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In-Patient Education Promotes Positive Lifestyle, Improves Quality Of Life After Stroke: Presented at NASM

By Lynn Haley
Special to DG News

SAN DIEGO, CA -- August 17, 2001 -- Positive lifestyle changes in patients who have suffered a stroke can be achieved through better in-patient education, according to researchers from St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Unites States.

Their findings were presented at the 2001 North American Stroke Meeting held here August 15th-18th.

Researchers studied 33 stroke patients who were admitted to the hospital for stroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack). The in-patient stroke education program was introduced in November 2000 and inclusion in the program was based on an admitting diagnosis of stroke or TIA. Patients and their families were informed about the risk factors related to stroke and they and their families were subjected to a video about stroke, an assessment regarding the amount of knowledge regarding stroke, as well as a risk-factor analysis conducted by a stroke educator.

Patients were also questioned regarding their willingness to make the appropriate lifestyle changes to prevent further strokes such as quitting smoking and adhering to their hypertension medication regimen. Patients were given an information packet and were to receive telephone follow-up four times over a one-year period.

Investigators found that of the 33 patients admitted to the programme, only two were unwilling to make the necessary lifestyle changes in order to avoid further events. Sixteen patients had received at least one follow-up call at time of publication, and of these patients, 12 (75 percent) reported having made the necessary changes to their lifestyle to reduce the risk factors for stroke.

They told researchers they were now taking their hypertension medication as prescribed, had quit smoking, lost weight, begun exercising, and improved their diet. All stated that their quality of life had improved since suffering the stroke or TIA.

From their early data, researchers concluded that a personalized in-patient stroke education programme offered to patients and their families following a stroke or TIA may effect positive lifestyle changes that will help reduce the likelihood of future incidents, and improve the quality of life of those affected.

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