Educational needs of patients with a stroke and their caregivers: a systematic review of the literature.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically review the research on stroke patients' and caregivers' educational needs.


METHODS
A search of the literature prior to and including the year January 2009 was conducted using Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsychINFO and the Cochrane Library, yielding 959 articles. Of these, 21 studies were included in the review.


RESULTS
Stroke patients and caregivers reported many and diverse educational needs, which often were not met. The educational needs of stroke patients and caregivers concerned knowledge about the clinical aspects of stroke, prevention, treatment and functional recovery. The most commonly reported needs of caregivers involved patients' moving and lifting, exercises, psychological changes and nutritional issues. Patients and caregivers wanted information that was tailored to their situation.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients and caregivers have many unmet educational needs. The findings call for improved education of patients and caregivers on various issues that are specific to the various recovery phases after stroke.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this review can be used to develop educational interventions for stroke patients and caregivers. Further research is needed to investigate the feasibility and effects of educational interventions and whether they meet the educational needs of patients and caregivers.
Hafsteinsdóttir
Thóra B
TB
Department of Rehabilitation, Nursing Science and Sport medicine, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands. t.hafsteinsdottir@umcutrecht.nl
Vergunst
Martine
M
Lindeman
Eline
E
Schuurmans
Marieke
M
D017028:Caregivers; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D057240:Patient Preference; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation