A Biopsychosocial Intervention for Stroke Carers (BISC): development and description of the intervention.

Objective: Family members of stroke survivors are often not supported for their caring role, with many reporting adjustment difficulties. This paper describes the development and content of a group-based intervention for informal carers of stroke survivors.

Method: The intervention is based on the theoretical foundation of the biopsychosocial model with the aim to understand and address the physical, psychological and social factors of caring for stroke survivors.

Biopsychosocial intervention for stroke carers (BISC): results of a feasibility randomised controlled trial and nested qualitative interview study.

Objective: To determine the feasibility of recruiting to and delivering a biopsychosocial intervention for carers of stroke survivors.

Design: Feasibility randomised controlled study with nested qualitative interview study.

Setting: The intervention was delivered in the community in either a group or one-to-one format.

Biopsychosocial Intervention for Stroke Carers (BISC): protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial (RCT).

Introduction: Reducing length of hospital stay for stroke survivors often creates a shift in the responsibility of care towards informal carers. Adjustment to the caregiving process is experienced by many carers as overwhelming, complex and demanding and can have a detrimental impact on mental and physical health and well-being. National policy guidelines recommend that carers' needs are considered and addressed; despite this, few interventions have been developed and empirically evaluated.

Is Stroke Early Supported Discharge still effective in practice? A prospective comparative study.

Objective: Randomised controlled trials have shown the benefits of Early Supported Discharge (ESD) of stroke survivors. Our aim was to evaluate whether ESD is still beneficial when operating in the complex context of frontline healthcare provision.

Design: We conducted a cohort study with quasi experimental design.

Occupational therapy for care home residents with stroke.

Background: Stroke is a worldwide problem and is a leading cause of adult disability, resulting in dependency in activities of daily living (ADL) for around half of stroke survivors. It is estimated that up to 25% of all care home residents in the USA and in the UK have had a stroke. Stroke survivors who reside in care homes are likely to be more physically and cognitively impaired and therefore more dependent than those able to remain in their own home.

A qualitative study exploring patients' and carers' experiences of Early Supported Discharge services after stroke.

Objective: To investigate patients' and carers' experiences of Early Supported Discharge services and inform future Early Supported Discharge service development and provision.

Design And Subjects: Semi-structured interviews were completed with 27 stroke patients and 15 carers in the Nottinghamshire region who met evidence-based Early Supported Discharge service eligibility criteria. Participants were either receiving Early Supported Discharge or conventional services.

The assessment of low mood in stroke patients with aphasia: reliability and validity of the 10-item Hospital version of the Stroke Aphasic Depression Questionnaire (SADQH-10).

Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of an observational screening measure of depressive symptoms (SADQH-10; 10-item Hospital version of the Stroke Aphasic Depression Questionnaire) for use in stroke patients with aphasia and to determine the convergent and divergent validity of the SADQH-10.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort.

Setting: Hospital and community.