Abstract Body: Introduction
Post-acute care (PAC) facilities across Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota are engaged in the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Stroke PAC Initiative, a quality improvement initiative focused on enhancing stroke rehabilitation through evidence-based practice. Participants across these states collaborate to improve patient care, identify gaps in current practices, and enhance stroke specific education.
Purpose
In a 2023 survey of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Iowa, 48% (n=120) of respondents identified professional education as a missing resource that could help them provide rehabilitation care to stroke survivors. Through the initiative, education was developed to address this identified need.
Methods
A variety of free educational opportunities were offered throughout the Mission: Lifeline Stroke Initiatives. These included in-person stroke conferences and workshops, virtual learning modules, online courses, and discipline specific rehabilitation certifications. 760 HCPs participated in 12 different educational offerings across Midwest states. Attendees were surveyed to assess the perceived benefits of the offerings, utility to their current role, and improvements in knowledge and confidence providing rehabilitation care to stroke patients.
Results
Following the completion of the educational offerings, 93 attendees completed a post-survey. The large majority of respondents reported they were extremely or mostly confident in identifying signs of a stroke (95%), describing common deficits after a stroke (96%), and implementing evidenced-based practices to address these deficits (90%). Most respondents agreed the trainings improved their knowledge of the relationship between treatment and stroke rehab patient outcomes (91%) and their understanding about key issues related to working with stroke rehab patients (91%). Overall, 78% of respondents reported they always or often use the knowledge and skills learned from the trainings and 95% were satisfied with the content of the trainings. Respondents also identified additional educational needs for cognitive rehabilitation strategies, aphasia interventions, caregiver education, community integration, and general stroke rehabilitation.
Conclusions
Mission: Lifeline Stroke educational offerings benefitted HCPs by improving their knowledge and confidence to provide care to stroke patients. Education on additional stroke specific topics were also identified.