Promoting Resilience After Stroke in Dyads (ReStoreD): A Supplemental Analysis

Objective: To examine preliminary effects of ReStoreD (Resilience after Stroke in Dyads) on resilience in couples coping with stroke-related challenges. Design: Supplemental analysis of prospective pilot trial with pre-/post-assessments and 3-month follow-up. Participants: Thirty-four cohabitating stroke-care partner dyads (N=34); at least 3 months post-stroke. Interventions: 8-week self-administered dyadic intervention (ReStoreD) consisting of activities completed individually and as a couple. Main Outcome Measures: 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Results: Care partner baseline resilience scores were significantly higher than persons with stroke scores. Repeated-measures analysis of variance suggest significant pre-post improvement in resilience for persons with stroke (mean difference [I - J]=-2.42, SE=.91, P=.04, 95% CI [-4.75, -0.08]) with a large effect size (h2=.34), which was maintained at 3-month follow-up. Care partners showed no significant change over time. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence that ReStoreD improves resilience in persons with stroke. More research is needed to address resilience in care partners. These findings represent a promising first step to address the mental health needs in this population. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2023;104:1580-7 (c) 2023 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.