Longer-term support for stroke survivors and their carers
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An evaluation of a service improvement initiative to improve longer-term support to stroke survivors and their carers (LoTS-2-Care)
IRAS ID
168872
Contact name
Anne Forster
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The proposed study is part of an NIHR funded five year programme grant which seeks to develop and evaluate key aspects of a replicable system of longer term service delivery 'care strategy' for stroke survivors and their families. We have used a technique called intervention mapping to develop a strategy based upon the needs of stroke survivors and what helped and hindered them to address these needs. The strategy has also been informed by our knowledge of the capacity of current longer term stroke services.
The purpose of the present study is to evaluate and refine this strategy in three longer term stroke services. The proposed study involves five interlinked components:
1) Action Research: a service improvement approach to engage staff, stroke survivors and carers in a cyclical process to preliminarily test and refine the care strategy.
2) Outcome Measures: Stroke survivor and carer self-completed
questionnaires will be collected to assess the usefulness of potential outcome measures ahead of the planned feasibility trial.
3) Semistructured
Interviews: Interviews will be completed with a sample of stroke survivors and their carers to obtain feedback on the intervention.
4) Expert Panel: The suitability and accessibility of current psychology services to meet the needs of stroke survivors
will be reviewed by an expert panel using case studies from the pilot sites.
5) Expert Focus Groups: At the end of the pilot study, expert focus groups (consisting of staff from the centres and national experts) will be held to draw together the lessons and experiences learnt through this pilot study.This study will allow our unique longer term care strategy to be developed in practice and made suitable for use in different models of stroke service amongst survivors and carers with diverse needs. The next step will then be to test the refined strategy in a large feasibility trial.
The purpose of this study is to observe a service improvement process which will be developed by a group of staff who
will meet regularly and provide a basis to practically test out the care strategy. The strategy will be developed in practice
and made suitable for use in different models of stroke service amongst survivors and carers with diverse needs.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/YH/1306
Date of REC Opinion
30 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion