Encouraging post-stroke patients to be active seems possible: results of an intervention study with knowledge brokers

Purpose: Although physical activity and exercise for stroke patients is highly recommended for fast recovery, patients in hospitals and rehabilitation centres are insufficiently encouraged to be physically active. In this study, we investigated the impact of knowledge brokers (KBs), enterprising nurses and therapists, on health professionals' (HP) performance to encourage stroke inpatients to be physically active. Method: This multicenter intervention study used a pre-post test design. Two or three KBs were trained in each stroke unit of 12 hospitals and 10 rehabilitation centres in The Netherlands. Questionnaires were completed by patients and HPs before and after the KB-intervention. The primary outcome was encouragement given by HPs to their patients to be physically active, as reported by patients and HPs. Results: After the KB-intervention, many more patients (48%; N = 217) reported at least some encouragement by HPs to be physically active than before (26%; N = 243, p