Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Project

College/School

College of Nursing

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Project Mentor

Colleen Woolsey

Readers

Anna Kwak-Callen

Abstract

Background: Post-stroke depression (PSD) is a common complication following stroke and is associated with poor rehabilitation, reduced quality of life, increased rehospitalization, and higher mortality. PSD remains underrecognized and undertreated due to limited emotional health education during discharge planning. Objective: This quality improvement project evaluated whether video-based education improved stroke survivors’ knowledge of PSD, coping strategies, and available healthcare resources before hospital discharge. Methods: A pre-experimental one-group pretest/posttest design was implemented on the inpatient stroke units of the region’s largest Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC), where the highest level of complex stroke care is given. Adult stroke survivors preparing for discharge home received five educational videos covering PSD symptoms, coping strategies, and local healthcare resources. 5-point Likert-scale pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered to participants through Qualtrics to assess their level of knowledge about the specified education topics. Results: Overall, post-intervention responses showed modest improvements in participants’ knowledge and understanding of PSD, with mean responses increasing from neutral/agree to agree/strongly agree. Understanding of coping strategies remained consistently high from pre-to post-intervention, with minimal overall change. Awareness of local healthcare resources and access to support also remained stable, with most participants rating their knowledge between agree and strongly agree at both time points. Participants demonstrated a baseline willingness to seek professional help if depressive symptoms developed after discharge, supporting the project’s focus on health-seeking behaviors and early PSD recognition. Due to the small sample size, the findings should be interpreted with caution and are not generalizable. Conclusion: Video-based discharge education may support early recognition of PSD and improve patient awareness of coping strategies and community resources, strengthening patient-centered transitional stroke care.

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