The Development of a Care Model for Stroke

Background: Stroke is a major cause of death, and also of threatened and reduced health, and dependence on support after the acute phase. Increase in the understanding of neurological recovery after a stroke has led to new treatment strategies, in which the physical environment and rehabilitation are considered to be equal in importance to the medical treatment. It is crucial that the whole stroke team is involved in assessing, planning, and evaluating the care provided. Aim: Presentation of the variables on which to base the development of a general model of care for stroke. Method: Search of the electronic databases Medline and Cinahl for a review of the relevant international literature up to 2010, and selection of books, articles and studies from libraries. Results: The key variables on which to base the development of a model of stroke care are: Care planning, team culture, care culture, professional knowledge, the quality of space, observation and assessment, patient participation and interdisciplinary professional teamwork. Conclusions: The resulting model has the advantage over other conceptual models of presenting stroke care as a complex system, with many feedback relationships between the key variables for care. The development of this model, with the contribution of the current literature will be followed by testing in practice and will facilitate improvement in stroke care and further refinement of the variables included in the model of care.

Category: Volume 51, N 1
Hits: 573 Hits
Created Date: 15-03-2012
Authors: Theodosios Stavrianopoulos , Ourania Gourvelou , Maria Papadimitriou