From paper to informatics: the Post Soft Care-App, an easy-to-use and fast tool to help therapists identify unmet needs in stroke patients.

From paper to informatics: the Post Soft Care-App, an easy-to-use and fast tool to help therapists identify unmet needs in stroke patients. Funct Neurol. 2018 Oct/Dec;33(4):200-205 Authors: De Bartolo D, Morone G, Lupo A, Aloise F, Baricich A, Di Francesco D, Calderone C, Cisari C, Verdecchia G, Sandrini G, Pistarini C, Antonucci G, Smania N, Paolucci S, Iosa M Abstract Even after rehabilitation, post stroke patients remain disabled. The Post Stroke Checklist (PSC) was developed to highlight unmet needs of community-dwelling stroke patients. The present study set out to validate Post Soft Care-App, designed to administer the PSC using smartphones and tablets, in order to monitor unmet needs in chronic patients. Fifty-three patients and fifteen physiotherapists were enrolled. The therapists administered the PSC to patients using the app, and then completed a structured questionnaire on its usability and utility. The Post Soft Care-App highlighted the following unmet needs: increased spasticity (56.6%), reduced independence in activities of daily living (47.2%), reduced mobility (45.3%), absence of secondary prevention (45.3%). Therapists positively evaluated Post Soft Care-App as useful, practical, quick to complete (96.2%), and effective in helping improve communication with patients (75.5%). The Post Soft Care-App can be considered a valid assessment tool for helping therapists to monitor functional outcomes in chronic patients. ...
Source: Functional Neurology - Category: Neurology Tags: Funct Neurol Source Type: research