Young Stroke Service

Almost 1 in 4 of all strokes in Australia are in young people. There is much we don’t know about why young people have stroke and the best way to support young people in their recovery. Often young people don’t get the right diagnosis or help they need.

The Young Stroke Service team will work with young people who have had a stroke, as well as their supporters and clinicians, to offer a range of supports that will help them in their recovery.

The service can be accessed by referral from a health professional in Victoria and will soon expand to South Australia.

Aims

The Young Stroke Service aims to help young people who have had a stroke:

  • understand why they may have had a stroke
  • understand how to protect themselves from future stroke
  • get access to services targeting common unmet needs, like getting back to work or study
  • source trustworthy information about stroke and stroke recovery
  • keep in touch and share their progress for 3 to 5 years after their stroke.

Take part in this project

Student applications

Students who are applying to study at The Florey can register their interest in this project. Refer to our step-by-step guide to help you with your application.

How to apply

Apply to be a participant

If you are a young person with stroke or support a young person and would like to participate in the Young Stroke Service, you need a referral from a health practitioner. This could be a GP, a member of the hospital treating team or a community-based therapist such as a physiotherapist or psychologist.

Please contact us for a referral form by emailing [email protected].

For any queries please contact our team Monday to Friday from 9 am–5 pm.

E: [email protected]
P: 0427 259 191

Seeking participants

Accepting students

Team members

Lead investigators

  • Professor Julie Bernhardt
  • Professor Vincent Thijs

Investigators

  • Professor Maria Crotty (Flinders University)
  • Professor Natasha Lannin (Monash University)
  • Associate Professor Dana Wong (La Trobe University)
  • Associate Professor Emma Power (University of Technology Sydney)
  • Dr Karen Borschmann (The Florey)
  • Associate Professor Kathryn S Hayward (University of Melbourne and The Florey)
  • Dr Toni Withiel (Royal Melbourne Hospital)
  • Professor Amy Brodtmann (Monash Health)
  • Associate Professor Daniel Capurro (University of Melbourne)
  • Professor Kathleen Gray (University of Melbourne)
  • Professor Christopher Bladin (Ambulance Victoria)
  • Dr Lisa Murphy (Stroke Foundation)
  • Professor Lena Sanci (University of Melbourne)
  • Professor Dominique Cadilhac (Monash University and The Florey)

Project members

  • Ms Rachael Gittus – Project Manager – Governance (VIC – Florey)
  • Ms Laura McCambridge – Clinic Manager (Vic – Florey)
  • Ms Brooke Parsons – Consumer Consultant
  • Dr Melita Giumarra – Evaluation and Translation (Monash University)
  • Dr Tanya Rose – Speech Pathology (University of Technology Sydney)
  • Dr Joosup Kim – Translational Public Health and Evaluation (Monash University)
  • Ms Sophie Weaver – Young Stroke Information Coordinator (Stroke Foundation)

Project partners

  • The Florey
  • Austin Health
  • Flinders Medical Centre
  • La Trobe University
  • University of Technology Sydney
  • Flinders University
  • Monash University
  • University of Melbourne
  • Stroke Foundation
  • Royal Melbourne Hospital
  • Ambulance Victoria

Publications

  • Borschmann, K., Power E., Wong D., Lawson D, Wolfenden B, Keating J, Lannin N., Withiel T., Thijs V., & Bernhardt J. Identifying the unmet needs of young people with stroke who have communication or cognitive needs. European Stroke Conference, 2023, Munich (poster)
  • Giummarra, J., Stolwyk, R., Crotty, M., Parsons, B., Power, E., Sharpe, V., & Lannin, N. A., on behalf of the Young Stroke Service project investigators. “Do existing services in Victoria have the experience and expertise to meet the ongoing needs of young adults? A Service Mapping Project” 46th ASSBI Annual Brain Impairment Conference, Darwin, 4-6 May 2023
  • Borschmann, K., Power, E., Wong, D., Lawson, D. W., Wolfenden, B., Keating, J., … & Bernhardt, J. (2022). Understanding unmet needs after young stroke: A codesign project to develop a screening tool. International Journal of Stroke, 3-3.
  • Keating, J., Borschmann, K., Johns, H., Churilov, L., & Bernhardt, J. (2021). Young stroke survivors’ preferred methods of meeting their unique needs: shaping better care. Neurology, 96(13), e1701-e1710 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33568545/
  • Miller H., Lawson D., Power E., Borschmann K., Sathananthan N., Kamberis N., Armstrong A., & Wong D. Development and validation of the Valued Living Questionnaire – Comprehension Support Version (VLQ-CS). INS/ASSBI/CCN conference and NR-SIG-WFNR conferences 2021
  • Borschmann, K., Keating, J., Wong, D., Power, E., & Bernhardt, J. Development of a screening tool to understand the needs of young people with stroke. ePoster. 7th European Stroke Organisation Conference 2021.
  • Borschmann, K., Lawson, D., Wolfenden, B., Withiel, T., Bernhardt, J., Lannin, N., Wong, D., Thijs, V., & Power, E.. Expressing the needs of young stroke community: stroke survivors, families and researchers working together. 1st European Life After Stroke Forum 2021. (e-poster)
  • Borschmann, K., Lawson, D., Wolfenden, B., Withiel, T., Lannin, N., Bernhardt, J., Thijs, V., Wong, D., & Power, E.. What should a young stroke service look like? A mixed methods co-design study, Organisation for Psychological Research in Stroke conference, December 2020

Contact us

Ms Laura McCambridge

Clinic Manager
[email protected]