Evidence-Based Community Stroke Rehabilitation

Stroke management and functional outcomes of stroke survivors in an urban Western Cape Province setting

“…Creating a seamless network of stroke care in the study setting would further support improved outcomes as according to Walker et al 25 optimal recovery after stroke requires specialist hospital care in the acute phase and coordinated rehabilitation for many months after discharge. Acute care can be supported through the establishment of a stroke ward as described by De Villiers 27 in a different secondary hospital in the same health district.…”

“…In addition, difficulty getting off work, transport challenges, the condition of the stroke survivor and the initial shock experienced by family can combine to provide little opportunity for effective education and training. Family members must be actively involved in education and training, which should be provided on more than one occasion 25 . In some instances current study participants/caregivers didn't think physiotherapy/occupational therapy was necessary.…”

“…The information provided earlier on the lack of services at community level, and the finding that very few participants were actually admitted to the provincial rehabilitation centre, highlights two critical needs: for stroke survivors to receive as much inpatient therapy as possible during their stay in the acute hospital 24 , if possible in an acute stroke unit 5,25 , and for family to receive sufficient education and training before discharge occurs 25,26 . Kalra and colleagues 26 found in a randomised control trail with 300 participants in the United Kingdom that caregiver training results in improved quality of life and a lessening of anxiety and depression after stroke for stroke survivors as well as a decrease in cost of care, caregiver burden and anxiety and depression amongst caregivers.…”

A system for accelerometer-based gesture classification using artificial neural networks

“…Involuntary muscle movement and high frequency noise is removed with a rolling average: (2) Inconsistencies introduced by the subject consequentially locate the voluntary motion segments in each recording anywhere within the 3.5s window. Without segmentation, the high variance would likely result in poor classification.…”

“…The consequences of both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes can range from mild motor function impairment to complete contralateral paralysis. While in many cases stroke victims can regain some of the lost motor functions through rehabilitation, it is a difficult process with varying results [2]. Robert While some specialized HIDs exist to improve the quality of life of sufferers, they often target a specific characteristic and lack adaptability across differing disorders or even levels of severity within the same disorder.…”