SSOFT
Online learning for stroke advocates: Stroke Support Organisation Faculty Tool (SSOFT)
SAFE is a non-profit organisation that works with stroke survivor support groups across Europe to advocate for better prevention strategies, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare, at a local, national and European level.
They approached us to develop a digital e-Learning platform to help people affected by stroke, whether survivors, carers or medical professionals, to set up their own Stroke Support Organisations (SSOs) and to successfully run the SSO in line with the wider groups’ strategic objectives.
Interpret + Define
The tool had to be designed for end-users by end-users. To find out what they wanted to learn and in what format, we ran a series of workshops at SAFE’s annual conference in Zagreb, where we spoke with stroke survivors and medical experts. Later, we also conducted a series of interviews with stroke support groups on Facebook.
This revealed that, for many, English was not their first language and, also, that the content needed to be simple, as some of the post-stroke users had several barriers to learning, including problems with memory, concentration and coordination.
Imagine + Create
Working in collaboration with SAFE and an Online Disability and Accessibility Consultant, we began working on the Stroke Support Organisation Faculty Tool (SSOFT), the first-ever online stroke learning platform.
We enlisted the help of stroke and SSO veterans, Sarah Belson and Joe Korner, who drafted the initial content. Then our in-house copywriters simplified the language and ensured the flow of content was easy to digest within the online environment while still achieving the learning objectives.
Information was planned out over six modules and was continually peer reviewed by members of the SAFE committee, as well as representatives of our European Stroke Support Organisations, to ensure it was hitting the brief for end-users.
Rise + Shine
As well as making the content easy to understand, the SSOFT tool was designed to be very simple and intuitive to use, with user-friendly text and interactive illustrations created by our designers.
The modules cover everything from initial setup of a Stroke Support Organisation to gathering evidence, interacting with the media and planning an advocacy campaign. Gamification is central to the learning process. Activities at the end of each module repeat the content and help the user to test their knowledge with badges awarded for progress. Certificates are also available to download and a digital workbook can be used to record additional information.
Take a look at the website: www.ssoft.info