Familial caregiving following stroke: findings from the comprehensive post-acute stroke services (COMPASS) pragmatic cluster-randomized transitional care study.

BACKGROUND: Stroke patients discharged home often require prolonged assistance from caregivers. Little is known about the real-world effectiveness of a comprehensive stroke transitional care intervention on relieving caregiver strain. OBJECTIVES: To describe the effect of the COMPASS transitional care (COMPASS-TC) intervention on caregiver strain and characterize the types, duration, and intensity of caregiving. METHODS: The cluster-randomized COMPASS pragmatic trial evaluated the effectiveness of COMPASS-TC versus usual care with patients with mild stroke and TIA at 40 hospitals in North Carolina, USA. Of 5882 patients enrolled, 4208 (71%) identified a familial caregiver. A follow-up Caregiver Questionnaire, including the Modified Caregiver Strain Index, was administered at approximately three months post-discharge. Demographics and frequency, duration, and intensity of caregiving were compared between groups. RESULTS: 1228 caregivers (29%) completed the questionnaire. Completion was positively associated with older patient age, white race, and spousal relationship. One-third of the caregivers provided ≥30 hours of care per week and 889 (79%) provided care ≥9 weeks. Average standardized caregiver strain was 21.9 (0-100), increasing with stroke severity and comorbidity burden. Women caregivers reported higher strain than men. Treatment allocation was not associated with caregiver strain. CONCLUSIONS: This sample of mild stroke and TIA survivors received significant assistance from familial caregivers. However, caregiver strain was relatively low. Findings support the importance of familial caregiving in stroke, the continued disproportionate burden on women within the family, and the need for future research on caregiver support.

Comprehensive Stroke Care and Outcomes: Time for a Paradigm Shift.

Worldwide, stroke is prevalent, costly, and disabling in >80 million survivors. The burden of stroke is increasing despite incredible progress and advancements in evidence-based acute care therapies and despite the substantial changes being made in acute care stroke systems, processes, and quality metrics. Although there has been increased global emphasis on the importance of postacute stroke care, stroke system changes have not expanded to include postacute care and outcome follow-up. Our objectives are to describe the gaps and challenges in postacute stroke care and suboptimal stroke outcomes; to report on stroke survivors' and caregivers' perceptions of current postacute stroke care and their call for improvements in follow-up services for recovery and secondary prevention; and, ultimately, to make the case that a paradigm shift is needed in the definition of comprehensive stroke care and the designation of Comprehensive Stroke Center. Three recommendations are made for a paradigm shift in comprehensive stroke care: (1) criteria should be established for designation of rehabilitation readiness for Comprehensive Stroke Centers, (2) The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association implement an expanded Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program and criteria for comprehensive stroke centers to be inclusive of rehabilitation readiness and measure outcomes at 90 days, and (3) a public health campaign should be launched to offer hopeful and actionable messaging for secondary prevention and recovery of function and health. Now is the time to honor the patients' and caregivers' strongest ask: better access and improved secondary prevention, stroke rehabilitation, and personalized care.

Movement Matters, and So Does Context: Lessons Learned From Multisite Implementation of the Movement Matters Activity Program for Stroke in the Comprehensive Postacute Stroke Services Study.

The purpose of this Special Communication is to discuss the rationale and design of the Movement Matters Activity Program for Stroke (MMAP) and explore implementation successes and challenges in home health and outpatient therapy practices across the stroke belt state of North Carolina. MMAP is an interventional component of the Comprehensive Postacute Stroke Services Study, a randomized multicenter pragmatic trial of stroke transitional care. MMAP was designed to maximize survivor health, recovery, and functional independence in the community and to promote evidence-based rehabilitative care. MMAP provided training, tools, and resources to enable rehabilitation providers to (1) prescribe physical activity and exercise according to evidence-based guidelines and programs, (2) match service setting and parameters with survivor function and benefit coverage, and (3) align treatment with quality metric reporting to demonstrate value-based care. MMAP implementation strategies were aligned with the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change project, and MMAP site champion and facilitator survey feedback were thematically organized into the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research domains. MMAP implementation was challenging, required modification and was affected by provider- and system-level factors. Program and study participation were limited and affected by practice priorities, productivity standards, and stroke patient volume. Sites with successful implementation appeared to have empowered MMAP champions in vertically integrated systems that embraced innovation. Findings from this broad evaluation can serve as a road map for the design and implementation of other comprehensive, complex interventions that aim to bridge the currently disconnected realms of acute care, postacute care, and community resources.

Randomized Pragmatic Trial of Stroke Transitional Care: The COMPASS Study.

Background The objectives of this study were to develop and test in real-world clinical practice the effectiveness of a comprehensive postacute stroke transitional care (TC) management program. Methods and Results The COMPASS study (Comprehensive Post-Acute Stroke Services) was a pragmatic cluster-randomized trial where the hospital was the unit of randomization. The intervention (COMPASS-TC) was initiated at 20 hospitals, and 20 hospitals provided their usual care. Hospital staff enrolled 6024 adult stroke and transient ischemic attack patients discharged home between 2016 and 2018. COMPASS-TC was patient-centered and assessed social and functional determinates of health to inform individualized care plans. Ninety-day outcomes were evaluated by blinded telephone interviewers. The primary outcome was functional status (Stroke Impact Scale-16); secondary outcomes were mortality, disability, medication adherence, depression, cognition, self-rated health, fatigue, care satisfaction, home blood pressure monitoring, and falls. The primary analysis was intention to treat. Of intervention hospitals, 58% had uninterrupted intervention delivery. Thirty-five percent of patients at intervention hospitals attended a COMPASS clinic visit. The primary outcome was measured for 59% of patients and was not significantly influenced by the intervention. Mean Stroke Impact Scale-16 (±SD) was 80.6±21.1 in TC versus 79.9±21.4 in usual care. Home blood pressure monitoring was self-reported by 72% of intervention patients versus 64% of usual care patients (adjusted odds ratio, 1.43 [95% CI, 1.21-1.70]). No other secondary outcomes differed. Conclusions Although designed according to the best available evidence with input from various stakeholders and consistent with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services TC policies, the COMPASS model of TC was not consistently incorporated into real-world health care. We found no significant effect of the intervention on functional status at 90 days post-discharge. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02588664.

Implementation of a Transitional Care Model for Stroke: Perspectives From Frontline Clinicians, Administrators, and COMPASS-TC Implementation Staff.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Stroke is a chronic, complex condition that disproportionally affects older adults. Health systems are evaluating innovative transitional care (TC) models to improve outcomes in these patients. The Comprehensive Post-Acute Stroke Services (COMPASS) Study, a large cluster-randomized pragmatic trial, tested a TC model for patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack discharged home from the hospital. The implementation of COMPASS-TC in complex real-world settings was evaluated to identify successes and challenges with integration into the clinical workflow. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted a concurrent process evaluation of COMPASS-TC implementation during the first year of the trial. Qualitative data were collected from 4 sources across 19 intervention hospitals. We analyzed transcripts from 43 conference calls with hospital clinicians, individual and group interviews with leaders and clinicians from 9 hospitals, and 2 interviews with the COMPASS-TC Director of Implementation using iterative thematic analysis. Themes were compared to the domains of the RE-AIM framework. RESULTS: Organizational, individual, and community factors related to Reach, Adoption, and Implementation were identified. Organizational readiness was an additional key factor to successful implementation, in that hospitals that were not "organizationally ready" had more difficulty addressing implementation challenges. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Multifaceted TC models are challenging to implement. Facilitators of implementation were organizational commitment and capacity, prioritizing implementation of innovative delivery models to provide comprehensive care, being able to address challenges quickly, implementing systems for tracking patients throughout the intervention, providing clinicians with autonomy and support to address challenges, and adequately resourcing the intervention. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02588664.

Implementation of a billable transitional care model for stroke patients: the COMPASS study.

BACKGROUND: The COMprehensive Post-Acute Stroke Services (COMPASS) pragmatic trial compared the effectiveness of comprehensive transitional care (COMPASS-TC) versus usual care among stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients discharged home from North Carolina hospitals. We evaluated implementation of COMPASS-TC in 20 hospitals randomized to the intervention using the RE-AIM framework. METHODS: We evaluated hospital-level Adoption of COMPASS-TC; patient Reach (meeting transitional care management requirements of timely telephone and face-to-face follow-up); Implementation using hospital quality measures (concurrent enrollment, two-day telephone follow-up, 14-day clinic visit scheduling); and hospital-level sustainability (Maintenance). Effectiveness compared 90-day physical function (Stroke Impact Scale-16), between patients receiving COMPASS-TC versus not. Associations between hospital and patient characteristics with Implementation and Reach measures were estimated with mixed logistic regression models. RESULTS: Adoption: Of 95 eligible hospitals, 41 (43%) participated in the trial. Of the 20 hospitals randomized to the intervention, 19 (95%) initiated COMPASS-TC. Reach: A total of 24% (656/2751) of patients enrolled received a billable TC intervention, ranging from 6 to 66% across hospitals. IMPLEMENTATION: Of eligible patients enrolled, 75.9% received two-day calls (or two attempts) and 77.5% were scheduled/offered clinic visits. Most completed visits (78% of 975) occurred within 14 days. Effectiveness: Physical function was better among patients who attended a 14-day visit versus those who did not (adjusted mean difference: 3.84, 95% CI 1.42-6.27, p = 0.002). Maintenance: Of the 19 adopting hospitals, 14 (74%) sustained COMPASS-TC. CONCLUSIONS: COMPASS-TC implementation varied widely. The greatest challenge was reaching patients because of system difficulties maintaining consistent delivery of follow-up visits and patient preferences to pursue alternate post-acute care. Receiving COMPASS-TC was associated with better functional status. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02588664. Registered 28 October 2015.

Implementation of Safety Standards for Youth Sports Leagues: The "Safe Stars" Example in Tennessee.

OBJECTIVE: Discuss the implementation of the nation's first statewide standardized youth sports safety program and review the current culture and status of youth sports which led to its development. DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: State of Tennessee. INTERVENTIONS: The "Safe Stars" Initiative. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Provide a summary of the process of devising, developing, and deploying a set of evidence-based and best practice criteria to improve the health, safety, and well-being of youth athletes. CONCLUSIONS: Safe Stars provides a structured opportunity for every child to play sports and develop successful habits and skills for life while safely doing so. We intend for this to serve as a roadmap for others to adopt and institute a statewide philosophy that emphasizes the importance of a safe, positive, and high-quality experience for children while holding their respective youth sports communities accountable for its achievement. Currently, very few leagues meet the recommended minimum standards of safety. Continued advancement of strategic partnerships as well as research into the program's impact on sports participation, health, and safety will be some of the critical next steps in realizing the full value of this program.