Stroke Association

Description

Stroke Association is the leading charity in the UK changing the world for people affected by stroke.

In the last 20 years the numbers of people dying of stroke has halved while the number of major strokes has decreased by 40 per cent. More people than ever are benefiting from cutting-edge treatments and making full recoveries. And more people now understand the need to seek emergency treatment for stroke.

We have been at the heart of every one of these developments, championing the cause of stroke and stroke survivors.

Our research has helped to improve treatments and care which has saved tens of thousands of lives.

Our support services have helped hundreds of thousands of people get through one of the most frightening experiences of their lives and build a life after stroke.

And our campaigning has touched the lives of even more people through initiatives like the FAST campaign which we developed to help people recognise the signs of a stroke and take emergency action. The Department of Health in England was so impressed with this campaign that they took it up in 2009 and promoted it to millions of people.

But there’s still more to do. 150,000 people have a stroke every year in the UK

• 50,000 will make a full recovery
• 50,000 will be left with a severe disability
• 50,000 will die.

These figures remain shocking.

Stroke is one of the greatest health challenges of our time but doesn’t get the attention or funding it deserves – especially compared to cancer and heart disease.

As the leading stroke charity in the UK we know we need to change how people think about this devastating disease. But we can’t do it on our own. We need to work with people who share our commitment to changing the world for people affected by stroke – with stroke survivors and their families; with decision makers; with researchers and medics; as well as with our supporters – so that we can ensure stroke gets the attention it deserves.

At the Stroke Association we believe that strokes can and should be prevented.

We believe that everyone has the right to make the best recovery they can from stroke.

We believe in the power of research to save lives and ensure people make the best recovery they can.

And ultimately, we believe that together we can change the world for people affected by stroke.

We are for life after stroke.

Public involvement in research

We believe in the power of research to save lives, prevent stroke and ensure people make the best recovery they can. We are committed to involving stroke survivors and their families and carers in our research activities.

We have a Service User Review panel made up of stroke survivors, their carers and families who help us to ensure that the research we fund offers maximum potential benefit for stroke survivors and is relevant and important to them.

The panel works in partnership with our Research Awards Committee to decide where our valuable research donations are spent. Panel members are asked to review funding applications twice a year.

Following the Research Awards Committee meeting, each member of the Service User Review Panel is sent the applications that were judged to be of sufficient quality for funding. The applications contain a detailed summary of the proposed research project in plain English, and the service users are asked to comment on each proposal. The panel are asked to comment on whether the research is relevant and important to stroke survivors, and whether they feel it would benefit stroke survivors. The members of the service user review panel rank the applications in order of highest priority for funding to the lowest.

The SURP rankings are then combined with those of the Research Awards Committee in order to decide which projects will be funded.

http://www.stroke.org.uk/research/get-involved-research