Exploring the health, service and social needs of minor stroke patients

Background: Medical advances and clinical guidelines on rehabilitation have reduced the impact of disability from severe stroke. Yet, less is known about the needs of people who suffer a minor stroke. Aim: The overarching aim of this project was to map and understand the health, service and social needs of the minor stroke population. Part 1 aimed to explore the unmet health, service and social needs of patients recently discharged from hospital following a minor stroke, while Part 2 aimed to determine whether primary care services are geographically accessible for recently discharged stroke patients. Methods: Part 1 used a mixed methods exploratory cohort design to explore the unmet needs of 19 minor stroke patients recently discharged from hospital. Participants completed customised questionnaires and an interview 2 weeks and 2 months post-discharge. Part 2 used a Geographic Information System to map the discharge location of stroke patients (N = 1,595, January 2011 – January 2017) and the spatial distribution of primary care services across a single healthcare region. Results: Unmet needs varied between participants and reflected their individual situations, health needs and social roles/activities. Unmet needs also varied between the 2 time points. Part 2 revealed that access to primary health services was variable, both across the region and between services. Conclusion: Minor stroke patients may indeed have health, service and social needs that are currently unmet by existing services. The next step of this program of research will be to conduct a larger scale study.