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Getting Aftercare at a Stroke Rehab Center
By Diana Rodriguez | Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH 13shares
After a stroke, you may need to relearn how to use your body, from walking to talking. Consider a specialized center where you can find all the types of therapy you'll need to return to independence.
"">Once the patient has received immediate treatment and blood flow to the brain has been restored, rehabilitation must begin to correct any damage. Finding the specialized expertise to restore motor functions like walking to stroke survivors is essential. That’s why a specialized stroke center is the top option among rehab facilities.Stroke Treatment Rehab Center: Benefits to the PatientThe goals of rehabilitation may be different for each stroke patient because stroke affects every brain differently. In every case there are these constants: rehabilitation seeks to make the individual as independent as possible and able to perform daily tasks, and to improve the quality of life after a stroke. While any therapy will do some good, rehabilitation in a center — freestanding or hospital-based — that specializes in stroke rehab will offer the most benefit. In this kind of facility, the patient is cared for by a physiatrist, a doctor who specializes in rehabilitation.
“Physiatrists aren't in regular hospitals,” says Stephen Page, PhD, rehabilitation researcher and assistant professor in the physical medicine and rehabilitation department at the University of Cincinnati Academic Medical Center. “They are only at specialized, stroke-specific rehabilitation centers or hospitals, where the depth of knowledge and the level of expertise is usually much higher."Stroke Treatment Rehab Center: Approaches"">Stroke rehabilitation centers offer different types of therapy that focus on the individual needs of each stroke patient. Staff members at a stroke rehabilitation center may include a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, and a speech therapist as well as a physiatrist and other doctors. These experts assist in recovery in different ways — retraining muscles to work, helping patients relearn speech and find new ways to adapt to life, and teaching them how to do things they enjoy again.A stroke center may offer different levels of service to stroke patients:Inpatient treatment. Stroke patients who are severely disabled may live at the stroke treatment center to receive full-time care and rehabilitation. When they are able to function more independently or with care at home, they may be discharged.Outpatient treatment. Stroke patients who can live at home and take care of themselves, or have a family member to help take care of them, can come to the stroke center for regularly scheduled therapy visits.At-home treatment. Some stroke rehabilitation centers may offer therapy visits in the stroke patient's own home. That way, therapists can help stroke patients learn skills in the place where they will use them.Stroke Treatment Rehab Center: Finding a FacilityIf your initial stroke treatment wasn’t at a stroke center where rehab is available, you should learn about all your choices before deciding where to get treatment. Not all doctors routinely refer stroke survivors to a specific stroke center for rehabilitation, so it's important to ask questions about their suggestions. In addition to recommendations from your primary doctor and the medical team that first treated your stroke, investigate all facilities that are within reasonable distance to your home.Stroke patients may need rehabilitation for weeks, months, or even years depending on how severe the damage was and what they want to accomplish. Rehabilitation at a specialized stroke treatment center can make all the difference in the quality and the speed of your recovery.Last Updated: 3/25/200913shares
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