Stroke survivors routinely report disabling emotional health challenges and inability to find emotional wellness support. This project will increase emotional support within a stroke rehabilitation occupational therapy (OT) and/or speech therapy (ST) rehabilitation program. OT and/or ST provided via telerehabilitation will be enhanced with a type of emotional wellness therapy that teaches stroke survivors various strategies to better address anxiety, worry and dread.
This small stroke rehabilitation study will test the feasibility of a new method to personalize a home exercise program for arm/hand recovery. The research study will last ~8 weeks. Participants will be included if they are adults who have experienced a stroke that has caused one arm/hand to become weak, are able to come to the MUSC main campus 3 times for ~2hr arm movement evaluations, and are willing and able to engage in 60 minute telerehabilitation video visits with an occupational therapist 1-2 times per week for 6 weeks. We anticipate that the results of this study will enable occupational therapists and stroke survivors to, together, design home exercise programs that are meaningful, motivating and effective.