Supporting Long-Term Meaningful Outcomes in Stroke Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is the mainstay of recovery after stroke, but key recommendations focused on delivering ‘as much therapy as possible’ and stroke survivor outcome measures have remained relatively unchanged for decades. Traditional therapy approaches focus on maximum improvement of physical impairments while a stroke survivor is in hospital to ensure that community discharge can be deemed ‘safe’. This narrow approach sidelines the outcomes that are meaningful to the stroke survivor in the long term and the challenges they may face within their social context. In this article, we highlight the importance of the whole-person approach and review recent research introducing novel considerations to optimise outcomes after stroke.

Psychosocial well-being is a major component of health but is poorly acknowledged and managed for stroke survivors. Evidence supports the use of self-management interventions, peer befriending, and culturally – responsive methods, including deep engagement with Indigenous and cultural knowledge. Cultural safety and involvement of a stroke survivor’s important personal connections are also vital for achieving truly person-centred care and equity in rehabilitation outcomes.

Outcomes in rehabilitation will be optimised if we shift our mindsets from a sole focus on improving physical impairments to a broader scope of delivering whole-person care.