Optimizing Stroke Family Caregiver Support Across the Care Continuum by Improving the Timing of Intervention Delivery

Summary

About 50% of stroke survivors have limitations in their activities of daily living on return to the community. Family caregivers provide invaluable support to these individuals during their recovery and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, there is no standard clinical practice to prepare caregivers for this role and, as a result, many experience stress and poor health that can compromise stroke survivor recovery and threaten the sustainability of the care needed to thrive in their home. To address this gap, the investigators have developed the Timing it Right Stroke Family Support Program that aims to meet the evolving needs of caregivers. The objective of this multi-province randomized controlled trial is to determine if this program delivered across the stroke care continuum improves caregivers' sense of being supported and emotional well-being. Ultimately this program could be used by stroke care programs from across Canada.

Conditions

• Stroke
• Caregiver Social Support
• Caregiver Mental Health
• Caregiver Sense of Control Over Life
• Caregiver Participation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Timing it Right Stroke Family Support Person Intervention

Intervention delivered by a stroke support person (SSP) in-person during acute care \& by telephone during inpatient rehabilitation and community discharge. SSP provides support, information \& guidance and gives caregivers Stroke Family Support guide as a resource. SSP will have 1 contact with the caregiver during acute care and a 2nd contact during the last week of inpatient acute or rehabilitation care. The 1st contact while the caregiver is at home will occur 2-3 weeks after the stroke survivor has been discharged from inpatient care and then every four weeks until the caregiver passes the marker question. SSP will then encourage caregiver to contact them if they have any specific questions. The SSP will make one final contact about 8 weeks later

BEHAVIORAL

Self-directed program

Participants in this arm of the trial will have family caregivers self-direct their use of the Timing it Right Stroke Family Support guide. The research assistant will instruct the caregivers how to self-manage their support needs by providing instruction on how to use the guide, which has an additional section regarding self-management. Caregivers will also be instructed that the guide is organized according to the phases of a stroke survivors' recovery. They will be instructed to review the information in each chapter as it becomes relevant to their current situation

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

  collaborator OTHER

• University Health Network, Toronto

  collaborator OTHER

• Foothills Medical Centre

  collaborator OTHER

• Pembroke Regional Hospital

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• South Shore District Health Authority

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Champlain Region Sroke Centre

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Ottawa

  collaborator OTHER

• Dalhousie University

  collaborator OTHER

• Canadian Stroke Strategy

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Toronto Rehabilitation Institute

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Toronto

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jill Cameron, PhD · University of Toronto

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2009-09-30

Primary Completion

2013-10-31

Completion

2013-12-31

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations