Dr Lauren Hepworth, Research Orthoptist has been awarded a Stroke Association Post-Doctorial fellowship. The fellowship will start in September 2019 for 3-years. This is a prestigious award with only 15 being awarded over the last 10 years. As a result of being a successful applicant she was invited to attend the Stroke Association’s annual Amazing Brains event.
The fellowship will support the validation work of the Brain Injury Visual Impairment Impact Questionnaire (BIVI-IQ). It is well known that visual problems can cause problems with many everyday activities and loss of independence. It is important to measure the impact of stroke-related vision problems on stroke survivor’s quality of life. The questionnaire has involved stroke survivors and clinicians at every stage of development. It is specifically designed for neurological visual problems and quick to complete. In addition to validation, the study will look to developing an ‘easy-read’ version to make it as accessible as possible to those with communication and cognitive difficulties. Exploration of how to implement the BIVI-IQ into clinical practice will include engaging with service users and clinicians, to ensure outputs are interpretable and establish how to best use it within care pathways. Once validated, this instrument could be utilised to track recovery or adaptation and aid patient-clinician communication.
This will be a multi-centre UK-based trial and Lauren is seeking expressions of interest from stroke/neuro-orthoptists wishing to take part in the study. Those interested in knowing more about the study should contact Dr Lauren Hepworth; [email protected]
