Within eastern Asia, stroke is a major cause of death and disability, and the burden of stroke in this region is predicted to increase. The incidence of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke in eastern Asia is higher than in Europe and America, and a greater proportion of strokes are due to cerebral haemorrhage, for which the outcome is poor. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Chinese populations are associated with a higher incidence of severe intracranial carotid disease than Caucasian populations. High economic cost is frequent, as there is a great need for medical care in the initial phase after stroke as well as a need for long-term assistance in the late phase. Given these issues, advance in stroke management is strongly desirable. / Despite recent advances in acute stroke care, there is still lacking powerful and widely applicable routine drug therapies to improve the outcome after stroke. None of the neuroprotective agents has ever been found to be effective in human trials despite promising animal data. Thrombolytic therapy by administering tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is just eligible for a certain group of patients with hyperacute ischaemic stroke because of the very restricted therapeutic window and hampering side effect of haemorrhage. Perhaps the most significant advance in stroke management is not by pharmacotherapy, but rather concerns the process or system of care for stroke patients. / This research consists of two main parts: Part A is a qualitative case study, which, within a phenomenology framework, explores the implementation issues and managerial influence in a public hospital on the establishment of the stroke unit. Whilst most of the studies on stroke units deal with the efficiency and outcomes of stroke units, exploration of the implementation issues has not been described in the literature. This qualitative case study serves to explore the issues. / Part B is a prospective study by comparative method. Comparing stroke patients was performed in the trial by requiring the study subjects to meet the similar inclusion criteria- age, sex, premorbid functional status (Barthel index 90) and stroke score (NIHSS 3). Consequently, from April 2001 to April 2002, one hundred and eighty-eight patients from the stroke unit treated group and one hundred and seventy-seven patients from the general ward treated group were matched. The study was performed in view of the outcome of stroke unit care in a Chinese population has not been described in the literature, despite different patterns of stroke between Chinese and Caucasians. This part also explores the financial perspective of the stroke unit in a local setting, which is a part of the evaluation programme on cost effectiveness. Economic assessment has become an integral part of policy decision nowadays. Increasingly this trend is extending to medical decision making in day-to-day patient-provider interactions, and is important in the research-practice gap. The reasons for measuring the benefits and outcome include the need to inform professional practice, for example, with appraisal, revalidation and performance management. / In the implementation of the stroke unit, the study took into consideration the following focal areas: Understanding human benefits in social environment; needs assessment by the number of the previous hospitalizations of stroke patients; assessment of client functioning; practice effectiveness evaluation; supportive environment. This research has served to fill the gap in the literature by providing evaluations on a number of perspectives of a stroke unit- outcome, finance and implementation issues, which are the interrelated key issues of management. The highest priority for providers of a stroke service in a Chinese or Asian population must be to establish a stroke unit with a multidisciplinary team that delivers organized stroke care. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (MD.) - University of Glasgow, 2009. / MD. thesis submitted to Division of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2009. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

Thesis (MD.) - University of Glasgow, 2007. / MD. thesis submitted to the Division of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Glasgow, 2007. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

Afhandling--Copenhagen. / Summary in Danish. Bibliography: p. [182]-188.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-136).

Thesis (M. Med. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-70).

Afhandling--Copenhagen. / Summary in Danish. Bibliography: p. [182]-188.

Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-70). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A & M University, 2004. / "Major Subject: Counseling Psychology." Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis M. A. (Psychology) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / The CVA patients normally do not know what to expect and often get confused by the change of behaviour that may result. This is because little is done on informing them of the risk factors, the stigma attached to CVAs, and also some strategies on how to deal with all the experiences CVAs bring along with them. The main aim of this study was to inquire more about the lived experiences of people with cerebrovascular accidents in Ga-Dikgale, Limpopo Province. Ten people living with CVAs’ in Ga-Dikgale village, in the Capricorn district, were selected and interviewed. The interviews were audio-taped, and later transcribed and translated. The original data was reduced and interrogated to identify some emerging meaning units which further led to emergence of themes. Phenomenology and the health belief model were chosen as the relevant lenses with which the study could be viewed. Phenomenology helps understand the individual from his or her point of view while the health belief model describes how a person’s belief towards his or her health status can affect their healing process, and these are lens with which to view this study. Snowball and purposive sampling methods were used for sampling participants and data was collected through semi-structured face- to-face interviews. IPA was used for analysing collected data in this study. Most participants in this study were found to still believe that CVAs are a result of witchcraft, while ignoring the main risk factors such as hypertension, high blood pressure and diabetes, to mention a few. The study also study revealed the daily experiences of living with CVAs. It is not an easy thing for others as they have to endure a lot of pain and also the embarrassment of being unable to control their bodies and emotions. / National Research Foundation (NRF)