Going back to work after a stroke is an important goal for many- but may seem impossible. Yet, despite impairments, a return to professional work is possible. This session provides practical help on doing this.
Fatigue after stroke is common and debilitating. Yet despite much research on the topic, there are many unanswered questions about fatigue and how best to manage it. Stroke survivors often report that clinicians do not talk to them about fatigue- and some only learn much later that it is a symptom of stroke. This session will provide an overview of the topic and the important issues for both clinicians and stroke survivors.
We know that it is important that stroke survivors are active. This session will include a summary of the evidence base for physical activity, how therapists support stroke survivors to get and stay physically active, and a stroke survivor sharing their tips and experiences. We hope that the session will help to bust some common myths about physical activity and stroke, including that it’s not all about sweat and lycra!
The PARAS programme - physical activity routines after stroke – an evidence based supported self-management behaviour change programme designed to give heath care professionals the tools to help stroke survivors increase their physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour.
Dr Carina U Persson works at the Department of Occupational therapy and Physical Therapy at Sahlgrenska University Hospital (SU) in Gothenburg, Sweden and is clinically active at the stroke unit at SU/Östra.
She has worked as a physiotherapist and graduated with a PhD in Medicine and was appointed associate professor in Rehabilitation Medicine at GU in 2019. Carina is a member of the research group Rehabilitation Medicine, GU, and her research areas are within post-stroke rehabilitation and epidemiology. She is a board member of the Nordic Stroke Society, Stroke Centrum Väst Inspirationsforum and Neuro Section of Fysioterapeuterna.
Avril Drummond
Avril Drummond is Professor of Healthcare Research, and an occupational therapist, at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her main area of interest is stroke rehabilitation and she has undertaken large trials, studies and service evaluations.
She is a member of the Royal College of Physicians' Intercollegiate Working party for stroke, which produces the UK Stroke Clinical Guidelines. She is a former Chair of the UK Stroke Forum, she chaired the 'Life after stroke' domain for the Action Plan for Stroke in Europe and is a trustee of the UK Stroke Association.
Juliet Bouverie
Juliet Bouverie OBE is the Chief Executive of the Stroke Association. The organisation’s activities extend from funding stroke research, to providing services to stroke survivors and their families, influencing and campaigning for change, and educating and working to prevent strokes. There are 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK, yet stroke still remains the fourth single largest cause of death in the UK and second in the world.
Juliet co-chairs the Stroke Delivery Programme Board with NHS England and is a member of the NHS Assembly.
Kate Radford
Kate Radford is an Occupational Therapist and Professor of Rehabilitation Research, specialising in vocational rehabilitation (VR). Kate’s current research involves trials to determine the clinical and cost effectiveness of job retention interventions for stroke survivors, trauma survivors and people with inflammatory arthritis, studies to develop and evaluate VR interventions for people with multiple sclerosis and post Covid-19; and peer coaching and assistive technology interventions to promote self-management and participation following brain injury.
Kate leads the Centre for Rehabilitation and Ageing Research and the Doctoral Training Centre for Rehabilitation and Healthcare Research at the University of Nottingham.
Anners Lerdal
Anners Lerdal, RN, PhD, is Research Director at Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital in Oslo and Professor at the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway.
He is the Principal Investigator for the NORwegian FAtigue after STroke study (NORFAST) research project. He has published more than 20 articles on post-stroke fatigue and performed psychometric evaluations of several fatigue measures in different patient populations and in different countries.
Ruth Miller
Ruth is an experienced Careers Advisor Professional. She was National Head of Careers for BPP University, running teams in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds and providing careers support to students and strategic support to the university. Prior to this, she ran her own consultancy business for 16 years, advising a wide range of clients, including assisting the Department for Education on national careers guidance policy.
Ruth is a stroke survivor, having had a haemorrhagic stroke in April 2016 when she was 59. She is currently on the committee of the Coventry Stroke Support Group and on the Equalities Committee of her local theatre.
Gillian Mead
Sarah Moore
Dr Sarah Moore is a physiotherapist with a specialist research interest in physical activity. For her PhD she studied the impact of exercise on metabolism, activity and quality of life after stroke. Following this work, she set up exercise classes for stroke survivors in the North East of England with the Newcastle Community Stroke team and Newcastle City Council. She then went on to design and test an intervention targeting daily physical activity routines after stroke (PARAS).
In Sarah’s current role as Assistant Professor at Northumbria University, she teaches undergraduate and masters physiotherapy students alongside continuing her research in physical activity and rehabilitation after stroke.
Mari Gunnes
Mari Gunnes is a physiotherapist and research scientist at the Department of Health Research at SINTEF in Norway.
She gained clinical experience in primary and secondary healthcare services and a PhD in Clinical Medicine from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Mari has been involved in several clinical trials with her research mainly focusing on rehabilitation after stroke, focussing on secondary prevention in terms of adherence to physical activity and exercise following stroke in preventing functional decline. Her research and educational interests include healthcare systems and technologies to improve health and quality of life in the population.
Grethe Lunde
Grethe Lunde, 50, is an honorary board member of the Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE).
She had a severe and lifechanging cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) – stroke - on her 22nd birthday and woke up from an induced coma totally paralysed. Luckily, she was sent to a rehabilitation hospital where she could relearn necessary skills that were lost that day in February in 1994. She had to start over on several levels and had to relearn how to speak, read, type, write – and most importantly she had to learn how to sit, stand and walk again.
Katharina Stibrant Sunnerhagen
Dr Katharina Stibrant Sunnerhagen MD, PhD is Professor and Chair in Rehabilitation Medicine, Head at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Gothenburg and also serves as a senior consultant at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. She has been a professor at the University of Oslo, Norway as well as Riga Stradin’s University, Latvia.
Since the early 1990s, Katharina has been active in stroke care and research. She has authored more than 275 papers in international peer reviewed journals with and H-index of 59. She has served as Swedish representative in the ESPRM and UESM. She is an ESPRM Senior fellow as well as a EARM member.
