Kudos to PhD student Gabrielle Harris and her mentor Janet Prvu-Bettger for the submission of their Heilbrunn Nurse Scholar application entitled; “Parenting and Stroke Recovery.” This proposal is for a two-year period with a start date of April 1, 2018.

Stroke is the leading cause of disability with the incidence increasing approximately 44 percent from 2000 to 2010 among young adults. For young adult survivors, the effects of stroke may be more profound due to disruptions in areas including childcare responsibilities. Parenting is highly valued by society, yet there is a paucity of research on stroke survivors as parents. The increasing incidence of young stroke makes it critically important to understand recovery from the perspective of parenting survivors.

This longitudinal mixed methods study will use questionnaires and interviews to assess parenting stroke survivors’ perceptions of recovery. Stroke recovery will be assessed using the Patient Generated Index. Data collection will occur prior to discharge from inpatient rehabilitation, one, and three months after stroke.

Aim 1: Explore change in recovery among stroke survivors as individuals, parents, and members of society as they transition home after a stroke

1a. Describe change in recovery from discharge to 3 months using the Patient Generated Index (PGI) total score and for each life area felt to be affected by the stroke.

1b. Describe factors associated with change in recovery using the PGI total score from discharge to 3 months

Aim 2: Using qualitative interviews, describe the experiences of recovery as it relates to parenting among young adult stroke survivors and use this data to validate the parenting life area of the PGI

Aim 3: Provide a comprehensive description of the experiences of recovery as it relates to parenting using identified thematic patterns from qualitative interviews combined with quantitative findings from the PGI.