Enhancing Stroke Caregiver Support Through Community-led Interventions and Intersectoral Partnerships: A Rapid Review

Caregivers provide critical, unpaid care to people with complex care needs, such as stroke, contributing over 66.5 billion dollars’ worth of care annually in Canada1. Yet, stroke caregiver needs during care transitions, such as hospital-to-home, are often overlooked, leading to significant practical, financial, and psychosocial challenges for caregivers and those they care for. The novel CIHR funded Discharge Assistance and Support at Home (DASH) framework2 utilizes community-led interventions and intersectoral partnerships with healthcare professionals to support hospital discharge and transitions in stroke care, however, there is limited understanding of how it’s components specifically support caregivers. This rapid review identifies studies that used community-led interventions and/or intersectoral partnerships with stroke caregivers to examine effective strategies, challenges, and persistent gaps—insights crucial for shaping future priority areas and implementation in stroke care.Methods/methodology: This review follows a structured review approach using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study Design (PICOS) framework to develop the protocol, perform a comprehensive search of electronic databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane, Embase), screen studies, extract data, synthesize findings, and disseminating results. A narrative synthesis identifies and discusses similarities and differences across PICOS elements and methodological quality.Results: This review's results identified implementation considerations, barriers, and guidance to address what works, for whom, and in what contexts for stroke caregivers. These results can be used to examine how collaboration between sectors (e.g., healthcare teams, community organizations, and volunteers) can support stroke caregivers in navigating complex healthcare systems, particularly in Ontario, Canada.Conclusions, implications, and curiosities: This presentation will emphasize the critical role of intersectoral support in improving the healthcare navigation experience for caregivers, particularly during key transition points. By bringing together healthcare professionals, community organizations, and volunteers, we will explore best practices for integrated care and highlight actionable recommendations for scaling these practices to support caregivers more effectively.