Effectiveness of the AVANT neurorehabilitation training program on stroke rehabilitation awareness and practice in...

Stroke remains the leading cause of disability in Vietnam, yet awareness of stroke rehabilitation remains limited. The AVANT (Austrian Vietnamese Advancement Neurorehabilitation Treatment) Program, launched in 2017, aims to address this gap by training healthcare professionals and caregivers in motor recovery practices. This study evaluated the AVANT program's structure, content, and impact on stroke rehabilitation awareness, using a single-arm pre-post design without a control group for caregivers and a cross-sectional survey for healthcare professionals. Data were collected from 96 stroke units, each represented by one healthcare professional (Class A) and 3,352 caregivers (Class B). Post-training results showed significant improvements in knowledge and practices, with 90% of caregivers understanding the timing of rehabilitation initiation compared with 13.9% previously. The proportion of departments with no specific rehabilitation method fell from 58% to 0%, while the proportion following AVANT-specified exercises rose to 95% after training. These findings suggest that AVANT is associated with improved stroke rehabilitation knowledge and practices in Vietnam. As this was an observational study without a control group or direct patient outcome measures, further controlled studies are needed to confirm its impact on patient recovery.