The Lighthouse Strategy: use of a visual imagery technique to treat visual inattention in stroke patients

Eight male and eight female stroke patients, aged 45-77, were asked to imagine their eyes as horizon-sweeping beams of a lighthouse and were then cued to use this image in functional and therapy training tasks as part of their treatment for visual inattention within a comprehensive day rehabilitation programme. Treatment Group patients' performance on the Mesulam Verbal Cancellation Test given at admission and discharge were significantly improved (p = 0.002). In comparison with controls matched for diagnoses, race and age, significant improvement (p = 0.007, f = 8.389) also occurred by discharge in the overall attention of patients taught to use the 'Lighthouse Strategy' as measured by a facility rating scale and reports by family and caregivers. Further potential applications of visual imagery to the retraining of compensatory cognitive and other skills are discussed.