Lay summary
Communication difficulties affect over 50% of people after a stroke. For people to fully access, participate in, and benefit from stroke services, the services must be communicatively accessible. This requires skilled and resourced staff along with organisational processes and structures that enable effective, accessible, and culturally-responsive interpersonal communication to occur. It is well known that stroke services commonly fail to provide such environments. This negatively impacts on people’s wellbeing, engagement, and treatment outcomes, leading to inequitable care or a longer stay in hospital. This research will partner with stroke survivors, whānau/family, and healthcare professionals to co-design a communicatively accessible inpatient stroke service; developing tools and interventions for the stroke units at Waikato and Tauranga Hospitals. We will evaluate their impact using Normalisation Process Theory. The findings will enhance care experiences and outcomes for people with communication impairment and provide practice guidelines for other stroke services in Aotearoa New Zealand.