Overcoming practical challenges to conducting clinical research in the inpatient stroke rehabilitation setting

Finally some acknowledgement that there is literally nothing known about stroke rehabilitation. You're f*cking screwed although your doctors won't acknowledge that truth. I don't give a crap about how hard it is to conduct research, if your stroke department doesn't have a goal to produce stroke research you need to call the hospital president up and ask why they are allowing such non-leaders in their hospital.

Grace B. Campbell¹; Elizabeth R. Skidmore^2,3; Ellen M. Whyte^3,4; Judith T. Matthews^1,5

Author Affilations

Keywords: Stroke, Rehabilitation, Research design, Research methodology, Interprofessional relations

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/1074935714Z.0000000045

• Abstract
• Full Text
• References

Abstract

Background:

There is a shortage of published empirical studies conducted in acute inpatient stroke rehabilitation, though such studies are greatly needed in order to shed light on the most efficacious inpatient stroke rehabilitation interventions. The inherent challenges of inpatient research may dissuade researchers from undertaking this important work.

Objective:

This paper describes our institution's experience devising practical solutions to research barriers in this setting.

Method:

Through concentrated efforts to overcome research barriers, such as by cultivating collaborative relationships and capitalizing on unanticipated benefits, we successfully facilitated conduct of five simultaneous inpatient stroke studies.

Results:

Tangible benefits realized include increased effectiveness of research participant identification and enrollment, novel collaborative projects, innovative clinical care initiatives, and enhanced emotional and practical support for patients and their families. We provide recommendations based on lessons learned during our experience, and discuss benefits of this collaboration for our research participants, clinical staff, and the research team.