New Perspectives in Science Education

The Mobile Assistance for Group & Individuals within the Community – Stroke Rehabilitation (MAGIC) pre-commercial procurement (PCP) challenge is being conducted by the RegionalBusiness Services Organisation, Northern Ireland funded by EC.

The main goal of the MAGIC PCP challenge is to develop new, innovative technology based solutions

that improve physical function and thus personal independence, within the first six months

following the onset of stroke. These solutions are not yet on the market, but can be developed and tested within the MAGIC PCP period of 2-4 years. It is specifically designed to address current deficits in care for people following a stroke to empower them to maximise their recovery potential through rehabilitation in the home environment, without the need for additional staff resources.

By 2020 the new solutions should make it possible to improve individual levels ofautonomy at six months of the onset of stroke, determined through the application of the an internationally recognised metric, the Barthel index, which is a sensitive tool which measures activities of daily living and the Modified Rankin Score.

A new training course for the patients and professionals using the innovations tools, according to the public-private partnership, will be develop by the partners from Italy and North Ireland.

In order to understand the complex needs of patients, carers and practitioners, the MAGIC group conducted many stakeholder engagement events with much time being spent with those who have survived a stroke. As expected they described their experience of a lack of access to rehabilitation services and individualised therapy programmes. Stroke survivors and carers expressed a sense that access to different support services was uneven, depending on where the stroke survivor lived, creating a kind of “postcode lottery”. They described how resource constraints often lead to an inadequate support and missed opportunities for rehabilitation.

Stroke survivors described their experience of hidden disabilities e.g. fatigue, pain, mood, sleep disturbance and memory impairment. Stroke survivors and carers described the impact of stroke on lifestyle, independence and functional abilities, leading to potential financial strains, relationship difficulties, lack of independence and impact on family members. Learning to adjust to life after stroke was difficult, and they described much anxiety and fear in dealing with the consequences of the longterm effects.