Stroke survivors' evaluations of a stroke workbook-based intervention designed to increase perceived control over recovery

Objective: To report stroke survivors’ experiences and perceived usefulness of an effective self-help workbook-based intervention.
Design: A cross-sectional study involving the intervention group of an earlier randomized controlled trial.
Setting: At the participants’ homes approximately seven weeks post-hospital discharge.
Method: Following the five-week implementation period of the intervention, stroke survivors (n = 59) completed a structured exercise designed to assess and prioritize perceived usefulness of the intervention components. Demographic, clinical and psychological measures from the original study were included.
Results: Ninety per cent (n = 53) of respondents rated the stroke workbook intervention as being better than slightly useful. A factor analysis of the completed responses derived three components, which were labelled information, support and behavioural activities. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed information and support to be significantly more useful than the behavioural activities (F (2, 116) = 60.79, p = .001). Behavioural activities were more highly rated by women than men (p = .02) and by those without a caregiver than those with (p = .02). Participants with high desire rated all three components of the intervention more useful than those with low desire (p = .01).
Conclusions: Those who used the intervention generally found it useful, with information and social support being perceived as being more useful than behavioural activities. Perceiving the behavioural activities as least useful may impede the uptake of recovery-promoting activities, which may have consequences for the effect of rehabilitation, and recovery.