News and events

Bridges (previously known as Stepping Out) & The SWL Cardiac & Stroke Network Join Forces

In April 2009, The Bridges programme (previously known as Stepping Out) teamed up with the South West London Cardiac & Stroke Network to deliver a National Priority Project.

Stroke Networks have been set up across the country to support the implementation of the National Stroke Strategy. Bringing together representatives from across the stroke pathway, including NHS provider trusts, primary care trusts, ambulance services, the voluntary sector, local authorities, and patients and carers, their purpose is to enhance co-operation between organisations, share learning, facilitate service improvement and support commissioning intentions.

As part of their work, they have been chosen to deliver a National Priority Project by the Stroke Improvement Programme (SIP). These Projects are an opportunity to pilot innovative and new ways of working, and obtain national knowledge and expertise on beginning, managing and sustaining service changes and improvements.

The South West London Cardiac & Stroke Network is working with Bridges as part of their National Priority Project to improve transfer of care. We have trained 24 practitioners in Croydon, who are now implementing the Bridges approach in their work with stroke survivors. Targeting staff across traditional boundaries, including inpatient rehabilitation teams, community rehabilitation teams, local authority staff and primary care staff, the aim is to foster a consistent approach to patient-centred rehabilitation and self-management across these health and social care settings.

The benefits and challenges of implementing the Bridges programme, for both patients and staff, have been carefully recorded and monitored throughout the duration of the project. The findings, together with all other project outputs and challenges, will be published in a final report, with the learning shared and showcased on a national platform. The South West London Cardiac & Stroke Network intends to use this information to assess the feasibility and benefits of providing similar training across the South West London sector.

If you would like further information on the Network, please contact Elaine Hayward / Rahima Miah on 020 8725 2923 or email Elaine.Hayward@slcsn.nhs.uk or rahima.miah@stgeorges.nhs.uk

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Fiona Jones wins UK Stroke Association Life after Stroke Award

The UK Stroke Association recently honoured Dr Fiona Jones, Principal Lecturer and Director of Bridges (previously known as Stepping Out) for providing exceptional service in stroke care.

Fiona was nominated for the award by her physiotherapy colleagues and stroke survivor Eileen Collins. Eileen has had a series of stroke since 2004, and was involved in Fiona’s original PhD research which led to the development of Bridges. She said: “Fiona has always treated me as a person rather than a patient. She made me feel valued when I was down and made me feel I still have a role in life.”

Fiona’s award was one of 10 awards presented at the ‘Life after Stroke’ awards ceremony held in London last month. The other categories included ‘young stroke survivor, adult stroke survivor, carer and stroke club award’. The overwhelming message from stroke survivors and volunteers accepting awards is that Life after Stroke is all about what you can do, not about what you can’t do. For more information about the Life after Stroke awards and to see the stories of individual award winners visit the stroke association website http://www.stroke.org.uk/campaigns/life_after_stroke_awards/

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Bridges press release: Scheme empowers stroke survivors to take rehabilitation in their stride

At the end of July 2008 a Bridges press release was circulated throughout the UK. The press release described how the Bridges programme puts patients in the driving seat when it comes to drawing up a rehabilitation plan, allowing them to take charge of their progress as they adapt to living with a long-term condition. “Stroke is a complex and traumatic event that affects each patient to a different degree and a one-size recovery plan does not fit all. One of the key elements in the recovery of stroke survivors lies in involving them in their own rehabilitation,” Dr Jones said. “Bridges is not just about helping people reach physical milestones – it’s about helping them regain a feeling of control over their lives. Doing the things so many of us take for granted, such as meeting friends more regularly, taking up a hobby or reading a newspaper can give them a tremendous sense of accomplishment.”

 

The press release described how t“Stroke is a complex and traumatic event that affects each patient to a different degree and a one-size recovery plan does not fit all. One of the key elements in the recovery of stroke survivors lies in involving them in their own rehabilitation,” Dr Jones said. “Bridges is not just about helping people reach physical milestones – it’s about helping them regain a feeling of control over their lives. Doing the things so many of us take for granted, such as meeting friends more regularly, taking up a hobby or reading a newspaper can give them a tremendous sense of accomplishment.”

 

The press release described how “Stroke is a complex and traumatic event that affects each patient to a different degree and a one-size recovery plan does not fit all. One of the key elements in the recovery of stroke survivors lies in involving them in their own rehabilitation,” Dr Jones said. “Bridges is not just about helping people reach physical milestones – it’s about helping them regain a feeling of control over their lives. Doing the things so many of us take for granted, such as meeting friends more regularly, taking up a hobby or reading a newspaper can give them a tremendous sense of accomplishment.”

Also shown in the press release was how the Bridges programme links in with the Department of Health’s National Stroke Strategy. The National Stroke Strategy aims to ensure patients and their carers are more fully involved in making decisions about treatment and in designing support services. It also specifies that more needs to be done to support survivors developing self-management skills to reduce ongoing care costs. 

 

Also shown in the press release was how the Bridges programme links in with the Department of Health’s National Stroke Strategy. The National Stroke Strategy aims to ensure patients and their carers are more fully involved in making decisions about treatment and in designing support services. It also specifies that more needs to be done to support survivors developing self-management skills to reduce ongoing care costs.

 

The press release resulted in a number of exciting outcomes including an interview on local radio and news stories on the Nursing in Practice and Management in Practice websites. In addition, Dr Fiona Jones has been asked to write an editorial piece for the International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation. It is hoped that through this coverage and continued positive feedback from healthcare professionals, carers and stroke survivors, Bridges can continue to develop and enable stroke survivors to take control of their daily lives.

To read the full version of the press release please visit the link below:

http://www.kingston.ac.uk/pressoffice/latestnews/2008/july/Scheme-empowers-stroke-survivors-to-take-rehabilitation-in-their-stride/index.php

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Bridges (previously known as Stepping Out) launched in the UK

The Bridges Programme (previously known as Stepping Out) has been rolled out across the UK throughout 2008. This follows three successful pilot studies and a consultation day with advisor's from Connect to complete the final version of the stroke workbook.

The first Bridges Team Workshop was delivered to a group of nurses in Dundee in April. The feedback from the team has been positive, with stroke survivors quoting they wish they had been introduced to the workbook a year ago. The team have ordered extra workbooks that can be used to promote self-management skills with more stroke survivors in Scotland.

The first London based Team Workshop was held at Imperial Academic Healthcare Trust in July and was attended by professionals from various disciplines. Many attendees felt that the Bridges training would enhance their practice by giving more control to the patient and enabling them to move away from the ingrained professional/patient relationship. They felt that by reducing therapist dependency, discharge into the community would be easier for stroke survivors. Further team workshops in London and Wales have been planned for later in the year and 2009.

To accommodate professionals who are unable to host their own team workshop, or if new members have recently joined a team and therefore missed out on the opportunity to receive the training, we are currently taking bookings for the first Bridges Open Workshop. This is being held on 11^th May 2010 at St Georges, University of London. For more information on this Open Workshop and to book a place, please contact Bridges on bridges-stroke@sgul.kingston.ac.uk or call 020 8725 2445.

 

The Bridges team will continue to involve stroke survivors in the programme and use feedback from workshops to aid future development and enhance workshop delivery. 

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New workbook: final version completed

We asked communication advisors from Connect (the national UK charity for people with communication disabilities) to consider our new stroke workbook. Following this we attended a consultation day at Connect held in February last year, and discussed the content, layout and design of the workbook with 10 people with aphasia and communication facilitators.

Some important modifications to the layout and content of the workbook were suggested and this work has now been completed. We hope that these changes will make the workbook much more accessible for people with aphasia, and easier to follow.

We are delighted that the final version is now completed, and the first Stepping Out workshop using the new stroke workbook will be held in Dundee the end of April.

http://www.ukconnect.org/news_1_355.aspx

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Bridges collaboration with Emory University

Asst Professor Sarah Blanton, Emory University Atlanta, Georgia, US., came to the UK on a 10 day visit to learn about Bridges.

Sarah was a principal researcher and clinician on the EXCITE trial which tested CI Therapy for upper limb function after stroke. She has recently been made Honorary Research Fellow at St George’s, University of London, and has a keen interest in supporting stroke survivors to self-manage. She is currently involved in a large multi-centred trial for arm rehabilitation (Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Arm Rehabilitation- ICARE), which has a specific focus on enhancing self-efficacy and capacity to self-manage.

Sarah also has a particular interest in how we can enhance care-givers confidence to support their friend/relative through rehabilitation and beyond. We hope this visit was the start of a long and successful collaboration between the two institutions. Sarah sent us a quote on her return home.

\"Through my opportunity to visit London and work closely with Dr. Fiona Jones, I have developed a much greater appreciation for the concepts of self-efficacy and self management as they are addressed through the Bridges program.  Certainly, the key ingredient in rehabilitation is the therapeutic relationship between stroke survivor, family and therapist.  No matter how advanced our technology becomes in stroke rehabilitation, we will be destined to fall short of our hopes of recovery without acknowledging the essential nature of the therapeutic relationship as it relates to facilitation of individual self-efficacy and self-management.  Bridges is another milestone in our journey towards a greater understanding of the complex nature of rehabilitation after illness.\"

Dr Sarah Blanton, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

Link to Sarah’s website

http://www.excite.wustl.edu

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Stepping Out at the UK Stroke Forum December 2007

The Stepping Out team had a successful stand at the ideas fair at the 2nd UK Stroke Forum held last December 07 in Harrogate. We presented our work by distributing copies of our recent newsletter, Stride 3, and unveiled our ‘new look’ Stepping Out workbook. The comments and suggestions made by all those who visited us were very positive. We plan to hold one more focus group with communication advisors from Connect early next year after which we hope to have our final workbook ready for print.

Many of you that visited the stand gave us your contact details, in order to keep up to date with the progress towards our final launch in 2008. We will ready to hold Stepping Out workshops as soon as the final workbook is completed and expect to start from early March 08. We are really pleased with how the project is progressing, and will shortly be publishing dates of open Stepping Out workshops to be held in London during 08, and of course more details of what the full costs and package will include.

Thanks to all of you that have expressed an interest in Stepping Out, please contact us via the website or by email stepout@hscs.sgul.ac.uk if you have any comments or suggestions.

Kind Regards
Fiona Jones

http://www.steppingoutuk.org.uk/uk_stroke_forum_2007_gallery.php

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