Low-cost Rehabilitation Solutions: Lessons From LMIC Settings

Rehabilitation in LMICs is more important than in HICs due to the lack of access to acute stroke interventions (thrombolysis, endovascular thrombectomy, and stroke unit care) in most treated patients which leads to worse long-term outcomes, and thereby greater disability and functional impairment, therefore requiring specialized rehabilitation.

The are barriers to rehabilitation in LMICs. These can be considered under healthcare- and patient-related factors. Healthcare factors include limited skilled rehabilitation specialists, negligible stroke unit care, lack of government policies, insurance for rehabilitation and adequate infrastructure for rehabilitation. Patient-related factors include lack of awareness about the benefits of rehabilitation, financial constraints and belief in alternate systems of care. The barriers to rehabilitation in LMICs can be overcome with LMIC specific solutions like community-based rehabilitation, task shifting, stroke unit care, telerehabilitation, offering integrated models of care and increased recruitment and training of rehabilitation professionals.