Stroke Odysseys: Evaluation of a Community-based Performance Arts Programme for People That Have Experienced Stroke

There are over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK and annual costs of stroke care to the NHS will treble from £3.4 billion in 2015 to £10.2 billion in 2035. More than 60% of stroke survivors leave hospital with a disability, and half experience depression within the first five years. Emotional, social and psychological needs are common, often compounded by patients' perceptions of 'abandonment' when rehabilitation ends. Currently there is a gap between the social, emotional and physical needs of stroke survivors and the availability and suitability of long-term recovery and rehabilitation services. In 2018, a commissioned survey by the Stroke Association found 50% of stroke survivors and 85% of carers felt they needed more support than currently exists. Stroke Odysseys - the performance art programme- provides an opportunity for communication of experiences of stroke to an audience through acquired skills in movement, music, song and the spoken word. The performance arts courses delivered by Rosetta Life for stroke survivors have been evaluated in previous studies and have shown that engagement in and learning about performance skills can have a positive impact on perceptions of disability, improve cognition, mobility and speech disabilities among a stroke community that can be stigmatised by the public perception of disabling illness. The Stroke Odysseys programme will be scaled up to a large number of participants with the aim to evaluate the experience, impact and implementation of the programme. This prospective study will evaluate the experience and impact of Stroke Odysseys on those participating using mixed methods (interviews, observations and surveys) prior to and after each stage of the programme, and carry out non-participant observations during a percentage of the workshops, training and tour. This trial will also examine how effectively the programme is implemented and the factors (facilitators or barriers) that affect its implementation (i.e. i