Video Guided Exercise After Stroke

People who have had a stroke benefit from opportunities to practice the activities they need to re-learn. It is common practice to give patients written exercises to guide their practice out of therapy session. Whilst more practice is better, it is important that the activities are practiced accurately, to ensure that the right movement patterns are re-learned. The aim of this study, is to evaluate whether an intervention providing in-patients who have had a stroke an opportunity to use a simple video guide to help them perform their exercises accurately would improve clinical outcomes. Watching an activity being performed helps you to learn the activity more effectively. The focus of this study is arm rehabilitation. The participants will be adult in-patients in Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, and will have had a first time stroke that has left them with some arm weakness. The participants will be matched according to the severity of their weakness, then randomly allocated to either a treatment as usual group, or an intervention group. Those in the intervention group will have their exercises for their arm and hand recorded onto a tablet during their normal therapy session. They will then be lent the tablet for the duration of the trial, so they can have a visual guide to help them throughout the trial period. Ward staff will be shown how to use the tablet to help any participants who struggle with the technology. Measurements will be made before and after the trial period to look at ability to move the arm and hand, quality of movement, self-efficacy and time spent exercising. Participants and staff will be asked for their experiences of the intervention or normal practice. This is a feasibility study with an embedded process evaluation.