# Examining the association between psychosocial factors and adherence to a home exercise program for upper extremity recovery in Veteran stroke survivors

> **NIH VA IK1** · RALPH H JOHNSON VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · —

## Abstract

The proposed VA Career Development Award (CDA-1) is designed to provide support and mentorship for the
PI, Dr. Gabrielle Scronce, to become a successful, independent VA investigator improving the lives of Veteran
stroke survivors. Dr. Scronce obtained her Doctor of Physical Therapy and PhD in Human Movement Science
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently a WOC researcher at the Ralph H. Johnson
VAMC and a postdoctoral scholar at the Medical University of South Carolina under the primary mentorship of
Dr. Na Jin Seo. The PI’s career and research training goals are influenced by her experience as a physical
therapist working with Veterans and active duty service members, as these interactions have allowed her to
appreciate the unique strengths and needs of these individuals that are insufficiently understood and addressed
by standard physical therapy practice. Specifically, her training goals are to develop the foundation for
psychosocial factors and behavioral interventions to improve Veterans’ adherence to home exercise programs
(HEP), enhance skills in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research, develop proficiency in clinical
trial design and management for stroke rehabilitation, and advance her professional development through
grantsmanship, publications, scientific presentations, mentorship, and community engagement. The
interprofessional team of mentors in this CDA-1 is well-suited to guide the PI as she works towards achieving
her training goals. This CDA-1 adds new mentorship to Dr. Scronce from Dr. Lisa McTeague in psychosocial
factors/measures and behavioral interventions, from Dr. Jillian Harvey in qualitative and mixed methods
research, and from Dr. Viswanathan Ramakrishnan in quantitative research. In this CDA-1, Dr. Scronce will
continue to receive mentorship from Dr. Seo with the addition of training in objective accelerometry to track HEP
adherence. The study Dr. Scronce has proposed in this CDA-1 addresses the important problem of inadequate
adherence to upper extremity (UE) HEP among stroke survivors, a problem that limits recovery and survivors’
subsequent ability to participate in desired activities. The objective of this study is to explain how modifiable
psychosocial factors manifest themselves in terms of barriers and facilitators for HEP adherence among Veteran
stroke survivors. This objective will be met through an observational study with mixed-methods design in which
Veterans with UE impairment after stroke will be asked to complete objective measures of modifiable
psychosocial factors, complete a HEP for 7 days during which adherence will be objectively monitored, and
participate in semi-structured interviews to share barriers and facilitators to HEP adherence. Quantitative findings
relating psychosocial factors with HEP adherence and qualitative findings from the semi-structured interview will
be integrated to elucidate the relationship among psychosocial factors, barriers and fa...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10831839
- **Project number:** 5IK1RX004277-02
- **Recipient organization:** RALPH H JOHNSON VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Gabrielle Scronce
- **Activity code:** IK1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2025-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10831839

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10831839, Examining the association between psychosocial factors and adherence to a home exercise program for upper extremity recovery in Veteran stroke survivors (5IK1RX004277-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-08-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10831839. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*