Rehabilitation of adults with dyspraxia: health professionals learning from patients

Abstract

The path to recovery remains unclear as dyspraxia makes itself known one day and not the next. Sheer determination and a hope for the future helps participants continue to try to reclaim the person they were prior to the dyspraxia. Health professionals can help by understanding what people with dyspraxia experience, supporting their hopefulness of improvement and building up knowledge of the functional and compensatory strategies they devise to support participation in daily activities.

Guidelines for Adult Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery

“…452 Although not traditionally believed to affect daily life function, 453,454 there is now evidence that apraxia is associated with reduced independence in daily life activities. [455][456][457] Despite its incidence and its impact on independent functioning, there is a paucity of research on therapeutic interventions for limb apraxia. Several systematic reviews have been conducted since 2005, 458-461 reviewing 5 small RCTs across the 4 reviews.…”

A systematic review of the effectiveness of stroke self-management programs for improving function and participation outcomes: self-management programs for stroke survivors

“…Assessing outcomes such as function or participation are appropriate for stroke survivors who often experience significant disruption in their functional abilities and participation in everyday life due to long-term impairments such as fatigue [31], dysarthria [32], dyspraxia [33] and lower extremity weakness [34]. These disruptions can have a significant impact on their ability to manage their life roles [35].…”

Recovery beyond functional restoration: a systematic review of qualitative studies of the embodied experiences of people who have survived a stroke

“…‘The big thing is you can’t rush things. You’ve got to take your time, and if you take your time you find things start to happen and things become easier .’ 43 …”

“… 39 42 43 49 53–56 59 63 71 Extra time was therefore needed to accomplish various daily tasks, particularly household chores and self-care routines. 43–46 48 55 66 70 Survivors also expressed their exhaustion in paying extra concentration on every move, 39 47 48 51 53 55 57 61 63 64 and the persistent feeling of fatigue might also deprive them of returning to their normal lives. 45 Facing these hardships, some survivors found anchoring to religion helped cultivate healing effects or develop their inner strength and acceptance.…”

“…[40][41][42][43] 45 52 53 55 57-59 61 66 68 70 Some survivors required intensive assistance in daily life and expressed that it was inevitable to depend on others 38. 41 42 47 52 53 55 59 61 63 65 66 68 70…”