Background/Aims:
In consultation with people with lived experience of stroke, the International Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Alliance identified defining criteria and discrete, measurable indicators of clinical excellence for Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation centres. These centres were envisioned as sources of specialised user-generated knowledge that could advance the field of stroke rehabilitation. The aim is to evaluate the relevance and useability of the criteria and measurable indicators at international stroke rehabilitation centres.
Methods:
Participating centres were invited to participate in light-touch (survey) or in-depth (series of semi-structured interviews via Microsoft Teams over four weeks) evaluations of the criteria and indicators. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively. Interview data were analysed using Framework Analysis methodology, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).
Results:
Sites from Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia participated in this study. Eight centres (five countries) participated in light-touch evaluations; five centres (three countries) participated in in-depth evaluations. Respondents were unanimous that the seven criteria were important and relevant to their setting. However, examples and definitions of the indicators were needed to make them user-friendly and relevant globally (Implementation Process, Innovation Domain from CFIR). Centres indicated ambiguity in some indicators and overlap between others (Innovation). The usability depended on resource availability to collect data on these indicators (Inner Setting). Some centres did not routinely collect data on certain indicators (Outer Setting).
Conclusion:
While respondents agreed that the criteria were important, further work is needed to refine the measurable indicators to ensure their usability in practice.