A study to evaluate the met and unmet needs of members belonging to Young Stroke groups affiliated with the Stroke Association

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the met and unmet needs of young people with stroke who accessed services run by the Stroke Association. Methods: One hundred and thirty-five out of 200 members of 14 participating Young Stroke groups completed and returned the postal version of the Southampton Needs Assessment Questionnaire for Stroke questionnaire. Results: Young Stroke group members had a median of five unmet needs. An analysis of these needs showed that information about the person's stroke, help with finances, assistance with non-care activities (e.g. help with social activities) and help with maintaining intellectual fulfilment were the four most frequently reported ones. There was no association between the number of unmet needs reported and factors such as age, time since stroke and social class. Conclusions: Young Stroke group members may be more aware of what their unmet needs are and have better knowledge in accessing existing health and social service resources. Nevertheless, these findings show that people with stroke considered the provision of information geared to their own needs as important. Statutory services should personalize information to individual's specific situation and should also tackle other problems, not only physical ones, experienced by young people with strokes.