BACKGROUND Family caregivers of aged stroke survivors face challenging difficulties such as the lack of support and the knowledge and skills to practice home care. These aspects negatively influence the caregivers' burden and quality of life, the use of health services, and hospital readmissions of the stroke survivor. The aim of this research is to describe an educational intervention focused ...

PURPOSE To explore the experiences of patients and carers involved in patient and public involvement (PPI) activities for stroke research. METHODS Semi-structured interviews conducted with stroke survivors and carers (n = 11) were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS Four key themes emerged: impact of PPI on the individual and the research process, credibility and expertise, level of i...

In 2003, 700,000 persons in the United States suffered a cerebral vascular accident (CVA), or stroke, with the total number of survivors estimated at 5.5 million. The total cost for rehabilitation and lost revenue in 2006 was 57.9 billion (Thom, Haase et al. 2006). Stroke commonly causes significant residual physical, cognitive, and psychological impairment (Gresham 1990). As the geriatric popu...

AIMS: To investigate self-discrepancies in stroke survivors and explore associations between discrepancies and distress, drawing on Higgins’s (1987) Self-Discrepancy Theory. More specifically, investigate if stroke survivors reported a change in their sense of self following stroke, if this change was related to their reported anxiety and depression, and if this relationship was mediated by the...

Background and Purpose—Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) data are scarce from unselected populations. The aims were to assess HRQoL at 2 years poststroke, to identify determinants of HRQoL in stroke survivors, and to identify predictors at stroke onset of subsequent HRQoL. Methods—All first-ever cases of stroke in a population of 306 631 over a 1-year period were assessed. Stroke severity,...

OBJECTIVE Recent economic and health policy changes may have affected the ability of chronically ill patients to afford their medications. We assessed changes in cost-related nonadherence to medication (CRN) before and after the implementation of Medicare Part D in 2006. METHODS We used data from the National Health Interview Survey, an annual, population-based survey of community-dwelling, n...

Stroke survivors without cerebellar involvement retain the ability to adapt to the split-belt treadmill; however it has been suggested that their rate of adaptation may be slowed compared to those who are neurologically intact. Depending on limb placement, the split-belt treadmill can be configured to either exaggerate baseline asymmetry, or reduce it, which may affect the behavior of adaptatio...

Stroke affects many aspects of the lives of stroke survivors and their family caregivers. Supporting long-term recovery and rehabilitation are necessary to help stroke survivors adapt to living with the effects of stroke and to help family members adapt to the caregiving role. During recovery and rehabilitation, many elements of the health care continuum are utilized, including emergency respon...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Stroke mortality in the United States has declined since 1900. Primary prevention of stroke incidence did not decline and may have increased during the 1980s, whereas survival after stroke improved substantially during the 1970s and 1980s. The effect of these trends on the prevalence and number of stroke survivors in the United States has not been determined. METHODS Th...

BACKGROUND Depression and anxiety are common in stroke survivors as well as their family caregivers. However, it is not known whether each person's emotional distress contributes to their partner's quality of life (QOL). OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the effect of depression and anxiety on QOL in stroke survivor-caregiver dyads using dyadic analysis technique - the Actor-Partner Inter...