Associate Professor Dr. Brodie Sakakibara has received a 4-year, $306,000 Spring 2025 CIHR Project Grant for a study entitled “Exploring the 1yearNatural History of chronic diseAse selfmaNagement and health resourCE utilization after stroke: The ENHANCE Study.”
The goal of the ENHANCE Study is to explore people’s self-management, or the strategies that they use to manage their physical health, mental health, and social participation, after a stroke. Dr. Sakakibara and his team will focus on people’s self-management during the first year following their discharge from the hospital. This is a particularly important time because the transition from a rehabilitative healthcare facility to living in the community can leave some people with limited resources to manage their health. Self-management can make up for this deficit in community-based resources by providing people with the tools that they need to manage their own condition.
“We hope to show that self-management is an effective strategy for recovery, while reducing the risk of secondary events after a stroke. This study could provide important evidence for support programs in this area.”
This research aims to fill a critical gap in the services available to people following a stroke. Stays in the hospital are expensive, and economic pressures can lead hospitals to encourage short stays. As a result, people who have complex conditions, such as a stroke, can have complex plans for managing their conditions upon discharge from the hospital. Without support, it is difficult for people to follow these plans, and they often experience complications known as secondary events, which can include another stroke and readmission to the hospital. It has been estimated that 80% of secondary events could be prevented through effective programs of self-management.
The ENHANCE study forms the basis of postdoctoral fellow Dr. Elise Wiley‘s postdoctoral research. Dr. Wiley will be responsible for leading and coordinating the operations of the study. By refining programs of self-management, Dr. Sakakibara, Dr. Wiley, and the team will empower people who have had a stroke to continue living in the community in good health.
Learn more about this team and their research
The Okanagan Stroke Research Lab, located within the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management at the Okanagan campus of UBC, is focused on researching the effective management and prevention of chronic diseases, particularly in the area of secondary prevention for stroke, cardiovascular disease, and multimorbidity, all of which are critical areas of healthcare.