News and events

Stepping Out & The SWL Cardiac & Stroke Network Join Forces

Stepping Out & The SWL Cardiac & Stroke Network Join Forces

In April 2009, The Stepping Out programme teamed up with the South West London Cardiac & Stroke Network to deliver a National Priority Project.

Stroke Networks have been set up across the country to support the implementation of the National Stroke Strategy. Bringing together representatives from across the stroke pathway, including NHS provider trusts, primary care trusts, ambulance services, the voluntary sector, local authorities, and patients and carers, their purpose is to enhance co-operation between organisations, share learning, facilitate service improvement and support commissioning intentions.

As part of their work, they have been chosen to deliver a National Priority Project by the Stroke Improvement Programme (SIP). These Projects are an opportunity to pilot innovative and new ways of working, and obtain national knowledge and expertise on beginning, managing and sustaining service changes and improvements.

The South West London Cardiac & Stroke Network is working with Stepping Out (a stroke self-management programme) as part of their National Priority Project to improve transfer of care. We have trained 24 practitioners in Croydon, who are now implementing the Stepping Out approach in their work with stroke survivors. Targeting staff across traditional boundaries, including inpatient rehabilitation teams, community rehabilitation teams, local authority staff and primary care staff, the aim is to foster a consistent approach to patient-centred rehabilitation and self-management across these health and social care settings.

The benefits and challenges of implementing the Stepping Out programme, for both patients and staff, have been carefully recorded and monitored throughout the duration of the project. The findings, together with all other project outputs and challenges, will be published in a final report, with the learning shared and showcased on a national platform. The South West London Cardiac & Stroke Network intends to use this information to assess the feasibility and benefits of providing similar training across the South West London sector.

If you would like further information on the Network, please contact Elaine Hayward / Rahima Miah on 020 8725 2923 or email elaine.hayward@stgeorges.nhs.uk or rahima.miah@stgeorges.nhs.uk

Fiona Jones wins UK Stroke Association Life after Stroke Award

The UK Stroke Association recently honoured Dr Fiona Jones, Principal Lecturer and Director of Stepping Out for providing exceptional service in stroke care.

Fiona was nominated for the award by her physiotherapy colleagues and stroke survivor Eileen Collins. Eileen has had a series of stroke since 2004, and was involved in Fiona’s original PhD research which led to the development of Stepping Out. She said: “Fiona has always treated me as a person rather than a patient. She made me feel valued when I was down and made me feel I still have a role in life.”

Fiona’s award was one of 10 awards presented at the ‘Life after Stroke’ awards ceremony held in London last month. The other categories included ‘young stroke survivor, adult stroke survivor, carer and stroke club award’. The overwhelming message from stroke survivors and volunteers accepting awards is that Life after Stroke is all about what you can do, not about what you can’t do. For more information about the Life after Stroke awards and to see the stories of individual award winners visit the stroke association website http://www.stroke.org.uk/campaigns/life_after_stroke_awards/

Stepping Out press release: Scheme empowers stroke survivors to take rehabilitation in their stride

At the end of July 2008 a Stepping Out press release was circulated throughout the UK.

The press release described how the Stepping Out programme puts patients in the driving seat when it comes to drawing up a rehabilitation plan, allowing them to take charge of their progress as they adapt to living with a long-term condition. “Stroke is a complex and traumatic event that affects each patient to a different degree and a one-size recovery plan does not fit all. One of the key elements in the recovery of stroke survivors lies in involving them in their own rehabilitation,” Dr Jones said. “Stepping Out is not just about helping people reach physical milestones – it’s about helping them regain a feeling of control over their lives. Doing the things so many of us take for granted, such as meeting friends more regularly, taking up a hobby or reading a newspaper can give them a tremendous sense of accomplishment.”

 Also shown in the press release was how the Stepping Out programme links in with the Department of Health’s National Stroke Strategy. The National Stroke Strategy aims to ensure patients and their carers are more fully involved in making decisions about treatment and in designing support services. It also specifies that more needs to be done to support survivors developing self-management skills to reduce ongoing care costs.

The press release resulted in a number of exciting outcomes including an interview on local radio and news stories on the Nursing in Practice and Management in Practice websites. In addition, Dr Fiona Jones has been asked to write an editorial piece for the International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation. It is hoped that through this coverage and continued positive feedback from healthcare professionals, carers and stroke survivors, Stepping Out can continue to develop and enable stroke survivors to take control of their daily lives.

http://www.kingston.ac.uk/pressoffice/latestnews/2008/july/Scheme-empowers-stroke-survivors-to-take-rehabilitation-in-their-stride/index.php

Stepping Out launched in the UK

The Stepping Out Programme has been rolled out across the UK throughout 2008. This follows three successful pilot studies and a consultation day with advisor's from Connect to complete the final version of the stroke workbook.

The first Stepping Out Team Workshop was delivered to a group of nurses in Dundee in April. The feedback from the team has been positive, with stroke survivors quoting they wish they had been introduced to the workbook a year ago. The team have ordered extra workbooks that can be used to promote self-management skills with more stroke survivors in Scotland.

The first London based Team Workshop was held at Imperial Academic Healthcare Trust in July and was attended by professionals from various disciplines. Many attendees felt that Stepping Out training would enhance their practice by giving more control to the patient and enabling them to move away from the ingrained professional/patient relationship. They felt that by reducing therapist dependency, discharge into the community would be easier for stroke survivors. Further team workshops in London and Wales have been planned for later in the year and 2009.

To accommodate professionals who are unable to host their own team workshop, we are currently taking bookings for the first Stepping Out Open Workshop. This is being held on 8^th October 2008 at St Georges,University of London. For more information on this Open Workshop and to book a place use the following link:

http://www.steppingoutuk.org.uk/training_programme.php

The Stepping Out team will continue to involve stroke survivors in the programme and use feedback from workshops to aid future development and enhance workshop delivery. 

New workbook: final version completed

We asked communication advisors from Connect (the national UK charity for people with communication disabilities) to consider our new stroke workbook. Following this we attended a consultation day at Connect held in February this year, and discussed the content, layout and design of the workbook with 10 people with aphasia and communication facilitators.

Some important modifications to the layout and content of the workbook were suggested and this work has now been completed. We hope that these changes will make the workbook much more accessible for people with aphasia, and easier to follow.

We are delighted that the final version is now completed, and the first Stepping Out workshop using the new stroke workbook will be held in Dundee the end of April.

http://www.ukconnect.org/news_1_355.aspx