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Background: FAST Heroes is a kindergarten-based educational program that teaches young children and their extended families (parents, grandparents), the main stroke symptoms (Face, Arm, and Speech), and the timely and appropriate steps in the event of a suspected stroke (Time). However, post-campaign knowledge retention remains a challenge., Aims: The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether and to what extent grandparents' stroke knowledge is maintained 44 months after the initial implementation of the program., Methods: Forty-five participants engaged in the present study (35 women, 10 men; 72.8§5.3) and completed an adapted version of the FAST Heroes Stroke Preparedness Questionnaire via phone calls., Results: Compared to immediately post-program implementation, respondents were still able to recall arm weakness (OR = 1.63; p  = 0.246) and slurred speech (OR = 2.02; p  = 0.075) as main stroke symptoms. A decrease was observed in recalling facial drooping (OR = 0.44; p  = 0.042). Reporting of the appropriate course of action, was found to be increased (OR = 4.17; p  < 0.001). Respondents remembered the emergency number to call, i.e., 112 (OR = 0.97; p  = 0.947)., Conclusion: The results showed that awareness regarding the common signs of a stroke and the importance of promptly contacting emergency services following a stroke, in the population group mostly affected by stroke, is retained. Exploring knowledge preservation in a greater sample size is warranted., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Orologa, Baskini, Tsakpounidou, Keramydas and Proios.)

Objectives: In this work we present the results of the implementation of a globally representative educational school-based stroke awareness programme, FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) Heroes during the second year of education (wave 2). We aimed to observe changes in baseline stroke knowledge between wave 1 and wave 2, distinguish the more fine-grained effect of the campaign on society, and evaluate changes before and after the implementation of wave 2., Materials and Methods: In wave 2, parents of school-aged children completed an online stroke preparedness questionnaire before (t1) and after (t2) programme implementation. Results between the time points were analyzed with descriptive statistics alongside changes in baseline knowledge between waves 1 and 2., Results: 1,611 parents participated in wave 2. Parents increased their knowledge of three stroke symptoms from 69% to 87% (p<.001). Their knowledge of the designated emergency number rose from 75% (t1) to 88% (t2) (p<.001). A 17% increase in baseline knowledge occurred in stroke symptoms identified correctly between wave 1 (11 countries) and 2 (18 countries)., Conclusions: Results support the precision and usability of the data collection approach in measuring the change in stroke knowledge between implementation waves. The increased baseline knowledge concerning stroke symptoms in wave 2 needs further examination., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors Jan van der Merwe, Kalliopi Tsakpounidou, Maria Baskini, Chris Webb, and Hariklia Proios are employed by Boehringer Ingelheim. All authors declare no other competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: We describe new findings from the implementation of an educational school-based stroke awareness programme, FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) 112 Heroes, that teaches kindergarten children about stroke symptomatology and the appropriate action plan. The goal of our study was to examine whether the population mostly affected by stroke, i.e. the elderly, can be educated by young children, who have attended the programme., Materials and Methods: The educational programme was implemented face-to-face in a kindergarten in Athens, Greece, once a week for five consecutive weeks for one hour per week. Preschoolers (n = 137, aged 4.1-7, mean age=5.3) were enrolled in the programme and nominated two elderly members of their extended family (grandparents) as their own superheroes. Family members received personalized stroke-related material. Stroke awareness of the grandparents was measured before programme implementation (phase 1), after (prior to receiving the printed personalized stroke-related material, phase 2) and three months after receiving the printed personalized stroke-related material (phase 3)., Results: Data was obtained from 63 grandparents (48 women; aged 60-84, mean age=69.5 years). Family members demonstrated significant increases in stroke symptom knowledge (p < 0.001) and appropriate course of action (p ≤ 0.001) after participating in the program (phase 2) and receiving printed personalized stroke-related material (phase 3). The majority of the participants (86.84%) reported positive feedback about the received material, the programme, and their interaction with their grandchildren during the programme., Conclusions: Elderly family members outside the nuclear family can be successfully educated about stroke through their grandchildren and the FAST 112 Heroes programme., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest None., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Educating the at-risk population about stroke symptoms and requirement of calling an ambulance when stroke strikes is challenging. This exploratory cross-country study provides insights to the FAST Heroes educational campaign and outcomes hitherto achieved., Aims: The primary aim of the study was to measure the transfer of stroke-related knowledge to parents after a global school-based FAST Heroes educational campaign for 5- to 9-year-old children in 14 different countries. The secondary aim was to evaluate parents and teachers' acceptability toward the program., Methods: The duration of the program was 5 h; 1 h per week, joining face-to-face educational sessions with workbooks, cartoons, web-based learning, and other fun activities. Outcomes were measured before implementation (t1), after implementation (t2), and at 6-month follow-up (t3). Program acceptability and stroke knowledge were evaluated by feedback surveys for teachers and parents., Results: Worldwide, 4,202 parents completed the program with their children and answered surveys at t1 and t2. They increased their knowledge of three stroke symptoms from 48 to 83% ( p < 0.001). All three surveys were completed by 86 parents, who improved their knowledge of stroke symptoms, 55% (t1), 79% (t2), and 94% (t3) ( p < 0.001). Overall, the educational messages were successfully passed onward., Conclusions: Findings confirm the primary aim of the study that is knowledge about stroke transfer well from children to their families through the FAST Heroes program. Second, parents and teachers globally consider the program feasible and worthwhile. The results will inform further rollout of the campaign., Competing Interests: KT, JM, CW, and HP are employed by Boehringer Ingelheim. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Tsakpounidou, van der Merwe, Klinke, Webb, Ouriques Martins and Proios.)

Objective: In the present study, we explored numerical problems in individuals with aphasia. We investigate whether numerical deficits, usually accompanying aphasia, can be observed on number comprehension tasks that do not necessarily require an oral response., Method: Individuals with aphasia were classified into anterior, posterior, and global subgroups according to the lesion type. To investigate numerical cognition, we used a relatively recent tool, the Numerical Activities of Daily Living (NADL)., Results: The results showed that individuals with aphasia have problems with tasks of basic number comprehension as well as in most NADL. In the formal part of the NADL, anterior aphasic patients made comparatively more errors than the posterior aphasic patients. Global aphasic patients presented an invariably poor performance on almost all tasks., Conclusion: The results provide insight into how numerical deficits may impair an individual with aphasia in activities of daily living. This study is a preliminary attempt to start the validation process of the NADL for the Greek population.

Background: Young children are often unaware of emergency health conditions, such as stroke, and could serve as important vehicles to save the lives of their grandparents, who are more likely to suffer a stroke. An important aspect for the evaluation of public awareness on stroke signs and related emergency procedures is to examine the level of baseline stroke knowledge children have and whether they understand when to seek medical care on time. Objective: To examine the level of stroke symptomatology knowledge in children as well as evaluate their preparedness in stroke response before their participation in the educational program "FAST (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) 112 Heroes." Methods: For the purpose of this work, a questionnaire was developed and adapted to preschoolers' needs. The present study involved 123 children (65 boys, 58 girls, aged 4-6.5 years; mean age: 5.30, S.D.: 0.59) from two cities in Greece. Five multiple-choice animated pictures, that were age-appropriate, were administrated to each child, along with verbal explanations provided by the investigator. Results: More than half of the participants ( n = 65, 52.8%) could recognize the symptom of face drooping, 53 children (43.1%) could identify the symptom of arm hemiparesis/hemiplegia and 92 children (74.8%) were able to answer the question regarding speech disturbances. However, the number of correct answers to the question regarding the appropriate course of action in case of a stroke was the lowest among all the questions (10.6% of participants gave a correct answer). Furthermore gender and age did not play a significant role ( p = 0.571 and 0.635, respectively). Conclusion: Although more than half of the enrolled preschool children could recognize stroke symptoms before their participation in the educational program, their baseline stroke knowledge, prior to their training, is low. Concurrently, they do not have sufficient knowledge on how to react appropriately in the event of a stroke. Therefore, awareness programs focusing on developing stroke literacy to children are needed, to ensure children will seek urgent medical care in case of a stroke., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Tsakpounidou, Psomiadis, Pourliaka, Akritidou and Proios.)