Strokes are a serious and sudden medical event that can impact anyone. The American Stroke Association reports that strokes are the 5th leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States (American Stroke Association, 2019). With a high prevalence amongst Americans, it is important to note that stroke survivors are at an increased risk of developing psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression (Hildebrand, 2015).
One factor that increases the devastating impact of a stroke is that individuals are prone to having short hospital stays lasting approximately five days (Reeves et al., 2017). With a shortened hospital stay it is common for psychological deficits to not be addressed and for individuals to be discharged home, to acute inpatient rehabilitation or to subacute inpatient rehabilitation.
This doctoral project aims to address the psychological deficits that can impact a person’s confidence and participation in their meaningful roles and routines (Andrew et al., 2018; Kessler et al., 2014; Taylor & Jones, 2017). The project is geared towards the development of a peer support group for stroke survivors within the acute inpatient rehabilitation setting. Research has found that peer support groups are helpful in addressing psychological disturbances such as depression and anxiety as well as providing individuals with the opportunity to learn and develop positive coping skills (Boger et al., 2015; Kessler et al., 2014; Harrison et al., 2017).
Peer support groups are low cost and effective interventions that will ease an individual’s transition from rehabilitation to home as well as decrease the number of readmission rates, therefore saving the hospital money (Andrew et al., 2018; Kessler et al., 2014; Muller et al., 2014; Ottenbacher et al., 2012). Peer support groups afford individuals the opportunity to develop positive coping strategies to decrease secondary psychological disturbances therefore increasing self-efficacy and engagement. By having the confidence to continue to participate in meaningful roles and routines, stroke survivors are able to actively engage and continue to progress towards recovery.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/38163 |
| Date | 29 September 2019 |
| Creators | Berke, Sara Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Duddy, Karen |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | Attribution 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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