Priority 11 Stroke Rehabilitation and Long-term Care

Two‐thirds of UK stroke survivors leave hospital with a disability (calculated using SSNAPP 2020 data). As such, stroke generates considerable health and social care costs. In the UK, costs are estimated at £8 billion a year, including £3 billion direct costs to the National Health Service, as well as other wider economic costs such as informal care costs, benefits payments, and lost economic productivity [Ref. 5] (Cochrane Protocol, see Evidence). It is estimated that up to 25% of all care home residents in the USA and in the UK have had a stroke. Stroke survivors who reside in care homes are likely to be more physically and cognitively impaired and therefore more dependent than those able to remain in their own home. Overall, 75% of care home residents are classified as severely disabled, and those with stroke are likely to have high levels of immobility, incontinence and confusion, as well as additional co‐morbidities [Ref. 6]. Evidence is needed to understand how this group of most severely affected stroke patients can be supported to recover abilities and lead a good quality of life.

Ref 5: National Audit Office 2010
Ref 6: Fletcher-Smith et al, 2013, Occupational therapy for care home residents with stroke, Cochrane https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010116.pub2

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD013317/full