Evaluating International stroke - Face Arms Speech Time to Act Fast (FAST) campaigns and their impact for facilitating health literacy across diverse global regions

Project Outline:

Stroke is the second commonest cause of death and the sixth leading cause of disease burden globally with an estimated 6.5 million stroke deaths annually, expected to rise to 8 million by 2030 (World Stroke Organisation, 2022). The average stroke destroys roughly two million brain cells every minute. Therefore, the quicker a person gets into hospital after sustaining a stroke, the more brain tissue that can be salvaged. The Face Arms Speech Time to Act (FAST) campaign was created to increase public and community awareness to rapidly recognise when a stroke is taking place and to act quickly to get medical treatment and prevent serious damage. FAST campaigns have been reported to improve public awareness regarding the general signs and symptoms of stroke and to seek emergency medical assistance urgently.  However, findings from some studies have reported that many older adults may not recognise early symptoms of stroke in themselves or others and that they may lose vital time in presenting for medical attention. The aim of this research project is to identify how health literacy is facilitated in existing FAST campaigns that have been rolled out in various countries globally; and to determine how these campaigns may be improved upon to include health literacy levels of all populations recognising various diversities e.g., age, language, culture, and ethnicity. Ongoing improvement of public awareness regarding stroke warning signs and risk factors continues to improve chances for recovery and reduce disability, mortality, and morbidity from stroke.

For a culturally focused FAST campaign, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZfaOoVEG9g&list=PL91D2BD704EFF967B

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/producing-first-arabic-fast-stroke-awareness-video-bahrain-rizk

Project Area: Stroke and associated cerebrovascular disease

Supervisor(s): Professor Claire Donnellan

Project level: PhD

Start date: Ongoing