“I’ve still got a job to go back to”: the importance of early vocational rehabilitation after stroke

Figures & data

Table 1. Semi-structured interview guide.

Question  Follow up questions/Prompts

Tell me about your experience receiving rehabilitation therapies that supported your goal of returning to work after your stroke

What do you think could be improved with how these “work” rehabilitation therapies are provided?

Can you comment on what training, support and information you received when you went back to work?  What support or information did your workplace receive?  Was equipment provided?  Did the support you were given meet your needs?

Could you describe your physical and psychological wellbeing while you were taking part in the WORK trial?  How did this impact on your return to work?

Can you talk to us a little bit about how you found balancing everyday activities, alongside the vocational rehabilitation?

Tell me about actually returning to work after the stroke – what was that like for you?  Did you feel ready?  How did you find your employer? Workmates?  What things helped you get back to work? What made it difficult?

Table 2. Qualitative validation criteria.

Descriptive validity	Transcripts read and revisited multiple times for factual accuracy [31]
Interpretive validity	Use of thick and rich description of data to contextualise information [31]
Search for disconfirming evidence	Re-examination of cases that did not support the main thematic interpretations [32]
Peer review	Regular meetings with the analytic team during analysis [33]
Triangulation	Multiple sources of data contributed to analysis, including transcript coding, notes taken during familiarisation of transcripts and project meetings to discuss and develop the analysis [33]

Table 3. Participant characteristics (total participants = 16), n(%) unless otherwise stated.

Characteristics	n (%)
Gender
Female	9 (56)
Age in years
18-29	2 (13)
30-39	2 (13)
40-49	3 (19)
50-59	4 (25)
60+	5 (31)
National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score
0-6	11 (69)
7-15	5 (31)
Time post-stroke, days mean (SD)	55 (41)
Post-stroke aphasia, present	6 (38)
Type of vocational rehabilitation received
Specialist vocational rehabilitation	7 (44)
Clinical (usual care) rehabilitation	9 (56)

Figure 1. Themes and subthemes from qualitative data analysis.

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