One in every four strokes – where blood supply to the brain is stopped by a clot or bleeding – now occurs in people under 65. And rates of young stroke are rising due to increases in obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Following the success of 2016’s national Brain Injury Awareness Week, Brain Injury Australia now advocates for more and better services and supports that meet the needs of young stroke. Brain Injury Australia’s Position Paper on Young Stroke argues for the overhaul of health and disability-funded services and supports to meet the needs of young strokes, improve awareness of young stroke, and development of best-practice standards in service and support delivery to young strokes. You can download the Position Paper here.

Professor Julie Bernhardt, Research Fellow at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, and Professor Vincent Thijs, Head of Stroke at the Austin Hospital, both in Melbourne, invite young strokes aged 18 to 55 years old to join their study to find ways to improve stroke services for young adults in Victoria.

This is an important study because young stroke is poorly understood. Current services are tailored for adults older than 55, and fail to address the devastating consequences of stroke for the young adult.

Any person aged 18 to 55 years old who has had only one previous stroke, and is currently living in the community (not in a residential care facility) may potentially join this study.

The study will run from February to May 2017, and offers two ways to join:

(1) A 1-2 hour interview at the Melbourne Brain Centre (Heidelberg), or on Skype, or by telephone,

and/or

(2) A 30-45 minute questionnaire over the internet or in paper form.

The Interview
The one-to-one interview will be with medical student researcher Jessica Shipley. The interview can be conducted anytime between February and June 2017. The interview will be in a meeting room at the Melbourne Brain Centre, Heidelberg. Or, arrangements can be made for Skype or telephone interviews if you cannot attend the Melbourne Brain Centre.

To join an interview, contact Professor Julie Bernhardt by email at youngstroke@florey.edu.au.

The questionnaire
The questionnaire is anonymous. Your name, address, or any other identifiable information will not be recorded.

To complete the questionnaire, please click here.

This study has been approved by the Austin Health Human Research Ethics Committee, Reference Number HREC/16/Austin/451.