Clear guidance has been introduced on effective rehabilitation techniques for leg and arm weakness after a stroke, providing more guidance to a health professional and better patient outcomes.
Professor Coralie English. Image Credit: Stroke Foundation
Research has found that continuous resistance training builds muscle strength, improves mobility and strengthens quality of life.
This treatment is now listed as a strong recommendation in the Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management, a living document, supporting clinicians to apply the latest and greatest medical findings in clinical practice.
Co-Chair of the Live Stroke Management Content Group, Dr Coralie English, said the recommendation was the result of a systematic review of six studies.
This is the first time that specific recommendation has been made about advanced face training and how it can be applied
It works by using a small number of repetitions of activity with gradually increased loads, increasing strength and mobility.
Weakness is the most common debilitating condition after a stroke, so this recommendation will benefit many stroke survivors. Being included in the Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management reassures clinicians and patients that they are delivering and receiving the best possible treatment. ”
Professor Coralie English
More than 27,000 people will have a stroke in Australia for the first time this year and the trip could get an extension far beyond their time in hospital.
Australia is leading the way internationally for the treatment and care of people with stroke by adopting a live management model.
The live management project is a partnership between the Stroke Foundation and Cochrane Australia, and is supported by the Australian Government’s Future Medical Research Fund. It includes a working group of over 100 stroke experts and stroke survivors and draws on the latest evidence synthesis technologies developed by Cochrane, partners and software platforms worldwide (Covidence and MAGICapp).
Stroke Services Foundation Stroke Services Director Lisa Murphy said stroke paved the way for future research translation through practice.
More clinicians are using the guide than ever before because they are up to date, reliable and accessible online.
The system is obvious. People who have had a stroke can also access it, empowering them to ask questions about their own rehabilitation based on evidence.
And finally, this process allows Australia to embrace growing and changing times. ”
Dr Lisa Murphy
A technology and process developed by the Stroke Foundation in partnership with Cochrane Australia for the Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management has been modified to aid in the management of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
For more information on Live guidelines for stroke management, visit InformMe.
Live management statistics for December 2020 and January 2021
- 4822 people watched the scene
- 411 new systematic reviews were written
- 339 new randomized controlled trials were scrapped
- 145 studies of patient preferences and values were published
- 108 clinicians on content expert working groups
28 stroke survivors and carers on a consumer panel