Stroke QUERI

The Stroke QUERI Center is led by Linda S. Williams, MD, Research Coordinator, Dawn Bravata, MD, Clinical Coordinator, and Linda Hershey, MD, PhD, co-Clinical Coordinator. It is located at the Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mission

Translating Research Results into Clinical Practice

Stroke is one of the major causes of long-term disability among adults, and its prevalence will continue to rise as the population ages. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) estimates that each year over 15,000 veterans are hospitalized for stroke. Forty percent of these stroke survivors are left with moderate functional impairments and 15 to 30 percent severe disability. Even among those with "mild stroke," significant residual deficits may limit mobility, increase risk for falls, and limit community reintegration and quality of life. All stroke survivors and their families are hopeful that research will one day help them.

In 1998, Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Service launched the VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) with the goal of translating research results into approaches to improve patient care and systems efficiency and to document the effects of these mechanisms on patients and on cost. The mission of the VA HSR&D Stroke Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) is to reduce the risk of stroke and to foster system, provider and patient processes that result in the best possible outcomes for veterans with stroke.

This mission is accomplished by focusing on six core clinical goals:

1. Improve acute in-patient stroke care
2. Prevent post-stroke complications
3. Initiate secondary prevention among veterans with stroke and transient ischemic attack
4. Ensure that veterans with stroke receive appropriate and high quality rehabilitation
5. Screen and treat veterans with stroke for post-stroke depression
6. Support the reintegration of veterans into family and community life post-stroke

A long-term goal of the Stroke QUERI is to expand the scope of the research portfolio to include other secondary prevention measures and early phases of stroke care.

Address: