What is stroke rehabilitation?

Stroke rehabilitation (rehab) is training and therapy to help you recover and prevent problems after a stroke. The team may help you learn new ways to do daily activities. The focus of rehab will depend on how the stroke has affected your ability to do the things you want and need to do.

Rehab may begin in the hospital. It starts as soon as you are able. You will have a team of doctors, nurses, and therapists. The team can help you in many ways. For example, the team may help you learn new ways to do daily activities such as eating, bathing, or dressing. They can teach you to prevent problems like falls or burns. Some people need help to learn how to walk or talk again. If the stroke affected your memory, you will learn ways to improve it.

You may recover the most in the first few weeks or months after your stroke. But even with rehab, you may not be able to do all the things you could before the stroke. But you can continue to get better even after the first few months.

After the hospital, you may go to a rehab facility or a nursing home for a while. Or you may go home. Wherever you go, keep working on your rehab and do a little every day.

It's going to be important for you to get the support you need. Your friends and family can help you. Involve them in your treatment. They can be part of your rehab team. Talk to others who have had a stroke, and find out how they handled ups and downs.

Taking part in stroke rehab can help you recover, prevent problems, and learn new skills that will help you take care of yourself as much as possible. The focus of your rehab depends on how the stroke has affected your ability to do the things you want and need to do.

Your rehab team can help you in many ways. For example, the team may help you learn new ways of doing daily activities such as eating, bathing, or dressing. The team may teach you to prevent problems like falls or burns. Some people need help to learn how to walk or talk again. If the stroke affected your memory, you will learn ways to improve it.

The best way to get better after a stroke is to start stroke rehabilitation (rehab).

Your rehab will be based on the physical abilities that you lost, your general health before the stroke, and how well you can participate. Rehab starts with helping you resume activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing, and dressing. It can also help you make changes in your lifestyle, at home, at work, and in relationships. The changes you make will depend on how the stroke affected you.

Rehab can help you to:

• Regain skills you may have lost or to make the most of your remaining abilities.
• Do as well as you can and be as independent as possible.
• Learn to live with the changes to your brain and body caused by the stroke.
• Adjust to living within your home, family, and community.
• Help prevent problems like falls.