Understanding working relationships and stroke recovery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How does the working relationship between therapist and stroke survivor affect stroke recovery?
IRAS ID
313138
Contact name
Audrey Bowen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 31 days
Research summary
Support for self-management in community stroke services could be improved. Forming a patient-provider relationship, or working relationship, is one of five core self-management skills. In stroke rehabilitation the relationship between stroke survivor and healthcare professional is important for increasing engagement and motivation. It also has the potential to influence how ready someone is to make changes towards their health. In community stroke rehabilitation this working relationship is not well understood. We know even less about how it affects self-management.
This Stroke Association funded study will use qualitative semi-structured interviews with around 30 stroke survivors and 30 community-based healthcare professionals to:
1. Understand how working relationships are developed, maintained, and repaired in the community.
2. Identify core relationship factors that are thought to help or hinder self-management.
3. Identify barriers and enablers to a) self-management and b) using working relationships to support self-management.The researcher will recruit from four community stroke teams and community stroke groups in Greater Manchester, and from Twitter. Participants will be asked to provide their consent to take part in the research and some basic information, such as their name, age, details of their stroke or their profession. They will then take part in an interview, lasting around 60 minutes, that will be audio or video recorded. Data analysis will start after the first participant interview and shape further data collection. The analysis will focus on the views of the participants and their experiences. It will also explore similarities and differences between the views of stroke survivors and healthcare professionals.
A follow-up study will use these results to expand the findings and look at which relationship factors are most and least helpful for self-management. This will benefit current and future stroke survivors by providing recommendations to help improve support for self-management in the community.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
22/NS/0119
Date of REC Opinion
12 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion