High levels of dissatisfaction with information provision are commonly reported by stroke survivors and their families, particularly with information provided about recovery outlook, including how much recovery might take place, when it might be expected, and how they could facilitate the process. Provision of information about recovery often falls to members of the multidisciplinary team beyond doctors, e.g. therapists, however research demonstrates that they find these conversations difficult. They describe challenges in trying to present information in ways that allow the patient to maintain hope and thus continue to engage in rehabilitation, whilst being realistic about their outlook. Healthcare professionals describe these conversations as stressful, and report lacking confidence and support.
In previous work, we developed an understanding of the experiences of stroke survivors, their families and healthcare professionals in talking about recovery, using qualitative methods and systematically reviewing the literature. This study aims to utilise the information collected, and bring together members of these stakeholder groups to develop an intervention to enable stroke unit staff to talk about recovery more effectively with stroke survivors and their families.
We will use a method known as 'co-production', where a group of people (stroke survivors, family members and healthcare professionals) will work together in a structured and facilitated way. This work will take place during a series of up to six, two hour-long meetings, over a six month period. Group members will be presented the findings of our previous studies in an accessible way and will discuss ideas for intervention content ('what we want to happen') and plan implementation ('how we will deliver this'). This will include developing resources to accompany the intervention, e.g. standardised documentation. Overall, the project will develop an evidenced-based and stakeholder-informed intervention to support stroke unit staff to discuss recovery more effectively with stroke survivors and their families.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SW/0169
Date of REC Opinion
25 Nov 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion