Heart/Stroke Association: Most Stroke Patients Should Go To inpatient Rehab Facilities
May 9, 2016. May is Stroke Awareness Month and, like every year at this time, the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association has released a new set of guidelines. What’s unprecedented about this year’s guidelines, the eighth set, is that they are the first recommendations specifically focused on rehabilitation.
Carolee J. Winstein, Ph.D., P.T., lead author of the guidelines, urges stroke patients to receive treatment in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, unless they have a condition requiring skilled nursing care.
“If the hospital suggests sending your loved one to a skilled nursing facility after a stroke’ indicates Winstein, “advocate for them to go to an inpatient rehabilitation facility instead — unless there is a good reason not to such as being medically unable to participate in rehab.”
Weinstein’s team found “considerable evidence” that stroke patients benefit from a rehab-focused team approach in the early period after a stroke, and Dr. Theodore Gavrilescu, Director of the Stroke Recovery Program at The Brentwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Danvers, Massachusetts, has the everyday experience to substantiates that evidence:
“Patients attaining an optimal level of recovery from stroke is the focus of our Program – and nothing beats having a multidisciplinary team of stroke specialists, all under one roof” indicates Gavrilescu. “From mobility training to relearn tasks such as climbing stairs, and our individually tailored exercise programs, to speech therapy, balance training, and eye exercises, our Rehabilitation team closely collaborates with the entire staff to provide an enriched environment tailored to each patient that supports their recovery through music, books, and even virtual reality games”, all coalescing to increase patient engagement and ultimately boost their recovery.
Indeed, the likelihood of patient recovery increases when you have a team of experts that includes neurologists, physiatrists, and internal medicine physicians supporting customized rehabilitation through on-site consultative visits.
Beyond the focus throughout the month of May on educating people about risk factors and prevention, it is encouraging to know that the faster a stroke patient is treated, the more likely they are to recover without permanent disability – and that an inpatient rehabilitation facility with a multidisciplinary team supporting the patient’s recovery can make all the difference.
The Brentwood is proud to be the community’s resource for Stroke Recovery. For more information about their Program, please call (978) 777-2700.
The Brentwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Danvers, Massachusetts is part of Marquis Health Services, a network of rehabilitation and healthcare centers that has distinguished itself for three generations by revolutionizing Subacute Rehabilitation & Skilled Nursing Facilities throughout the Northeast.
With 20 years in private practice and as a neurology consultant specializing in all aspects of stroke management and prevention, Dr. Gavrilescu is a trailblazer who contributed to develop the stroke program of one of the State’s first community-designated Primary Stroke Services Center.
