What is the Empowering Stroke Prevention Project? The Empowering Stroke Prevention Project is a multi-phase pilot project sponsored by the Self-Help Resource Centre and funded by the Ministry of Health Promotion, and The Change Foundation.

What is its goal? The project's goal is to show that self-help approaches (mutual support, self-direction and empowerment strategies) can make a valuable contribution to the effort to prevent stroke, particularly in marginalized and underserved communities which may be difficult to "reach" by mainstream channels.

How did it come about? In 2003, the Ministry of Health Promotion funded the Self-Help Resource Centre to find out how self-help and empowerment approaches were being used to prevent stroke, a leading cause of death and disability in Canada. The result was a literature review, and gap analysis.

Self-help and Stroke – a missed opportunity? The research showed that self-help and empowerment strategies have successfully helped people to make and maintain healthy changes in their lives, such as quitting smoking. These strategies work particularly well for those in marginalized communities with high levels of unemployment, poverty, and social isolation - all reported in the literature as contributing risk factors / conditions for stroke.

Research has also shown that social support plays an important role in helping prevent chronic disease, but the gap analysis found few primary stroke prevention resources that incorporated self-help, empowerment and peer support -- all strategies that contribute to social support.

There was also little in the way of educational material for stroke prevention that was useful for diverse audiences (e.g. those living on limited incomes / those with lower socio-economic status, newcomers to Canada, those living in social isolation, etc.).

With financial support from the project's funders, the Empowering Stroke Prevention Project set out to change this.

Phase I: Developing Materials and Models Phase I of the project involved three Ontario communities: Toronto, London and Nepean. Project staff used focus groups and informal meetings with community members in marginalized or underserved populations, plus input from a variety of health, health promotion and community development professionals, to develop two documents:

• A plain-language, practical booklet describing the risk factors for stroke, and how to make lifestyle changes (physical activity, healthy eating, quitting smoking, moderating alcohol, etc.) to lower one's risk of stroke.

• A "Facilitator's Guide", which shows volunteer Health Ambassadors how to translate this information into stroke prevention activities, such as health-oriented social events, walking clubs and circles of support.

Click here to download free PDF copies of these documents.

The project then recruited volunteer peer facilitators in each community to test the facilitator training curriculum and the stroke prevention booklet. Once trained, the Health Ambassadors collaborated with local health agencies to organize and run their own stroke prevention activities, including community meetings, outreach to seniors, popular theatre on 'aging well', and 'healthy' potluck suppers for isolated new Canadians.

Phase II: Developing Partnerships and Sustainability Phase II of the project involved three new communities: Brantford, Guelph and Peterborough. Project participants recruited and trained a new cadre of Health Ambassadors, and supported them in choosing, designing and carrying out a new set of stroke prevention activities in a variety of populations.

This time the focus was on the process of forging partnerships between various health agencies and community groups, to sustain the self-help stroke prevention efforts over the long term. The output from this phase is a Toolkit of information and tools for anyone wanting to duplicate this model for the benefit of their own community.

Where from here? This pilot project was officially completed in March 2006. All the information resources developed for the project are available for downloading from this website.

The Self-Help Resource Centre, along with its community partners, will continue to support the efforts of the Health Ambassadors. The SHRC is also promoting use of the resources and this health promotion model for stroke prevention in public health units, community health centres and other community-based organizations across the province.

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