Caring for a survivor of stroke is a full-time job and one that South Australian carer and researcher, Annette McGrath, says is both rewarding and challenging.
Annette's husband, Gerry, had a massive stroke 14 years ago, leaving him with severe disability. At a time of distress and trauma, Annette was hit with information overload.
"We were faced with a lot of information on paper it was not the time for copious quantities to be read," she said.
Like many other loved ones and carers of survivors of stroke, Annette was struggling to find the right information.
"It's hard to know what you need to know and what can wait."
South Australian researchers are aiming to change this.
Dr Elizabeth Lynch, from Flinders University, and her research team explored how health professionals provide information to carers during inpatient stroke rehabilitation and whether these practices align with adult learning principals.
"We wanted to see how well adult learning was being supported in hospital settings when information was provided to carers of people with stroke." Dr Lynch said.
"The act of giving information is only helpful if the carer can take in the information, remember it, understand it and, depending on the topic, use that information in their daily life."
Dr Lynch and her team discovered that adult learning principals are not routinely applied by health professionals and many carers reported struggling to take in information early after stroke.
"Carers reported lacking information about stroke recovery, rehabilitation processes, long-term effects of stroke, and knowing how to navigate post-discharge services. Often health professionals had given them this information, but the carers were not able to remember the details or use the information in a way that helped them to apply it in their daily life."
Dr Lynch's research will be showcased at the combined Stroke Society of Australasia and Smart Strokes Nursing and Allied Health Scientific Meeting in Melbourne this week, which will be attended by Australian and international stroke experts.
As part of the research, health professionals, researchers, carers and survivors of stroke have put together top tips for health professionals working in inpatient rehabilitation to support carers to remember, understand and apply information.
"By applying skills they already have, health professionals will be able to support carers take in and use information better, to prepare them more robustly for life after stroke." Dr Lynch says.
