Stroke as a chronic health condition: a case for continued care

Stroke affects multiple systems, resulting in new and lasting morbidities that impact life quality. Nevertheless, the health care industry approaches stroke as an acute transient event, with access to treatments limited by money, rather than the patient's recovery potential. Proper monitoring and treatment during the chronic period can decrease consequential disability and costs.

We will present the disparity between stroke as a chronic health condition and the treatment limitations placed by the health care industry. The overall objective is to emphasize the need for a paradigm shift in post-stroke management with the realization that monitoring and treatments beyond the subacute period have not only a rationale but a potential therapeutic benefit on optimizing long-term recovery.

Literature searches utilizing PubMed, Health Services Research and Google Scholar were performed to highlight health care limitations and present the main medical complications and concerns that are frequently reported during the chronic stroke period.

Stroke is disease causative and disease accelerative. The importance of forward-looking comprehensive management guided by patient progress is key to mitigating stroke's impact and the cost to healthcare systems and society.