Description of Research
Goal-setting during stroke rehabilitation is a way of helping patients and their therapy team identify things to work towards during the patient’s rehabilitation, such as learning to walk again.
Despite goal-setting being widely used and recommended in clinical guidelines for stroke, evidence suggests it is often poorly carried out, particularly in the hospital setting. For example, patients are often not involved in the goal-setting process and are therefore unaware of the goals that have been set for them. There is no specific tool to assist therapists and patients in goal-setting together.
Aim of the research
To create a tool that will help goal-setting to be used properly in stroke rehabilitation units.
What will happen during the research?
Discussion groups will be held with therapists, patients and their families to investigate how goal-setting can be used effectively during hospital rehabilitation. It is hoped that the discussion groups will identify ways to help a new goal-setting tool to be accepted into practice. A further discussion group will then be used to develop a goal-setting tool that should be ready to be used. The tool will be trialled by therapists with stroke patients to see if it is feasible to deliver and acceptable for them to use. Both the therapists and the patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire about different aspects of the tool to ensure it is fit for purpose. The goal-setting documentation in the patient case notes will also be used to assess how the tool has been used.
Expected outcomes
Made in collaboration with patients and staff, a goal-setting tool should be produced which is helpful to use on stroke rehabilitation units.