Continuous e-rehab - Use of telemedicine in rehabilitation of stroke patients

Description

The project aims to explore the rehabilitation offer that patients who have suffered a stroke receive after treatment and the possibilities offered by telemedicine solutions to improve rehabilitation services.

The first part of the project consists of a follow-up study of stroke patients admitted to the stroke unit of the University Hospital of North Norway. The goal is to investigate the current follow-up offer and understand areas for potential improvement. Rehabilitation services and follow-up of stroke patients will be described on the basis of data collected from the stroke register, discharge letter, and a questionnaire.

The second part of the project consists of a clinical study, where the Norwegian basic test for aphasia will be validated for use via videoconferencing and compared to traditional face-to-face use. This study will be conducted in collaboration with the speech therapies at the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø.

Goals

The aim of this project is to investigate whether telemedicine solutions can improve rehabilitation services for patients who have suffered a stroke.

Method

The project consists of three subprojects:

Subproject I: mapping of rehabilitation services and follow-up of stroke patients. The rehabilitation offer that patients receive during the first three months after discharge will be explored through data collected from the stroke register at the University Hospital of North Norway as well as discharge letters. Data will be combined with a questionnaire about the rehabilitation offer that patients received after discharge. The results will be compared with the national recommendations for stroke treatment and individual recommendations given to the patient by the stroke unit.

Subproject IIa: Tele speech therapy. Test of feasibility of the Norwegian basic test for aphasia using videoconferencing. The study will recruit 24 patients.

Subproject IIb: Qualitative interview of patients and speech therapists. Interviews will be conducted right after the conduction of the test. The aim is to conduct approx. 10-12 interviews (2-3 interviews with speech therapists and 8-9 interviews with patients).