Support for Stroke Survivors in Care Homes
Please note that this is not an active project. However, the Greater Manchester Stroke Assessement Tool (GM-SAT) resources have been reviewed in view of learning from this project and can be accessed via this page.
What did we do?
The Greater Manchester Stroke Assessment Tool (GM-SAT) supports delivery of six month stroke reviews. You can read more about how the GM-SAT was developed, evaluated and implemented on the project page here.
The GM-SAT was designed for use in the community, but we learned that it needed some more development for use with stroke survivors that live in care homes. This project adapted the toolkit and evaluated its value, acceptability and feasibility in care home settings.
Why is it important?
Post-stroke reviews help ensure that stroke survivors and their families continue to feel supported after stroke. Stroke is a long term condition and survivors are likely to experience changes in their needs over time, so reviews provide the chance to access any advice, support, information and rehabilitation that may be needed.
The National Clinical Guideline for Stroke recommends that all stroke survivors should be offered a review at six months and 1 year after the stroke, and annually thereafter.
Unfortunately, only about a third of stroke survivors are offered a review (according to the 2017 Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme) and this proportion can be even lower for stroke survivors living in care homes. CLAHRC GM wanted to ensure that the GM-SAT worked well in care homes and we also wanted to explore the barriers and facilitators to delivering reviews to this population in practice.
How did we do it?
We worked in partnership with stroke professionals from across Greater Manchester who have experience of delivering GM-SAT in care homes to make the tool appropriate for use in this setting. A mixed-methods evaluation study then explored the value, acceptability and feasibility of delivery of a modified GM-SAT in this setting.
Who did we work with?
This work was undertaken in partnership with, and funded by, the Stroke Association. Other organisations involved include Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
What did we find?
We found that the modified GM-SAT was an acceptable and valuable tool for supporting reviews in care homes. These reviews can be successfully delivered by professionals from a variety of clinical and non-clinical backgrounds; as long as they have stroke-specific knowledge and training.
We also found several barriers and facilitators to the feasibility of delivering reviews in these settings. More locally-specific resource and commissioning is required to support implementation of reviews: from identifying all stroke survivors due a review through to ensuring robust mechanisms for communicating and following up review outcomes.
In addition, the findings from this work have led to an update of the full component GM-SAT toolkit. This was launched in December 2018 and are freely available for download; please see this page for more information.
More information
For further information please contact Alison Littlewood (Programme Manager) or Professor Audrey Bowen (Academic Lead).