Rehabilitation Specialists - Rehabilitation: Stroke

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Rehabilitation specialists

Several different types of health care professionals are involved in stroke rehabilitation. Knowing who they are and what they do can help you get the most out of your rehabilitation. Many people benefit from more than one type of therapy. Physical therapy, for example, helps the brain compensate for its injury so that you can regain strength and range of motion in your arms and legs. Occupational therapy can then take over and show you how to do specific tasks, such as putting on a shirt or holding a pen.

Physiatrist. This is a physician who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. A physiatrist often supervises a team of nurses and therapists to come up with a rehabilitation plan and helps evaluate whether the plan is working.

Rehabilitation nurse. This type of nurse helps you learn to carry out the activities involved in daily personal care. These include taking your medication on the right schedule, bathing, using the bathroom, and getting yourself in and out of a wheelchair. Rehabilitation nurses can also teach you exercises and other strategies to control incontinence. Rehabilitation nurses educate relatives, friends, and other caregivers about how to take care of someone who has had a stroke.

Physical therapist. This person evaluates and treats disorders relating to movement, balance, and coordination. A physical therapist also designs exercises to help you regain basic physical skills, such as walking and getting around at home. A physical therapist can guide home health aides and relatives who are working with you at home to help you regain lost functions.

Occupational therapist. This type of therapist helps you return to as many activities of daily life as possible. The therapy involves relearning basic activities such as eating, bathing, dressing, and writing, or mastering new ways of accomplishing these tasks.

Speech-language pathologist. This therapist helps you improve your capacity to speak and understand speech. If your stroke has caused a speech or language disorder, you should also have a hearing evaluation to make sure your communication difficulties stem from damage to the language centers of the brain and not from hearing loss. Having a speech disorder doesn't mean that you have trouble with thinking and reasoning. You may be able to think and imagine as clearly as before the stroke but have difficulty expressing your thoughts or understanding what other people say or write.

Last updated:	September 05, 2008