This project will investigate the effects of an 8-week theory-driven online/hybrid Self-employment Skill Building Intervention on the rate of self-employment, self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and psychosocial outcomes among working-age stroke survivors.
A 2-arm randomised controlled trial will be conducted. Individuals aged 18-65 years old, with a first-ever/recurrent ischaemic/haemorrhagic stroke, and unemployed for at least 6 months will be recruited. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to receive usual care or a new intervention with usual care. The intervention is aimed at assisting survivors in becoming self-employed by developing entrepreneurial skills. Outcomes including self-employment rate, self-efficacy, life satisfaction, emotional well-being, and community reintegration at baseline, immediately and 3 months after completing the intervention. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with participants to elicit feedback on SSI.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
156
A new intervention developed to assist stroke survivors in becoming self-employed by developing entrepreneurial skills. It consists of one home visit, three online individual sessions, and four online group sessions held once a week for eight weeks.
Non-government organisations
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
RECRUITINGSelf-employment rate
Self-employment work is defined as the active production of goods and/or services on one's own or with a small group for personal gains, including income, and is not performed for wages by employers. Work done by housewives, students, and volunteers is not included. A minimum of 10 hours per week should be committed to the work (25% of full-time work).(2,3) The participant's response will be rated as "Yes" or "No".
Time frame: Change from baseline level to three months after completion of the intervention
Self-efficacy
Participants' self-efficacy in coping with stressful life events will be assessed by the 10-item General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) (Chinese version). Each item is rated on a 4-point scale (1=not at all true to 4=exactly true).
Time frame: Change from baseline level to three months after completion of the intervention
Life satisfaction
Participants' satisfaction with life will be measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Chinese version). It contains 5 items that ask participants to rate their agreement with each statement on a 7-point scale (1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree).
Time frame: Change from baseline level to three months after completion of the intervention
Emotional well-being
Participants' emotional well-being will be measured by the 14-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Chinese version). It has 2 subscales (anxiety and depression), and participants will rate their mood in the previous week on a 4-point scale (0=no not at all to 3=yes definitely). Summation of relevant item scores yields the subscale score (total=0-21).
Time frame: Change from baseline level to three months after completion of the intervention
Community reintegration
The 11-item Reintegration to Normal Living Index (Chinese version) will be used to assess participants' level of community reintegration.(44) It has 8 domains (mobility, daily self-care and work/activities, roles in family, relationships with others, presentation of self to others, coping skills). Participants will rate how well each item describes their situation (1=a small extent to 5=a great extent). Summation produces a total score that is normalised to 100 (range 25-100).
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Time frame: Change from baseline level to three months after completion of the intervention