Stroke Survivors; Into the Wild
Research type
Research Study
Full title
'Into the Wild' - Identifying the main challenges to real-world function in young stroke survivors
IRAS ID
336105
Contact name
Hannah Jarvis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 9 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Stroke has devastating consequences for a survivors' physical, mental, and cognitive health. However, while cases of stroke continue to rise, there are still large gaps in knowledge in how to best design rehabilitation programmes for stroke survivors. This is most evident with research into younger stroke survivors who often have differing needs to their older counterparts particularly when it comes to their ability to return to work, complete activities of daily living and participate in social activities. There are no dedicated rehabilitation programmes for young stroke survivors and the limited research that has been carried out is generally specific to clinical scenarios that do not replicate the challenges to walking in real-world environments. The overarching aim of this project is to identify and understand the challenges young stroke survivors face when navigating the "real-world". To achieve this, we will firstly conduct a series of simple indoor walking tests, such as walking speed. We will then compare these findings with actual performance of the survivors in a "real-world" situation (e.g., navigating in busy areas and crossing roads) while recording walking metrics and eye-movement behaviour to determine any links between perceived and actual challenges. These findings will provide a detailed understanding of the problems with movement control and decision making in stroke survivors. This will provide a solid basis for further research to assist with the design of rehabilitation program(s) for young stroke survivors that target "real-world" challenges. In the first study of its kind, this project will be ground-breaking in linking the challenges of the "real-world" described by young survivors with their actual abilities in "real- world" environments. By making these links rehabilitation could begin to be optimised in a way that targets more than just physical function but to actively ensure it has a true impact on everyday life.
Summary of Results
Lay End of Study Summary - Into the wild”: Identifying the main challenges to real-world function in young stroke survivors The CI name is Dr Hannah Jarvis and the lead researcher was Mr Daniel Allen from Lancaster University. Funding was secured from Sir Halley Stewart trust.
Our research study aimed to understand how an individual who has had a stroke walks, and what could be the reasons for why people may have difficulty walking indoors and outdoors after having a stroke. If we can better understand how a stroke affects how we are able to walk outside compared to indoors we can develop better rehabilitation programmes to enable stroke survivors be more active and return to work.
We are very grateful to the stroke survivors and their families that took part in this study from two local charities between April 2024 to October 2024. In total 54 people took part, and we collected a range of data from videoing how stroke survivors walk outdoors and asked stroke survivors and their carers for their thoughts and feelings about walking outdoors and what the main challenges were when walking in urban and rural routes around Lancaster University campus.
The key findings from this study almost half of stroke survivors in our study stated that they either did not walk outdoors or that they only walked outdoors 1-2 times per week after their stroke. The most common reason for this is that they lacked the confidence both physically and psychologically to walk outdoors or that they lacked the facilities to make this a more common occurrence.
However, 85% of stroke survivors stated that they see walking outdoors as a major part of their post-stroke recovery, with a further 62% of these stating that they relied on their carers or spouses being with them to be able to walk outdoors. Nearly all stroke survivors stated that their received very little support on how to cope with walking outdoors after a stroke from health care professionals and we want to conduct future research to develop guidelines to help stroke survivors be able to walk outdoors.REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
24/SS/0024
Date of REC Opinion
19 Apr 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion