Thread by @gillyminn

Last year, #StrokeStories aired on @ABCTV .

A group of #stroke survivors trusted us to develop a play script from their personal stories of trauma, survival, #resilience, growth & disability pride. They learned playmaking skills, & performed the piece.

abc.net.au/religion/watch…

📺Here's a snippet for those of you not in Australia and unable to watch 🧠🧡
#StrokeStories @ABCTV
@HMRIAustralia @rehabinnovat @StrokeBrainPRC @HNEHealth @strokeCRE @blackdoginst @georgeinstitute

#ArtsForHealth #theatre #playmaking #DevisedTheatre #stroke #rehabilitation

The ensemble of #stroke survivors helped shape the research around the impact of the Devised Theatre Performance Process.

Group playmaking & theatre performance is social, stimulating & cognitively challenging. Group members said it brought #joy, agency & a sense of belonging.

6 months on after stroke, stroke survivors who haven't recovered cognitive skills don't currently have many, or any, therapy options they can access.

Only around 6% published rehab studies have examined cognitive function, mood or well-being in people w/ long-term stroke

Despite heaps of scientific evidence to the contrary, there is a persisting lack of optimism among health professionals and the broader community around the capacity of the brain to continue to recover past 6 months after #stroke.

But, you cannot be what you cannot see.

This is Bev, and Brian, several years after #stroke had a impacted their cognitive function, working with & advising our research team in the development of a protocol to further test #StrokeStories as a therapy approach, but also an engaging & influential approach for educating.

Very sadly, Brian passed away last year from cancer.

He was an awarded theatre professional, script writer, set designer, director, stage manager and play actor who owned and operated the Intimate Theatre Company in #Newcastle for 16 years. He lived through three strokes.

We applied for grants - so far no luck.

Two years on, the original group of #stroke survivors are persistently pestering us to make to the playmaking program available to others.

Brian insisted we get the research done.

Enter #COVID19.

On Brian

https://twitter.com/BelgianBenny/status/1280115790109433865?s=20

https://twitter.com/gillyminn/status/1280117216206155776?s=20

https://twitter.com/gillyminn/status/1280120002494881792?s=20

Bev's our team's second lived experience expert. A primary school & Japanese language teacher, visual artist & single mother of 5. After a huge #stroke she spent 6 months in inpatient rehab after which she was informed that she wouldn't recover further and should go into a home

Here's Bev 3 years on, in her own home, podcasting w/ @CarCarLaJenkins for @IntJStroke about the importance of professional and patient collaboration in influencing stroke policy, after the Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease Act in Japan was announced.

ijspodcasts.podbean.com/e/stroke-and-c…

She's taken part in 6 #stroke research projects in the last 2 years and kept up her rehab.

She advised the research team around how to optimise the group learning environment & ensure participants feel valued, through attention to language and sharing of power.

Playmaking & performance is a powerful, evidence-based knowledge creation & dissemination strategy.

We need $$ to test how well #StrokeStories works as a rehab therapy, but we already know that it positions #stroke survivors as educators & experts in their lived experience.

We'll take the program online if we can find $. Dr Linden Wilkinson, our drama practitioner has been teaching her NIDA & Uni drama students online; she's ready.

Bev's been #zooming & has gathered the group together & they're shaping an online version.

Who wants to fund this?!

Of course, for those people who can access a neuropsychologist, there are some evidence-based strategies for 1:1 & group therapy for memory & other cognitive functions. See work of @neurodana @rene_stolwyk for examples of online and accessible options for targeted therapy