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.
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.
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
Gillian Mead did her undergraduate medical training at University of Cambridge and has worked all over the UK and in Auckland, New Zealand. For the past 21 years, she has been a clinical academic in stroke and Medicine of the Elderly in Edinburgh. Her main research interest is in Life after Stroke, including post-stroke fatigue, post-stroke pain, mood disorders, the role of exercise training in reducing stroke related disability, and the effect of antidepressants on stroke recovery. Gillian uses a range of research methods including observational studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and large clinical trials. She is co-lead editor of Cochrane Stroke.
Gillian is passionate about translating research into practice; and was recently appointed President of the British and Irish Association of Stroke Physicians and Co-Chair of the World Stroke Organisation guideline committee.
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.