Proactive coping post stroke: the Restored4Stroke self-management study

In the Netherlands, 40,000 people suffer a stroke each year. After a stroke, people often have problems dealing with the changes they face. The Restore4Stroke Self-Management study examined whether it is helpful to teach people who have suffered a stroke and their partners proactive coping, in other words to teach them to anticipate potential unpleasant consequences of stroke while planning a goal. Although proactive coping was found to be an important indicator of psychosocial functioning after stroke, teaching such strategies to groups of people who have suffered a stroke and their partners did not result in increased proactive coping or fewer participation restrictions. Our results may be explained by the intervention not being implemented optimally or the effects of contextual, personal and therapeutic factors on the outcome of our intervention. Therefore, more research is needed into these factors.