COMbAT Fatigue

COMbAT Fatigue is a £2.1 million programme grant funded by the NIHR and Stroke Association. Our goal is to develop and test a self-management programme which will empower stroke survivors to manage their fatigue, enabling them to engage in activities that bring joy, value and meaning to their lives. We will co-create the programme together with stroke survivors, caregivers, clinicians and other experts.

Fatigue is different for different people. Often people feel they have no energy, overwhelming tiredness, or physically or mentally exhausted. This is different to normal tiredness and makes it difficult to take part in everyday activities.Find out more about fatigue after stroke information document from Stroke Association [PDF, 236KB].

Fatigue is very common after stroke and mini-stroke. Many people describe fatigue as the most difficult and upsetting problem caused by their stroke.

We do not know the best way to manage fatigue after stroke and mini-stroke, and many people do not receive any information or support. Helping people to manage fatigue after stroke is a high-priority area for research.

We have adapted a fatigue programme which was developed for people who have Multiple Sclerosis (FACETS). That programme was designed to be delivered in group meetings, but we have adapted it to be a digital-based programme and adjusted the content for the stroke and or mini-stroke (TIA) population.

We have designed the research to include people who are often under-represented in research; for example, people with stroke-related impairments and ethnic minority groups.

Hold group interviews with people who have had a stroke or mini-stroke (TIA), their relatives, healthcare professionals and other experts to understand how the Multiple Sclerosis fatigue intervention needs to be adapted for stroke.

We will collaborate with people who have had a stroke or mini-stroke (TIA), their relatives, healthcare professionals and experts to design a self-management programme for post-stroke fatigue.

We will test the fatigue programme with a small group of stroke/ mini-stroke (TIA) survivors to get initial feedback about whether it is easy to use and helpful.

We will do a small study to see if the fatigue programme and our study design are practical and acceptable.

We will do a large trial with 610 people that have post-stroke fatigue to see if the fatigue programme improves their fatigue.

• Dr Grace Turner (University of Birmingham)

  Mixed-methods, applied health researcher with 10 years’ experience in stroke research.

• Professor Jonathan Mant (University of Cambridge)

  Professor of Primary Care Research and Head of the Primary Care Unit at the University of Cambridge.

University of Birmingham

• Professor Colin Greaves
  Expertise in behavioural medicine, including digital interventions, implementation research and rehabilitation.

• Professor Sheila Greenfield
  Medical sociologist, expert in qualitative methodology, research interest in methods people use to self-manage health.

• Mrs Sarah Tearne
  Trials Management Team Leader (Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit) with >14-years’ experience leading randomised controlled trials across different healthcare areas.

• Dr Kelly Handley
  Senior Medical Statistician at the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit with extensive experience of trials.

• Professor Sue Jowett
  Professor of Health Economics, extensive experience of health economic evaluations.

• Caroline McKay
  Programme Manager

• Conrad Harpham
  Research Fellow

University of Bournemouth

• Dr Sarah Thomas
  Psychologist, expertise in fatigue, behaviour change and development and evaluation of complex interventions and pragmatic trials.
• Dr Huseyin Dogan
  Associate Professor of Computing, expertise in Digital Health and Assistive Technology.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead

• Dr Mohammed Shaikh
  Equality, diversity and inclusion lead for the West Midlands Clinical Research Network (CRN).

Patient, Carer and Public Involvement and Engagement Leads

• Dr Steven Blackburn
  Applied health researcher, with specific expertise in Patient, Carer and Public Involvement and Engagement.
• Mr Brin Helliwell
  Public co-applicant with experience of post-stroke fatigue.

Clinicians

• Dr Phil Ferdinand
  Consultant Stroke Physician, University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust.
• Mrs Rachel Jones
  Senior Advanced Nurse Practitioner for Stroke, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
• Dr Katy Kyprianou
  General Practitioner, Lion Health.

Health and Care Innovations (HCI)

• Hugh Kelly
  Managing Director