Abstract
ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study is to describe the information availability for patients with stroke treated in an emergency department and to study the effects of intervention training on this information availability. The material was collected from two university hospitals with a structured survey both before the training (n = 190, 2006-2007) and after the training (n = 170, 2007-2008). The study indicated that patients with stroke felt that the information availability was good on average. The patients felt that they were best informed about tests and their treatment and worst informed about symptoms and instructions. The following background factors affected their perception of information availability: waiting time, age of the patient, and previous hospital experience. Effective intervention training needs to be further developed to enhance information availability. Training should be carried out systematically and should consist of both basic and ongoing training, and the content should be developed in collaboration with patients with stroke.