The role of the healthcare assistant on a stroke unit: A scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: This scoping review explores the role of a healthcare assistant on a stroke unit, potential barriers to role fulfilment and whether stroke-specific training could enhance rehabilitative practice. DATA SOURCES: Searches were conducted on CINAHL, MEDLINE and APA PsycInfo in May 2021 and repeated in September 2022. METHODS: This scoping review was guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework. Article selection and data extraction were conducted by one researcher using a structured proforma. A narrative approach to data synthesis was undertaken following the research questions. RESULTS: From a combined total of 533 articles, sixty-six full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Sixteen full articles were included in this review. A healthcare assistants' role was viewed as caring directly for patients - some individuals felt they contributed to rehabilitation during these tasks, and that they could be undervalued by multidisciplinary team members, patients and their families. The barriers identified to healthcare assistants' role fulfilment were lack of time, training and staffing shortages. Training was perceived to improve healthcare assistants' communication, confidence and knowledge but training needed to be flexible, ward based and accommodate staffing shortages. However, it is unclear whether training has any clinical benefit for patients. CONCLUSION: Healthcare assistants are well placed to enhance rehabilitative practice with patients; however, there are clear perceived barriers to this occurring. Future research should aim to define the role of healthcare assistants and explore whether further stroke-specific training could cause clinical benefits for patients.

RECREATE: a study protocol for a multicentre pilot cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) in UK stroke services evaluating an intervention to reduce sedentary behaviour in stroke survivors (Get Set Go) with embedded process and economic evaluations.

INTRODUCTION: Sedentary behaviour (sitting or lying during waking hours without being otherwise active) is strongly associated with adverse health outcomes, including all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality in adults. Stroke survivors are consistently reported as being more sedentary than healthy age-matched controls, spending more hours sedentary daily and sustaining longer unbroken bouts of sedentary time. An evidence-based and clinically feasible intervention ('Get Set Go') was developed. A pragmatic definitive trial to evaluate Get Set Go was planned; however, due to the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on National Health Service (NHS) services this study was reduced in size and scope to become an external pilot trial. We report the protocol for this external pilot trial, which aims to undertake a preliminary exploration of whether Get Set Go is likely to improve ability to complete extended activities of daily living in the first year post-stroke and inform future trial designs in stroke rehabilitation. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study is a pragmatic, multicentre, two-arm, external pilot cluster randomised controlled trial with embedded process and economic evaluations. UK-based stroke services will be randomised 1:1 to the intervention (usual care plus Get Set Go) or control (usual care) arm. Fifteen stroke services will recruit 300-400 stroke inpatient and carer participants, with follow-up at 6, 12 and 24 months. The proposed primary endpoint is stroke survivor self-reported Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living scale at 12 months. Endpoint analyses will be exploratory and provide preliminary estimates of intervention effect. The process evaluation will provide valuable information on intervention fidelity, acceptability and how it can be optimised. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has been approved by Yorkshire and The Humber - Bradford-Leeds Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 19/YH/0403). Results will be disseminated through journal publications and conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This trial was registered prospectively on 01 April 2020 (ISRCTN ref: ISRCTN82280581).

Intervention to reduce sedentary behaviour and improve outcomes after stroke (Get Set Go): a study protocol for the process evaluation of a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial (RECREATE).

INTRODUCTION: Stroke survivors spend long periods of time engaging in sedentary behaviour (SB) even when their functional recovery is good. In the RECREATE programme, an intervention aimed at reducing SB ('Get Set Go') will be implemented and evaluated in a pragmatic external pilot cluster randomised controlled trial with embedded process and economic evaluations. We report the protocol for the process evaluation which will address the following objectives: (1) describe and clarify causal assumptions about the intervention, and its mechanisms of impact; (2) assess implementation fidelity; (3) explore views, perceptions and acceptability of the intervention to staff, stroke survivors and their carers; (4) establish the contextual factors that influence implementation, intervention mechanisms and outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This pilot trial will be conducted in 15 UK-based National Health Service stroke services. This process evaluation study, underpinned by the Medical Research Council guidance, will be undertaken in six of the randomised services (four intervention, two control). Data collection includes the following: observations of staff training sessions, non-participant observations in inpatient and community settings, semi-structured interviews with staff, patients and carers, and documentary analysis of key intervention components. Additional quantitative implementation data will be collected in all sites. Training observations and documentary analysis data will be summarised, with other observational and interview data analysed using thematic analysis. Relevant theories will be used to interpret the findings, including the theoretical domains framework, normalisation process theory and the theoretical framework of acceptability. Anticipated outputs include the following: recommendations for intervention refinements (both content and implementation); a revised implementation plan and a refined logic model. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 19/YH/0403). Findings will be disseminated via peer review publications, and national and international conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN82280581.

Systematic review of process evaluations of interventions in trials investigating sedentary behaviour in adults.

OBJECTIVES: To systematically review and synthesise findings from process evaluations of interventions in trials which measured sedentary behaviour as an outcome in adults to explore: (1) how intervention content, implementation, mechanisms of impact and context influence outcomes and (2) how these interventions are experienced from different perspectives (participants, carers, staff). DESIGN: Systematic review and narrative synthesis underpinned by the Medical Research Council process evaluation framework. DATA SOURCES: Databases searches were conducted in March 2019 then updated in May 2020 and October 2021 in: CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, AMED; EMBASE, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We included: Process evaluations of trials including interventions where sedentary behaviour was measured as an outcome in adults aged 16 or over from clinical or non-clinical populations. We excluded studies if interventions were delivered in educational or workplace settings, or if they were laboratory studies focused on immediate effects of breaking sitting. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two independent reviewers extracted and coded data into a framework and assessed the quality of studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We synthesised findings using a narrative approach. RESULTS: 17 process evaluations were included. Five interventions focused on reducing sedentary behaviour or sitting time, 12 aimed to increase physical activity or promote healthier lifestyles. Process evaluations indicated changes in sedentary behaviour outcomes were shaped by numerous factors including: barriers (eg, staffing difficulties and scheduling problems) and facilitators (eg, allowing for flexibility) to intervention delivery; contextual factors (eg, usual lifestyle and religious events) and individual factors (eg, pain, tiredness, illness, age and individual preferences). DISCUSSION: Intervention requires careful consideration of different factors that could influence changes in sedentary behaviour outcomes to ensure that interventions can be tailored to suit different individuals and groups. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42018087403.