ORCID

Abstract

BackgroundIn the Philippines, rising stroke prevalence and healthcare inequalities present a concerning outlook. While acute stroke care is prioritised, rehabilitation remains undervalued. The experiences of healthcare providers who deliver stroke support are also under-researched.Objective(s)Our study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of care providers across multiple regions of the Philippines to inform the development of stroke support initiatives and programmes.MethodsForming part of the Tulong, Ugnayan ng Lingap At gabaY (TULAY) project, a qualitative descriptive design involving semi-structured interviews was used. Care providers with professional or voluntary community healthcare service delivery roles were recruited. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsSeventeen participants across five regions were interviewed between June and September 2024. Three high-level themes were constructed: 1) inequitable stroke care and rehabilitation services, 2) barriers to the provision and access of stroke services and 3) desires, needs and opportunities for improvement.ConclusionsTraditionally multi-level (e.g. national, community) approaches offer solutions to enhancing stroke rehabilitation in the Philippines. However, due to the devolved healthcare system, community-based initiatives, cognisant of local contexts and built together with stroke survivors, offer a promising solution to improve the lives of Filipinos following stroke.

Publication Date

2026-06-05

Publication Title

Global Health Action

Volume

19

Issue

1

ISSN

1654-9716

Acceptance Date

2026-05-26

Deposit Date

2026-08-04

Funding

This research was funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR150244), as part of the Global Health Policy and System Research Researcher Led funding stream. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care. The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the following additional members of the TULAY Philippines project team for their input into the data collection for this study: Marie Cieli Aragon (MCA), Rowena Abellija (RA), Sharon Linog (SL), Honey Paloma (HP), Michelle Joy Ganoran (MJG) and Lancelot Lyle De Jesus (LLD). The team would also like to thank June Ann De Vera (JAD) as the community engagement lead, Jessica Basilica (JB) for her administrative support and Roy Francis Navea (RFN) for management and coordination of the team. We are grateful for the support of all our care provider participants who shared their experiences during these interviews.

Keywords

Stroke rehabilitation, healthcare professionals, low-middle-income country, qualitative, service provision, Health Services Accessibility/organization & administration, Philippines/epidemiology, Humans, Stroke Rehabilitation, Male, Health Personnel/psychology, Stroke/therapy, Healthcare Disparities, Female, Interviews as Topic, Qualitative Research

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Care_provider_interviews_paper_Submitted_manuscript_v5_final_CLEAN.pdf (618 kB)

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