Michigan Stroke Transitions Trial

To improve care transitions for acute stroke patients this pragmatic, community-based, randomized, open clinical trial will test the efficacy of two separate but complementary interventions against usual care. The parallel group design will compare the following 3 groups: 1. Usual care 2. Stroke Case Manager (SCM): trained social workers who provide home based case management services 3. SCM services plus access to the Virtual Stroke Support Portal (VSSP) an online information and support resource. This patient-level randomized trial will be conducted at 3 Michigan hospitals and will enroll a total of 315 acute stroke patients (105 per intervention group). Each hospital will enroll cases over an 18 month period. Randomization will be balanced within each hospital to ensure that an equal number of patients are assigned to the 3 groups. If the patient identifies a primary caregivers they will be contacted and enrollment accordingly. The trial interventions begin once the patient returns home (= Day 1) and end 3 months later (= Day 90). Outcomes data will be collected by telephone at baseline (= Day 7) and at Day 90. Subjects who are enrolled but do not go home within 1 month (because they remain in a rehabilitation or Skilled Nursing Facility) will be dropped and replaced by new patients. Two primary patient-level outcome measures include the Patient Activation Measure (PAM), a measure of self-efficacy, and the PROMIS-10, a global quality of life scale. Two primary caregiver-level outcome measures include the Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale (BCOS) and depression (PHQ-9). By adhering to the principles of pragmatic trials, this trial is designed to inform typical U.S. clinical practice, with outcomes that are directly relevant to patients and caregivers. Specifically, this trial is designed to answer the practical question of whether the transitional care experience of stroke patients and caregivers can be improved by social workers who visit the home, and whether their effectiveness can be enhanced by a comprehensive patient-centered online resource.