Thanks to Bob Stringer for sharing news from the Isle of Wight Stroke Club and the background on a pilot taking place on the Isle of Wight. We imagine that it will be of interest to many readers. Ed
In 2011 the newly constituted Health and Wellbeing Board of the Isle of Wight made available £45,000 of funding to support voluntary groups on the Island in delivering projects or services which would improve the quality of life and health outcomes of vulnerable or disadvantaged adults.
Applicants had to submit bids which would be judged on the evidence of need, value for money, the number of beneficiaries and the sustainability of impacts on the community.
Looking out for those affected by strokes
On the Isle of Wight around 400 people suffer a stroke annually. About half of these will have some of degree of aphasia, but more than 30 will be left with a severe form of this condition in the longer term, which will impair or completely restrict their ability to communicate.
The Isle of Wight Stroke Club proposed a project which would improve their communication skills, help to restore lost self-confidence, re-integrate them within their families and wider communities, and reduce the sense of isolation felt because of this condition.
Pilot study
We proposed to provide, as a pilot study, ten individuals with an iPad, equipped with state-of-the-art software, so that the Speech and Language Department of St Mary’s Hospital in Newport, might evaluate how effectively this condition might be alleviated or remedied.
The Stroke Club estimated a total cost for the project of £5,000 which included the cost of hardware, specialised communications software, assessment software and the time of therapists in conducting the study.
Approval received
Approval for the bid was granted by the Board in September 2011 and arrangements were made with Apple Computers UK to supply the iPads through their Southampton Store. Mark Gowers from Stroke Association’s Southampton office kindly helped by receiving the order on our behalf.
After some technical hitches with the registration of and familiarisation with the software 10 iPads were delivered to St Mary’s Hospital, where the study has commenced and is due to continue throughout 2012 and to be finalised early in 2013.
Encouraging results
Early results are encouraging with most of the participants finding the tablets and the software easy to use. Communications in the wider sense have benefited, as in addition to contacting those around them, they are able to use email, surf the web, and use social networking sites.
The Isle of Wight Stroke Club is pleased to have initiated this project and to have carried it forward.
We have pledged to ensure that if, as we expect, it is successful, to find funding to make it a sustainable ongoing venture, benefiting those stricken by this devastating condition.
Image: Veronica Belmont under CC BY 2.0
