Understanding people’s well-being needs and current service provision

We built a deeper understanding of what is currently happening in care, what stroke survivors and whānau experience in stroke services, and what they need to support their long-term well-being.

You can find summaries of our research in the following materials:

Summaries of people’s experiences

We have developed these in conjunction with Good Health Design, and with input from our participants with stroke.

• Our first booklet summarises people’s experiences of how well-being was supported (and at times, not supported) within stroke services - Stroke Booklet ONE_MAR25.pdf
• Our second booklet focuses on experiences in stroke services specific to Māori -Stroke Booklet TWO_MAR25.pdf

Enhancing care to support well-being in stroke services

Over the last year, we have been focusing on developing a quality framework for stroke services. This is designed to guide stroke services and healthcare practitioners in taking a proactive approach to supporting well-being. It details eight components of care that support well-being, and consists of:

• Detailed descriptions of each component of care.
• Exemplar quotes and vignettes that illustrate when each component of care is addressed well – and when it is not addressed well.
• Specific actions that can be taken by health systems, stroke services, and healthcare professionals to embed each component of care.
• Reflexive activities to support healthcare professionals and services to reflect on current service provision and identify specific actions that can be taken to improve well-being.

A summary of this framework is available in this poster which has been presented at the European Life After Stroke Forum. Quality framework poster 2025.pdf

The full framework, complete with materials to support reflection and implementation will be available soon.

Further resources

Posters

We have presented our work at multiple conferences. These posters show some of the findings we have shared

• Experiences of psychosocial well-being in Aotearoa [PDF, 186.8 KB]
• The emotional work of people in stroke services in Aotearoa [PDF, 246.3 KB]
• The problem with the pace of stroke care in New Zealand [PDF, 312.1 KB]

Publications

We have published two papers from the research so far. These are both available open access, meaning you do not have to pay to read the papers.

• The first is our literature review on well-being after stroke:
  Bright, FAS,  Ibell-Roberts C & Wilson B (2023) Psychosocial well-being after stroke in Aotearoa New Zealand: a qualitative metasynthesis, Disability and Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2023.2212178
• The second focuses on the experiences of healthcare professionals, describing what influences how they address well-being after stroke.
  Bright FAS, Ibell-Roberts C, Featherstone K, et al. ‘Physical well-being is our top priority’: healthcare professionals' challenges in supporting psychosocial well-being in stroke services. Health Expect. 2024; 27:e14016. doi:10.1111/hex.14016

We have other publications planned, including:

• A paper describing the work that people with stroke do to maintain and build their own well-being while in stroke services
• A paper focusing on what enables healthcare professionals to prioritise well-being, focusing on case examples of staff who work in the ways that people with stroke describe as important.

Previous study updates

• DECEMBER 2022: A PDF update of our study to date
• APRIL 2022: A PDF update of our study to date

Would you like more information?

If you would like to be on the mailing list to be informed about future material arising from this research, including the quality framework, please register here: https://forms.office.com/r/T9N9qLjCE0