Community stroke rehabilitation helps patients return to work

Around 150,000 people experience a stroke every year in the UK. Nearly one million people in England are living with the effects of a stroke; one third of whom are moderately to severely disabled. A quarter of stroke survivors are under the age of 65 meaning that many are in work and/or have responsibility for caring for children or elderly parents. With a comprehensive rehabilitation team, patients with more complex or severe disability can be rehabilitated in the community providing that the home environment can be suitably adapted. All patients will require regular review by their own doctor and some of these reviews will focus on standardised assessments of risk factors for stroke and implementation of appropriate secondary prevention. The GP has a role in identifying the emotional impact of stroke on the patient and the impact that the stroke has on relatives and carers. The core components of the community-based programme can be broadly defined as improving emotional wellbeing, communication, cognitive function and physical independence and supporting return to work. Antidepressants are effective in reducing emotional lability. Cognitive functions such as memory, attention, perception and planning are often affected by stroke. Assessment and treatment by the occupational therapy team and clinical psychologist can reduce the impact of these impairments. Speech and language therapy is instrumental in facilitating recovery as is training carers in supportive communication and providing aphasia-friendly information. NICE recommends that patients receive 45 minutes of each relevant therapy five times a week. Each therapy needs to be provided at an intensity that will produce a functional change. Most patients will be able to drive again if there is no significant visual field loss or uncontrolled epilepsy. Graded return to work programmes are more successful as people are gradually accustomed to the workplace.