What is our research about?
Stroke is a serious health issue causing death and disability. As the Irish population becomes older, stroke is likely to become more common. The SIMI-Stroke project used a computer model to find out how many people are likely to have a stroke, or be living with stroke, in Ireland in the next 20 years. It also tells us about their likely outcomes, like disability and cognitive problems. We looked at interventions that could improve outcomes, like better rehabilitation services, better support for life after stroke, and support for navigation. We talked with stroke survivors, their families, and professionals working in stroke care to decide which interventions to focus on.
How is our research useful?
These results can help decision makers to plan stroke services, by understanding how many people will need those services into the future, and what interventions might result in the best possible outcomes.
How can the project in this application make our research more useful for decision makers?
We aim to develop an interactive tool that will help people to explore the results of our computer model. The results include a range of different possible scenarios for the future. The tool will allow users to make graphs or visualisations of the results, based on different assumptions or different policy options. This make the results more usable in decision-making. We will involve potential users in developing the tool to ensure that it is user-friendly and meets their needs.
We will also create a study website where the tool can be accessed from. This website will allow people to access results from our research, including easy read reports and infographics. We also plan to develop some more accessible and easy read outputs, such as more “bitesize” versions of our reports.