Poster: ‘My Stroke Companion’: a collaborative approach to designing a personalised digital support programme for stroke survivors and their caregivers

This poster was presented at Med-tech World 2023. My Stroke Companion, co-created with UCLH, offers personalised advice and support for stroke survivors and their care givers as they navigate life after stroke.

Download the poster here

Abstract

‘My Stroke Companion’: a collaborative approach to designing a personalised digital support programme for stroke survivors and their caregivers

Dr Louis Stokes¹, Daisy Allington¹, Dr Alice Wood¹, Dr Arvind Chandratheva², Dr Rob Simister²

¹Cognitant Group Ltd, Oxford, UK, ²National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery Queen Square and UCLH, Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU), London, UK

 Background and Objective

Many stroke survivors lack a comprehensive understanding of their diagnosis, care plan or how to navigate life after stroke. Poor understanding may be associated with less engagement with care and treatment regimes, potentially increasing adverse health outcomes including mental health challenges, long-term disability, and stroke recurrence.

Although a wealth of information is available about stroke, it can be challenging to identify resources that are relevant, accessible, and reliable. ‘My Stroke Companion’, designed through ongoing collaboration with hospitals, charities, stroke survivors, and caregivers in the United Kingdom, is an accessible digital support platform. It provides personalised, local, and trustworthy information to stroke survivors and their families, helping them to understand and navigate life after stroke.

Setting and Method

Through engaging with groups including young stroke survivors, traditionally underserved ethnic groups, and those in rural locations, alongside multidisciplinary clinical teams, the first iteration of ‘My Stroke Companion’ was iteratively and collaboratively developed. Over an eight-week period, we piloted “prescription” of the platform to stroke survivors presenting to the University College Hospitals London (UCLH) Comprehensive Stroke Service. Patient and clinician acceptance was assessed through analysing platform engagement and questionnaire feedback.

Results

During the pilot phase, 127 unique users accessed ‘My Stroke Companion’, and spent an average of 14-minutes per session (compared with a 2-minute industry standard). Information about type of stroke was most viewed. Stroke survivors felt their understanding of their stroke and subsequent care plan increased after accessing the platform and clinicians provided favourable feedback, noting direct benefits to patient recovery.

Conclusions

Following a stroke, information should be accurate, tailored, and accessible. Pilot data from ‘My Stroke Companion’ suggests the benefits of, and appetite for, curated digital resources. Our approach to developing the platform demonstrates the value of collaborating with all relevant stakeholders when designing digital health solutions.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.