Community Stroke Self-management Program for Rural Dwelling African American Stroke Survivors

Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. African American (AA) populations have a higher prevalence of stroke than whites do. The lack of resources leads to substantial physical, social, and psychological burdens and makes self-management more challenging, hence putting these individuals at high risk for secondary chronic conditions. This is especially prominent among underserved populations including AA living in the black belt of rural Alabama due to the additional factors related to their socio-demographic characteristics. This pilot project aims develop a need-based community stroke self-management program that would improve the stroke self-management self-efficacy and competencies among African American stroke survivors living in rural Alabama. This is a mixed-methods study to collect data related to the needs of these individuals and develop a need-based intervention based on the actual needs/ preferences of the target population. The specific aims are to assess the needs, access barriers, existing resources for a stroke self-management program; and develop a Community Stroke Self-management Program for improving stroke survivors' abilities to manage their medication adherence, diet, Physical Activity (PA) requirements, symptoms, and psychological distress to better meet their needs, expectations, and preferences. The study also aim to examine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the CSSP after tailoring our proposed intervention in Aim 2a) among the AA chronic stroke survivors living in rural Alabama. Conducting this study would help to have a sustainable intervention with minimal need of healthcare workers for its online delivery, potentially it would have high scalability and a high economic impact in the long run. Therefore, this project is vital for meeting the unique needs of this underserved population.