What is iPASTAR?
iPASTAR (Improving Pathways for Acute STroke And Rehabilitation) is a Structured Doctoral Training Programme funded by the HRB with four PhD scholars. The focus is to develop better care pathways from acute hospital care to rehabilitation in the community and living well after stroke.
What are we doing and why?
Our research programme is informed by the experience of Irish stroke survivors who identified the challenges that they and their families face following stroke. These challenges included their initial care in hospital, difficulties when they were discharged from hospital and accessing rehabilitation. They described a lack of access to ongoing therapy and their difficulties in living, ageing well and leading a healthy lifestyle after stroke. We continue to work with our Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) group. Our team include stroke champions and their voices are central to the research projects to ensure a clear focus on stroke patient priorities
Why are we having this national conference?
The focus of iPASTAR is on improving pathways of stroke care. Our work to codesign and improve the stroke care pathway is evidence-based, conducted across the country, and has strong PPI input and co-design elements that are relevant for anyone who has experienced stroke or is involved in delivery or development of care after stroke. The iPASTAR programme is already providing evidence to support the development of patient-focused interventions to improve patient care and outcomes from stroke. We wish to strengthen the iPASTAR dissemination activities by arranging a new national conference in 2024, at which we will share our findings with key stakeholders, including stroke survivors, stroke multidisciplinary teams in hospital and community settings, the national stroke advocacy agencies, policy makers and planners, researchers and clinicians; share knowledge, increase collaboration and discuss stroke strategy and policy for Ireland.
