Research Best Practices for Eye Stroke Vision Rehabilitation: A Qualitative Study.

Purpose: Central retinal artery occlusion, also known as an eye stroke, results in visual impairment and functional challenges. Our study objectives were to identify meaningful measures and factors that indicate or enable successful recovery after eye stroke and to determine optimal processes to support research, including exploring barriers and facilitators to successful research participation.

Methods: We used qualitative methods including the 5Ts Framework (target population identification, team composition, time considerations, tips to accommodate older adults, tools for inclusive enrollment of older adults) to provide a guide to the development of the semi-structured interviews and to help facilitate the research process such as the set-up of interviews. We enrolled three groups: individuals living with the sequelae of eye stroke, care partners, and health care providers. We conducted a descriptive content analysis with an inductive approach.

Results: Twenty-five people participated. This group included 10 eye stroke survivors (median age, 62.5; range, 56-84 years; 20% were women), 4 care partners (median age, 57 years; range, 56-59 years; 100% were women), and 11 health care providers (median age, 33 years; 25-60 years; 54.5% were women). Four themes emerged from the data: (1) returning to full independence, (2) family support, (3) strategies for participation, and (4) lack of accessibility.

Conclusions: The themes identified by participant groups indicated that strategies such as providing sufficient lighting and incorporating family support are key for research participation by individuals with vision impairment related to eye stroke. Furthermore, it is essential that researchers determine ways to address inequities, including lack of accessibility to research sites. This work has implications for how research teams develop research processes and implement research findings into clinical settings for eye stroke survivors.