Film supports students working with people affected by stroke

Bristol Health Partners’ Stroke Health Integration Team (HIT) and the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) have made a film to educate students about working with people affected by stroke.

UWE Bristol trains hundreds of nurses and allied healthcare professionals every year. Many of these undergraduate students will go on placement where they will meet people affect by stroke and those who care for them. Some postgraduate students will undertake research projects involving stroke survivors.

The film ‘Working with people affected by stroke’ was created because:

• feedback from survivors and carers, shared with the Stroke HIT’s Lived Experience Group, said that it appeared many students have little experience of stroke and its impacts are sometimes misunderstood. This can lead to challenging encounters when meeting stroke-affected people for the first time.
• researchers are not always health care professionals and thus also may have no or little experience with people affected by stroke.

The film, which was co-created with stroke survivors and people who care for family members affected by stroke, aims to address these misconceptions and model better ways of communicating.

It will be available to all UWE Bristol students, and students will be strongly encouraged to watch it before starting placements in stroke settings.

Local charity Bristol After Stroke will also require all students and researchers visiting groups or individuals affected by stroke, in any capacity, to watch the film before they visit.

The Stroke HIT would like to thank recently graduated occupational therapist Tom Hull, stroke consultant Dr Lukuman Gbadamoshi, stroke survivor Jenny Smith and carer Sue Jackson, who kindly gave their time to appear in the film.

Claire Fullbrook-Scanlon is Senior Lecturer in Independent Prescribing and Stroke Care at UWE Bristol, Stroke HIT co-director and Chair of the HIT’s Education, Training and Skills Group. She said:

“Meeting stroke survivors can be incredibly enriching for our students and researchers. Stroke can affect people in such a range of ways – some of which may be subtle but also very debilitating – so it’s easy for people to overlook the impact some symptoms have, which can lead to misunderstanding.

“We hope this film will inform UWE students and researchers about the impacts of stroke, and enable effective communications with people affected by stroke, helping to make working together a better experience.”

Claire Angell, Stroke HIT co-director and Chair of its Lived Experience group, said:

“Involving people with lived experience in research unquestionably makes research better. However, the experiences shared by stroke-affected people locally show that this needs to be handled considerately and compassionately.

“We aimed to draw on what they have shared in the film, to inform and support those working with stroke-affected people about some of the things they might expect to see and hear, which will benefit everyone involved.”