Background Informal care givers support disabled stroke patients at home but receive little training for the caregiving role. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of training care givers in reducing burden of stroke in patients and their care givers. Design A single, blind, randomised controlled trial. Setting Stroke rehabilitation unit. Subjects 300 stroke patients and their care givers. Interventions Training care givers in basic nursing and facilitation of personal care techniques. Main outcome measures Cost to health and social services, caregiving burden, patients' and care givers' functional status (Barthel index, Frenchay activities index), psychological state (hospital anxiety and depression score), quality of life (EuroQol visual analogue scale) and patients' institutionalisation or mortality at one year. Results Patients were comparable for age (median 76 years; interquartile range 70-82 years), sex (53% men), and severity of stroke (median Barthel index 8; interquartile range 4-12). The costs of care over one year for patients whose care givers had received training were significantly lower (£10 133 v £13 794 ($18 087 v $24 619; €15 204 v €20 697); P = 0.001). Trained care givers experienced less caregiving burden (care giver burden score 32 v 41; P = 0.0001), anxiety (anxiety score 3 v 4; P = 0.0001) or depression (depression score 2 v 3; P = 0.0001) and had a higher quality of life (EuroQol score 80 v 70; P = 0.001). Patients' mortality, institutionalisation, and disability were not influenced by caregiver training. However, patients reported less anxiety (3 v 4.5; P < 0.0001) and depression (3 v 4; P < 0.0001) and better quality of life (65 v 60; P = 0.009) in the caregiver training group. Conclusion Training care givers during patients' rehabilitation reduced costs and caregiver burden while improving psychosocial outcomes in care givers and patients at one year.

Background and Purpose-Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) is an organized, goal-defined, and time-managed plan that has the potential of facilitating timely interdisciplinary coordination, improving discharge planning, and reducing length of hospital stay. Methods-An ICP for stroke rehabilitation based on evidence of best practice, professional standards, and existing infrastructure was developed. Its effectiveness was tested in 152 stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation who were randomized to receive ICP care coordinated by an experienced nurse (nϭ76) or conventional multidisciplinary care (nϭ76). Results-The age, sex, premorbid functional ability, and stroke characteristics of the 2 groups were comparable. There were no differences in mortality rates (10

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