The realisation of this joint project began in May 2018 simultaneously in twelve European countries: Spain, Serbia, Poland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary and Turkey. In 2019 this project expanded to even more countries, enabling patients in Slovakia, Cyprus and France to receive these important information.
Thanks to the Angels Initiative, selected hospitals in these countries are now able to provide information on stroke and important next steps on the path to recovery to stroke patients and their carers. The patient-focused materials comprise five brochures on a range of subjects. The brochures include national, regional and local stroke support organisations’ contact details, so that patients and carers can access further support in the months and years following their stroke. The Stroke Association in the UK kindly provided the information in the brochures, which we then translated into each project language, applying the information standard procedure for each translation.
"The Angels Initiative’s aim to improve stroke outcomes, save lives and reduce long-term disability is in the same line with the SAFE’s goals, which has led to a highly successful partnership that we both continue to enjoy. The SAFE Angels project is already positively influencing communication between healthcare professionals and patients. The information-rich brochures enable patients to understand more about their condition and to be more actively involved in their treatment decisions, with the aim of improving outcomes." said Jelena Misita, project coordinator on behalf of SAFE.
Based on feedback from patients and medics in the project’s hospitals, in 2019 SAFE made changes in a format used for these brochures, producing a collection of all five brochures in one specially designed wallet. The overarching title is ‘Surviving Stroke’ and the wallet has an ISBN number for each language version. All brochures remain the intellectual property of the Stroke Association UK, translated in accordance with their rules of standardisation and revision policy, assuring high quality, up-to-date material for stroke patients and their families and carers.
For more information about the SAFE Angels project and patient materials, please visit www.safestroke.eu.
