Jane Terry- Occupational Therapist Return to Work Occupational Therapy Pilot Community Stroke Discharge and Rehabilitation Service Nottingham CityCare Partnership

National Perspective 25% of UK strokes occur in working age people but fewer than half resume work Those who do not return within 2 years are unlikely to work again Return to work (RTW ) is a government priority RTW is a health outcome and a recognised role for health professionals

Local Initiative RTW OT pilot commissioned for 1 year with University of Nottingham evaluation Based on Early Stroke Specialist Vocational Rehabilitation (ESSVR) model as part of CLAHRC- NDL “Return to Work after stroke” research project (early job retention model) Funding for 0.6 WTE Band 6 OT Band 7 with stroke experience provided RTW service

6 month evaluation – questions Was a change to the service implemented? Did it do something different to before? Was it really like the ESSVR model in the feasibility ?

Early Findings Increased no of early stroke survivors working at time of stroke identified through inreach to hospital Mean time between stroke and initial Ax = 21 days Characteristics of pts mild to moderate stroke similar to feasibility trial

Early Findings (cont) Positive influence on work outcomes 24 people seen in first 6/12, 11 had already RTW (Previous year 11 seen, 2 RTW) 59% of those employed had manual jobs Mean 21 days between stroke and initial Ax Model appears to meet the needs of survivors Further work needed to explore perceptions of intervention (pts and employers) at 12 months.