Nurse case management to improve risk reduction outcomes in a stroke prevention clinic

Stroke prevention clinic health care professionals are mandated to provide early access to neurological consultation and treatment, diagnostic testing, and behavioural risk factor management for clients with transient ischemic attack or mild non-disabling stroke. Clinic nurses collaborate with clients and interprofessional teams to support risk factor reduction to prevent recurrent stroke events. Although hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for stroke, broader evidence indicates that adherence to prescribed medications may be less than 50%. One clinic identified a need to improve risk factor outcomes through identifying clients with uncontrolled hypertension, cognitive, self-eficacy and/or adherence characteristics predictive of non-achievement of blood pressure targets. To address this need, an expanded nurse case management care delivery model was pilot tested for feasibility in a participant sample of 20 clients. Motivational interviewing and self-management approaches were combined with interventions designed to improve adherence:facilitation of the simplification of medication routines, providing memory cues and home self-monitoring equipment, counselling, and six-month nursing follow-up. Results demonstrated that an expanded nurse case management model of care delivery is feasible with only a modest impact on clinic resources. At six months, there were significant reductions in blood pressure and increases in medication self-efficacy and adherence for selected clients identified with high risk for stroke and non-achievement of treatment outcomes.