Authors (including presenting author) :
Raymond LEUNG (1), Karin CHOW (1), TMH Stroke Nursing Team
Affiliation :
(1) Stroke Nursing Team, Acute Stroke Unit, Department of Medicine and Geriatrics, Tuen Mun Hospital
Introduction :
Stroke survivors discharging to community often encounter different problems because of stroke. Tuen Mun Hospital Stroke Nursing Team has been collaborating with Patient Resource Centre and non-government organization (NGO) since 2017 to establish post-stroke support group to promote early community re-integration. Facing social distancing policy due to COVID-19 outbreak since 2020, face-to-face interaction has been suspended. Acknowledging the importance of supporting stroke patients in amidst of the pandemic, an innovative solution of utilising online video meeting platform to conduct post-stroke support group has been implemented since March 2020. The virtual support group consist of 2 one-hour sessions every month. Session 1 focuses on stroke health webinar conducted by stroke nurses, and introduction of community resource by NGO, while session 2 focuses on skill and knowledge sharing among stroke survivors. Key themes of the project are providing a shared platform for stroke survivors to share their experience and addressing their health concerns before medical follow-ups.
Objectives :
1.Enhance self health management skill and knowledge of stroke survivors
2.Provide peer-to-peer support amidst COVID-19 pandemic
Methodology :
Data collection was conducted from November 2021 to November 2022 by TMH Stroke Nursing Team.
All patients admitting to TMH acute stroke unit were included and the service was introduced. Interested patients and caregiver were recruited
Participants’ knowledge, confidence in self health management, satisfaction to the service were assessed via online survey before and after intervention.
Result & Outcome :
527 episodes of tele-counselling for 197 stroke survivors and 36 caregivers were delivered from November 2021 to 2022.
Mean age of participants was 59.9 years old. Most participants experienced first-time stroke.
Participants’ knowledge improved by 3.2 points (p < 0.001) while self-management confidence improved by 5.6 points (p < 0.001).
Participants were satisfied with virtual meeting, with mean satisfactory score of 9.0. They reported virtual format provided versatility in obtaining health knowledge and grouped nature of the intervention promoted social interaction.
19 participants (8.2%) were identified having health issues during intervention and were followed up individually.
Virtual post-stroke discharge support group provides an effective solution to provide support to community-dwelling stroke survivors amidst the pandemic. Group nature of the intervention provides peer support to facilitate social interaction among stroke survivors. Despite relaxation of social distancing measures, the virtual support group remains a powerful instrument to provide timely and personalized support to stroke survivors.
