Digital pathway launched to improve care for stroke survivors

A ‘Life after stroke’ Pathway has been launched by health charity Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, NHS Lothian and Pogo Digital Healthcare, to improve care for stroke survivors.

The pathway, which launched in the stroke unit of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in June 2024, provides tailored information for stroke patients via Pogo Digital Healthcare’s self-management platform, Tailored Talks.

Tailored Talks provides information based on patients’ personal experiences, symptoms, and concerns, to help them better manage their condition.

Patients on the pathway also receive support from the Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland stroke nursing team.

Joanne Graham, director of service delivery at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, said: “Providing tailored health information as early as possible is critical to support people to self-manage their condition.

“This pathway will further support our charity’s mission to ensure every person with one of our conditions has access to quality supported self-management and community recovery as part of our community health care support service”.

Patients on the pathway receive a bi-monthly self-assessment questionnaire to inform the health information they will receive and track changes in their symptoms over time.

They are then sent relevant short slide presentations presenting medical and health information, guidance, and signposting to further resources.

These tailored talks are stored in the patient’s personal online portal, which they can log into online or via an app.

Dr Charlie Chung, AHP stroke strategic lead and consultant occupation therapist at NHS Lothian, said: “I am excited that the ‘Life after stroke’ digital pathway will commence testing with the staff and patients of the stroke unit in the Royal Infirmary. 

“Stroke survivors consistently report that targeted and relevant information about their stroke would have been valuable at the time of their admission to hospital, but provision was inconsistent.

“A key objective is that information provision will not happen by chance but will be a routine part of service delivery which will ultimately support the self-management of stroke survivors”.

Pogo Digital Healthcare first partnered with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland in 2021, to pilot the Tailored Talks platform for people living with Long Covid in the wider Lothian area.

Jack Francis, chief executive at Pogo Digital Healthcare, said: “I am delighted to be extending our digital self-management tool into a new stroke pathway.

“As someone whose family was negatively impacted by a stroke, it is brilliant to be involved in a project that will give people and their families the support and information they need”.

Meanwhile in May 2024, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust announced that it has implemented new AI software that is helping to save the lives of stroke patients by analysing brain images

The technology was introduced to the stroke team at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals in June 2024 and has provided more than 30 patients with life-saving treatment that may otherwise have been missed.