Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V7, Canada.
March of Dimes Canada, 202-885 Don Mills Rd., Toronto, ON, M3C 1V9, Canada.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 May 7;24(1):600. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11043-7.
Stroke is among the top contributors to disability and can impact an individual's cognition, physical functioning, and mental health. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, several community-based organizations have started delivering stroke programs virtually. However, participants' experiences in these programs remain understudied, and evidence-based guidelines to inform and optimize virtual stroke program development and delivery are lacking. Thus, this study aimed to describe the perspectives and experiences of individuals with stroke who participated in virtual community-based organization stroke programs, including perceived access and participation facilitators and barriers and suggestions for improving these programs.
A qualitative descriptive design was used to gather participant experiences through semi-structured interviews. Audio-recorded interviews were conducted on Zoom and transcribed verbatim. Adult participants who had experienced a stroke and attended at least one Canadian virtual community-based organization stroke program were recruited. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.
Twelve participants (32-69 years, 2-23 years post-stroke, eight women and four men) participated in this study. Five themes were identified: (1) motives to join virtual community-based organization stroke programs, including gaining peer connections, knowledge and information; (2) perceived barriers to accessing and participating in virtual community-based organization stroke programs, including technology inequities, difficulties navigating technology, and inadequate facilitation; (3) perceived facilitators to accessing and participating in virtual community-based organization stroke programs, including remote access, virtual platform features and program leader characteristics/skills; (4) unmet needs during virtual community-based organization stroke programs, including in-person connection and individualized support; and (5) suggestions and preferences for improving virtual community-based organization stroke programs, including program facilitation, content and format.
Study findings highlight opportunities to improve virtual community-based organization stroke programs to optimize participant experiences and outcomes. Addressing the barriers and suggestions identified in this study may improve virtual community-based organization stroke programs' access and quality.
中风是导致残疾的主要原因之一，它会影响个人的认知、身体功能和心理健康。自 COVID-19 大流行以来，一些社区组织已经开始以虚拟方式提供中风项目。然而，这些项目中参与者的体验仍未得到充分研究，也缺乏循证指南来为虚拟中风项目的开发和实施提供信息并加以优化。因此，本研究旨在描述参与虚拟社区组织中风项目的中风患者的观点和体验，包括感知到的获取和参与的促进因素和障碍，以及对这些项目的改进建议。
采用定性描述性设计，通过半结构式访谈收集参与者的经验。在 Zoom 上进行录音采访，并逐字记录。招募了至少参加过一次加拿大虚拟社区组织中风项目且经历过中风的成年参与者。使用归纳主题分析对数据进行分析。
本研究共有 12 名参与者（32-69 岁，中风后 2-23 年，8 名女性和 4 名男性）参与。确定了五个主题：（1）参加虚拟社区组织中风项目的动机，包括获得同伴联系、知识和信息；（2）获取和参与虚拟社区组织中风项目的感知障碍，包括技术不平等、技术导航困难和不足的促进；（3）获取和参与虚拟社区组织中风项目的感知促进因素，包括远程访问、虚拟平台功能和项目负责人的特点/技能；（4）虚拟社区组织中风项目中未满足的需求，包括面对面的联系和个性化支持；（5）改进虚拟社区组织中风项目的建议和偏好，包括项目促进、内容和格式。
研究结果强调了优化虚拟社区组织中风项目以优化参与者体验和结果的机会。解决本研究中确定的障碍和建议可能会提高虚拟社区组织中风项目的可及性和质量。
