Scenario and intervention modelling in Ireland for stroke: Evaluating the effect of alternative policy scenarios and interventions for stroke in Ireland on outcomes and costs

One in every four people in Ireland will have a stroke in their lifetime. People are less likely to die if they have a stroke than in previous decades, partly due to new treatments that prevent further strokes and improve outcomes.  For every three people who survive their stroke, two acquire some type of disability such as problems walking. For every five people who survive, three experience cognitive problems or problems with memory, attention and concentration.

There are gaps in health services for people that have had a stroke, especially after leaving hospital, and for problems that are less immediately obvious, such as cognitive problems. There are also limited funds available to introduce new services or develop existing ones. This makes it important to identify services that are most likely to benefit people who have had a stroke, or most likely to prevent strokes from happening at all.

Our research will include talking to key people in stroke care and policy making, and also to stroke patients and their families, to gather their views on how stroke services could be improved, for example, by making a service more widely available across the country. We will use what is already known about how well these services work and apply this to a computer simulation model that predicts what may happen to people with/without stroke if they do or do not receive the services, for example, how long they will survive, the level of disability and their quality of life.  We will then use the model to estimate the greatest future benefit for the Irish population – for example, reducing the number of people who have a stroke, or improving quality of life after stroke. We will communicate this back to policy makers, to inform future service planning for stroke in Ireland.

Award Date

26 June 2020

Award Value

€227,371.00

Principal Investigator

Dr Eithne Sexton

Host Institution

RCSI

Scheme

ARPP 2020