Alleviating Care Partner Poststroke Stress Through Education

Those who provide assistance to persons who have experienced stroke (care partners) become exposed to new situation and paradigms that may produce stress. Providing adequate information and training before discharge may reduce care partner stress.

This prospective longitudinal pilot study examined whether tailored poststroke discharge education would reduce care partner stress. Stress was measured via survey at baseline and at 30 and 60 days after discharge with the modified Caregiver Strain Index (mCSI), where a higher mCSI indicates a higher level of stress.

There was no significant difference between the mCSI scores at baseline (9.73), 30 days (9.59), and 60 days (10.26; P = .94).

Education is an important part of predischarge care for both patients and care partners. However, education alone or education only delivered once before discharge may not be sufficient to significantly reduce care partner stress.

A single postdischarge education session does not reduce care partner stress. Further research is needed to determine whether an altered session or a repeated education session can assist in alleviating care partner stress.