Insight | Blog

‘Life After Stroke’ Digital Pathway launches in NHS Lothian

30th July 2024 | Jack Francis

Tailored Talks is a digital health tool designed to deliver personalised information to patients based on their unique health conditions and experiences. It curates and provides relevant content, ensuring that each user receives information specifically tailored to their needs. By using an online portal or mobile app, Tailored Talks offers concise, targeted guidance that helps individuals, such as stroke survivors, better understand and manage their health. This approach eliminates unnecessary information and focuses solely on what is most pertinent to the patient, enhancing their ability to navigate their recovery journey.

Jack Francis, Managing Director of Pogo Digital Healthcare, was profoundly influenced by his personal experience when his father suffered a stroke. This experience highlighted the significant communication challenges faced by stroke survivors and their families. Driven by a desire to improve the quality of life for individuals with long-term health conditions, Jack and his team developed Tailored Talks, a digital tool designed to deliver personalised health information.

Building on the success of a similar initiative for Long Covid, Jack partnered with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland and NHS Lothian to create the ‘Life After Stroke’ Digital Pathway. This project, initiated in 2023 and launched in June 2024, aims to revolutionise stroke rehabilitation by providing stroke survivors with tailored, accessible information to better manage their recovery.

Life After Stroke Digital Pathway
The Life After Stroke pathway empowers stroke survivors by providing them with personalised information and resources. Upon enrolling, patients complete a self-assessment questionnaire that tailors the information they receive. This personalised content, which includes medical advice and resources, is presented in concise slide presentations and stored in the patient’s online portal for easy access.

Currently, the pathway is being piloted at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, with plans to expand to NHS Fife in autumn 2024. The collaborative effort between Pogo Digital Healthcare, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, and NHS Lothian ensures comprehensive support from hospital to home, enhancing the continuity and quality of care for stroke survivors.

Impact and Recognition
The Life After Stroke Digital Pathway has gained significant media attention, including coverage in Edinburgh News and Digital Health. This attention highlights its innovative approach to stroke rehabilitation, which provides structured and consistent health information. The pathway not only aims to improve self-management and recovery outcomes for stroke survivors but also contributes to broader advancements in the field of digital health support.

Implementation and Challenges
The development of the Life After Stroke pathway involved addressing several challenges, such as meeting the diverse needs of stroke survivors and coordinating efforts among different organisations. The project team included patient voices and feedback in the design process to ensure the pathway was genuinely beneficial and user-friendly. Clear communication and dedicated liaisons between Pogo Digital Healthcare, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, and NHS Lothian were key to overcoming these challenges and achieving a successful launch.

I have been delighted to have been part of the team developing this pathway, a much-needed resource for survivors of stroke. As a public contributor, I have not only been heard and listened to, but as someone with lived experience of a brain injury and who was a staff nurse on a stroke ward, I have found a generous welcome to the team. There is a huge amount of support on offer using the newly launched Life After Stroke programme that is in addition to the existing resources available on the CHSS website. A stroke can be an isolating experience, unnecessarily so, so if you have had a stroke or care for someone with one, make use of the help available.”
Jeremy Dearling, 67, Stroke Survivor

Joanne Graham, Director of Service Delivery, at Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland: “We are delighted to be able to build on our existing relationship with NHS Lothian to support individuals post stroke through this digital pathway. Providing tailored health information as early as possible is critical to support people to self-manage their condition. This pathway will further support our charity’s mission to ensure every person with one of our conditions has access to quality supported self-management and community recovery as part of our community health care support service.”

Jack Francis, Managing Director of Pogo Digital Healthcare: “I am delighted to be extending our digital self-management tool into a new stroke pathway. As someone whose family was negatively impacted by a stroke, it is brilliant to be involved in a project that will give people and their families the support and information they need.”

Dr Charlie Chung, AHP Stroke Strategic Lead and Consultant Occupation Therapist at NHS Lothian: “I am excited that the Life After Stroke digital pathway will commence testing with the staff and patients of the stroke unit in the Royal Infirmary. Stroke survivors consistently report that targeted and relevant information about their stroke would have been valuable at the time of their admission to hospital but provision was inconsistent. A key objective is that information provision will not happen by chance, but will be a routine part of service delivery which will ultimately support the self-management of stroke survivors.”

For more details about Tailored Talks and Pogo Digital Healthcare, please visit our website at https://pogodigitalhealth.com.

To speak with our team or schedule a demo, you can reach us at info@pogodigitalhealth.com.