Understanding Social Risk Variation Across Reintegration of Post-Ischemic Stroke Patients

Abstract

The quality of life of post-ischemic stroke patients during reintegration is affected by a range of factors, including the risk of insufficient social and family support, as well as socio-economic status. A patient who is unable to access needed social support, such as home health care or a day center, is at a greater risk of poorer quality of life during reintegration. Consequently, the key goals of post-stroke reintegration are to improve patient outcomes across these factors, to inform reintegration decisions, as well as design personalized interventions for patients with social risk. This chapter presents a case-study of 240 patients of the Catalonia region of Spain that uses data visualization techniques (known as Sankey diagrams) to provide insight into changes in quality of life risk factors such as gender, and stroke severity, during reintegration. As supported by the case-study, social risk is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon that can vary significantly for an individual over the course of stroke rehabilitation and reintegration.