What does real-world walking mean to people with stroke? An interpretive descriptive study.

Purpose: Understanding personal experiences of real-world walking for stroke survivors could assist clinicians to tailor interventions to their clients' specific needs. We explored the research questions: "What does real-world walking mean to people after stroke and how do they think it can be better?"

Method: Using an Interpretive Descriptive methodology, we purposively sampled eight stroke survivors who reported difficulty walking in the real-world. We sought diversity on key participant characteristics.

Support workers' experiences of work stress in long-term care settings: a qualitative study.

: Support-workers' performance and well-being are challenged by increasingly high workloads and poor working conditions, leading to high levels of occupational stress. : To explore the experiences of work stress for support-workers in New Zealand residential facilities. : An Interpretive Descriptive study.

Engaging people experiencing communication disability in stroke rehabilitation: a qualitative study.

Background: Engagement is commonly considered important in stroke rehabilitation, with some arguing it is essential for positive patient outcomes. An emerging body of research indicates the practitioner influences engagement through their ways of relating, communicating and working with the patient. People experiencing communication disability may face particular challenges with engagement as a practitioner's communication and interactional patterns may limit their ability to engage.

Development of a toolkit to enhance care processes for people with a long-term neurological condition: a qualitative descriptive study.

Objective: To (A) explore perspectives of people with a long-term neurological condition, and of their family, clinicians and other stakeholders on three key processes: two-way communication, self-management and coordination of long-term care; and (B) use these data to develop a 'Living Well Toolkit', a structural support aiming to enhance the quality of these care processes.

Design: This qualitative descriptive study drew on the principles of participatory research. Data from interviews and focus groups with participants (n=25) recruited from five hospital, rehabilitation and community settings in New Zealand were analysed using conventional content analysis.

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: internal validity and reliability for New Zealand preschoolers.

Objectives: This observational study examines the internal construct validity, internal consistency and cross-informant reliability of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a New Zealand preschool population across four ethnicity strata (New Zealand European, Māori, Pasifika, Asian).

Design: Rasch analysis was employed to examine internal validity on a subsample of 1000 children. Internal consistency (n=29 075) and cross-informant reliability (n=17 006) were examined using correlations, intraclass correlation coefficients and Cronbach's alpha on the sample available for such analyses.

Recovery and adaptation after traumatic brain injury in New Zealand: Longitudinal qualitative findings over the first two years.

Knowledge about the impacts of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and aspects that influence recovery and adaptation are key to understanding how best to provide appropriate services. Whilst injury experiences have been documented, factors that help or hinder recovery and adaptation over time and across injury severities remain unclear. We present overarching findings addressing these matters in a large longitudinal qualitative study of recovery and adaptation following TBI.

Co-constructing engagement in stroke rehabilitation: a qualitative study exploring how practitioner engagement can influence patient engagement.

Objective: To explore how practitioner engagement and disengagement occurred, and how these may influence patient care and engagement.

Design: A qualitative study using the Voice Centred Relational Methodology. Data included interviews, focus groups and observations.

"It's just so bloody hard": recommendations for improving health interventions and maternity support services for disabled women.

Purpose: Little is known about the barriers and facilitators to pregnancy, birth and motherhood for disabled women within the New Zealand context. Our study explored this deficit with the aim of improving health care interventions and support for disabled mothers.

Methods: This paper reports on the third phase of a mixed-methods study.

Optimising qualitative longitudinal analysis: Insights from a study of traumatic brain injury recovery and adaptation.

Knowledge about aspects that influence recovery and adaptation in the postacute phase of disabling health events is key to understanding how best to provide appropriate rehabilitation and health services. Qualitative longitudinal research makes it possible to look for patterns, key time points and critical moments that could be vital for interventions and supports. However, strategies that support robust data management and analysis for longitudinal qualitative research in health-care are not well documented in the literature.

Cross-cultural acceptability and utility of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire: views of families.

Background: Screening children for behavioural difficulties requires the use of a tool that is culturally valid. We explored the cross-cultural acceptability and utility of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for pre-school children (aged 3-5) as perceived by families in New Zealand.

Methods: A qualitative interpretive descriptive study (focus groups and interviews) in which 65 participants from five key ethnic groups (New Zealand European, Māori, Pacific, Asian and other immigrant parents) took part.

Interventions to improve real-world walking after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of current interventions to improve real-world walking for people with stroke and specifically whether benefits are sustained.

Data Sources: EBSCO Megafile, AMED, Cochrane, Scopus, PEDRO, OTSeeker and Psychbite databases were searched to identify relevant studies.

Review Methods: Proximity searching with keywords such as ambulat*, walk*, gait, mobility*, activit* was used.

Measuring Neurobehavioral Functioning in People With Traumatic Brain Injury: Rasch Analysis of Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory.

Objective: To examine internal construct validity of the Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory (NFI) by applying Rasch analysis.

Setting: An outpatient rehabilitation program trial in New Zealand employing a goal-setting intervention in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Participants: One hundred eight people (mean age = 46 years; 73% male) between 6 months and 5 years post-TBI.

30-Year Trends in Stroke Rates and Outcome in Auckland, New Zealand (1981-2012): A Multi-Ethnic Population-Based Series of Studies.

Background: Insufficient data exist on population-based trends in morbidity and mortality to determine the success of prevention strategies and improvements in health care delivery in stroke. The aim of this study was to determine trends in incidence and outcome (1-year mortality, 28-day case-fatality) in relation to management and risk factors for stroke in the multi-ethnic population of Auckland, New Zealand (NZ) over 30-years.

Methods: Four stroke incidence population-based register studies were undertaken in adult residents (aged ≥15 years) of Auckland NZ in 1981-1982, 1991-1992, 2002-2003 and 2011-2012.

Choral singing therapy following stroke or Parkinson's disease: an exploration of participants' experiences.

Purpose: People with stroke or Parkinson's disease (PD) live with reduced mood, social participation and quality of life (QOL). Communication difficulties affect 90% of people with PD (dysarthria) and over 33% of people with stroke (aphasia). These consequences are disabling in many ways.

Traumatic brain injury within Pacific people of New Zealand.

Aims: Previous research has suggested there are ethnic disparities in the incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study aimed to: identify the incidence of TBI for Pacific people; describe the injury profile in this population; and determine if there were disparities in healthcare service use.

Methods: All TBI cases that occurred within a 1-year period in the Hamilton and Waikato regions of New Zealand were identified using multiple case ascertainment methods as part of a population-based incidence study.

Exploring researchers' experiences of working with people with acquired brain injury.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the challenges and positive experiences of researchers who work with people who have experienced an acquired brain injury and their families.

Methods: People who were currently or had previously worked as a researcher in the field of acquired brain injury (using either quantitative or qualitative methods) were invited to participate in a focus group or individual interview about their experiences. An expert reference group meeting was held to discuss strategies that could be implemented to enhance the researcher experience based on the interview data.

Frequency and impact of recurrent traumatic brain injury in a population-based sample.

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency, mechanism(s), and impact of recurrent traumatic brain injury (TBI) over a 1-year period. Population-based TBI incidence and 1-year outcomes study with embedded case-control analysis. All participants (adults and children) who experienced a recurrent TBI (more than one) in the 12 months after an index injury and matched controls who sustained one TBI within the same period were enrolled in a population-based TBI incidence and outcomes study.

A conceptual review of engagement in healthcare and rehabilitation.

Purpose: This review sought to develop an understanding of how engagement in healthcare has been conceptualized in the literature in order to inform future clinical practice and research in rehabilitation. A secondary purpose was to propose a working definition of engagement.

Methods: EBSCO and SCOPUS databases and reference lists were searched for papers that sought to understand or describe the concept of engagement in healthcare or reported the development of a measure of engagement in healthcare.

Establishing a person-centred framework of self-identity after traumatic brain injury: a grounded theory study to inform measure development.

Objective: To develop a theoretically sound, client-derived framework to underpin development of a measure reflecting the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on a person's self-identity.

Design: Grounded theory, based on transcription of audio recordings from focus group meetings with people who have experienced TBI, analysed with constant comparative methods.

Setting: 8 different urban and rural communities in New Zealand.

Exploring participant experiences of research after traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To explore peoples' perceptions and experiences of taking part in research following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and identify the factors that influence research participation.

Methods: A total of 30 people (15 who had participated in research following a TBI and 15 who had previously declined or not been offered the opportunity to take part), were asked about their perceptions and experiences of research in a semi-structured qualitative interview. Audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using the qualitative description approach.

Development of a new tool to evaluate work support needs and guide vocational rehabilitation: the work-ability support scale (WSS).

Purpose: This article outlines our overall approach, qualitative work, and pilot testing to develop a tool to facilitate identification of level of support needs and assist in planning for vocational rehabilitation interventions.

Methods: A set of foundation principles drawn from literature and previous critiques of work-ability assessment tools were used to guide a set of studies to develop a new tool. A review of the literature regarding factors that influence work-ability, qualitative interviews and focus groups with a range of stakeholders in the return-to-work process, and pilot testing in different settings were used to develop the Work-ability Support Scale (WSS) to a stage where it had face validity, usability and acceptability for a range of key stakeholders and was ready for further testing.

Capturing the stories behind the numbers: the Auckland Regional Community Stroke Study (ARCOS IV), a qualitative study.

Background: Qualitative data can add value and understanding to more traditional epidemiological studies. This study was designed to complement the quantitative data from the incidence study the Auckland Regional Community Stroke Study or ARCOS-IV by using qualitative methods to uncover the richer detail of life as a stroke survivor, thereby extending our understanding of the impact of stroke.

Aims: The aims of the study were to identify how the experience of recovery and adaptation changes over time after stroke; and to elicit the strategies people with stroke and their whānau/family use and find helpful in living life after stroke.